Signed by the Secretary of State for Health, Ricardo Mestre, the order published in Diário da República, which comes into force on Friday, redefines the organizational rules of the National User Register (RNU) and clarifies concepts in terms of registration, access, and financial responsibility of SNS users.

According to the dispatch, user registrations in the RNU can assume three different typologies: active, transitory, and inactive.

Active registration applies to Portuguese nationals residing in Portugal and foreigners permanently residing in the country.

Transitional registration applies when the previous conditions are not met, with a maximum duration of 90 days from the date of registration in the RNU, after which the registration becomes active or inactive.

Inactive registration applies to citizens who do not meet the requirements for active or transitional registration and includes situations of death.

"It is a fundamental information tool for planning and optimizing coverage by the family health team, enhancing the network's capacity, the integration of care, and the development of more community and proximity responses", stresses the ministry.

However, a user with registration in the RNU may or may not be enrolled in primary health care, which requires an active registration in this database to be carried out in a functional unit or in the respective Grouping of Health Centers.

Regarding transitional registration and inactive registration, with the exception of death situations, the costs are assumed by the citizen.