Reporting foreign guests in Portugal (SIBA) in 2026: who to report to, by when and with what details

Updated 8 November 2026

In Portugal, every property that hosts foreign guests for payment must report each guest's arrival and departure to the authorities, using an accommodation bulletin (boletim de alojamento) sent through SIBA, the Accommodation Bulletin Information System. Since the SEF border and immigration service was abolished in 2023, many hosts are unsure who receives the reports now. This guide sums up the rules in force in November 2026, with the official sources at the end. Where a detail does not appear in an official source, we say so. It is not legal advice: for a specific case, ask SIBA support, your trade association or your lawyer.

Who must report, and who counts as foreign

Article 16 of Law 23/2007 (the Foreigners Law) requires hotel operators, complementary tourist accommodation, tourist complexes and anyone who provides accommodation to foreign citizens for payment to report it. In practice, according to SIBA's FAQ and Turismo de Portugal's technical guide:

It covers hotels and other tourism developments, Alojamento Local and private individuals renting rooms, apartments or houses to tourists, whether regularly or occasionally.
Long-term residential leases are excluded.
A foreigner is anyone without Portuguese nationality, including EU citizens. Portuguese guests are not reported.
Every foreign guest is reported individually, including each member of a couple or group, whatever their age, babies included.
The obligation is the same for Portuguese and foreign hosts.

After SEF: who receives the reports now

SEF was abolished in 2023. Decree-Law 41/2023 of 2 June, which created the AIMA migration agency, amended Articles 15 and 16 of Law 23/2007 and reallocated the tasks:

Accommodation is reported to the GNR or the PSP (new wording of Article 16(1)), always by accommodation bulletin.
Properties register as SIBA users with the Borders and Foreigners Coordination Unit (UCFE), which runs SIBA and processes the data (Article 15(4) and SIBA's data protection notice).
The UCFE was created by Article 33 of Decree-Law 41/2023, has operated within the Internal Security System (SSI) since 29 October 2023 and is staffed by GNR and PSP officers (Decree-Law 99-A/2023).
AIMA does not receive accommodation bulletins: we found no official source giving it this task.
The portal has moved: the old siba.sef.pt is now siba.ssi.gov.pt, and support is by email at siba@ssi.gov.pt.

Deadlines

The rule is simple, but it applies twice per guest:

Arrival: within 3 working days of the day the guest arrives.
Departure: within 3 working days of the day the guest leaves (Article 16(2)). SIBA's manual recommends entering the departure date on the day of check-out.
According to SIBA's FAQ, days are counted in full from the date of arrival or departure.
No-shows are not registered.
Bulletins and their electronic substitutes are kept for one year from the day after the departure is reported (Article 15(5)).

What the bulletin contains

According to SIBA's technical FAQ and submission modes page, each bulletin includes:

Mandatory: full name (surname and first name), nationality, date of birth, document type (passport, identity card or other), document number, issuing country, country of residence and arrival date.
Departure date: filled in when the guest leaves and, if given, it cannot be earlier than the arrival date.
Optional: place of birth and place of residence. The web service specification treats place of residence as mandatory, so check with your software provider.
Countries use three-letter ICAO codes; SIBA accepts no other code tables.
The guest must show a valid identity document. SIBA says the property should not keep the document without consent and that a guest who refuses to identify themselves should not be accepted. For children without their own document, a birth certificate or an endorsement in a parent's passport is accepted.
Each foreigner fills in and signs their own bulletin, but one spouse, parents for their minor children and a group leader may do so for the others (Article 15(3)).

How a property registers on SIBA

Registration is free and online, once per establishment, according to SIBA's user manual:

On siba.ssi.gov.pt, in the reserved area, choose «Inscrição» (registration) and fill in the form: CAE activity code, type and classification, address (PO box postcodes are not accepted), submission mode and contact email.
Alojamento Local properties are asked for their RNAL registration number. Private hosts renting rooms or houses choose the «Alojamento Local/apartamento» classification.
Once registration is validated, you receive an official letter by email with your activation key. You log in with your tax number (NIF), establishment number and that key.
If you lose the key or the operator changes, request a new one by email to siba@ssi.gov.pt, giving the NIF, the establishment's name and number and the reason.
We found no official deadline for registering after opening: do it before your first foreign guest arrives.

Three ways to send bulletins

SIBA accepts three submission modes, chosen at registration:

Directly on the portal: create a list, add one bulletin per guest and send the list.
File: upload a .DAT text file generated by your property management system (PMS). A file with errors is rejected in full and must be generated again.
Web service: your PMS sends the bulletins automatically, in XML. SIBA provides a test environment; if you send test data to production, ask siba@ssi.gov.pt to delete it.
Fax is no longer accepted. Paper is only allowed during internet, equipment or software failures, after notifying the UCFE and siba@ssi.gov.pt, with electronic submission as soon as possible.
A wrong bulletin can only be corrected or deleted while the departure has not been entered; after that, the error must be reported by email.

Fines and other sanctions

According to SIBA's FAQ, failing to report is punished under Article 203 of Law 23/2007 with a fine of 100 to 2,000 euros, depending on the number of offences, which can be increased under the general administrative offences regime (Decree-Law 433/82). Additional sanctions are possible. SIBA also points out that helping a foreigner stay illegally for profit is a crime, punished with 1 to 4 years in prison, or 2 to 8 years in aggravated cases. We could not open the consolidated text of Law 23/2007 in the Diário da República to confirm the current wording of Article 203 or which body handles the proceedings, so treat these amounts as the ones SIBA states.

What is new in 2025 and 2026

What we could confirm in an official source:

Law 55-C/2025 created a National Foreigners and Borders Unit (UNEF) within the PSP, and Ordinance 304/2025/1 of 9 September 2025 organised it, with a phased roll-out until the end of the first half of 2026. We found no official source saying UNEF changes how bulletins are sent: in November 2026, SIBA is still at siba.ssi.gov.pt, run by the UCFE.
SIBA's legislation page lists Ordinance 321/2023 of 27 October. We could not open its text, so we have not confirmed what it changes compared with Ordinances 287/2007 (which created SIBA) and 415/2008 (the bulletin model).
We could not confirm in an official source whether the 2025 amendments to the Foreigners Law changed Articles 15, 16 or 203.

Why this also matters for AI

When a traveller asks ChatGPT or Gemini what they need to check in at your property, the AI pulls together what it finds on your website and on the platforms. If everywhere says, in the same way, that you will ask every guest for an identity document and why, the answer is more likely to be right, and the guest arrives with their passport at hand. If nothing is said, or every site says something different, the request for documents at check-in feels like a surprise, and it is the property that looks bad.

How iQuota helps

The official page iQuota publishes for each property can explain what guests need at check-in, including an identity document, and includes that information in the data AI assistants and search engines read. iQuota does not report your guests to SIBA, it does not replace your obligations to the authorities, and we cannot guarantee that an AI will recommend your property.

Want an official page that clearly explains check-in, the documents you ask for and direct booking? The first 30 hotels join free until 30 June 2027.

See the Founding Hotels programme

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to report guests from the European Union?

Yes. For SIBA, a foreigner is anyone without Portuguese nationality, including EU citizens. Only Portuguese guests are not reported.

Now that SEF is gone, who do I send bulletins to?

You still send them through SIBA, now at siba.ssi.gov.pt. The law says reports go to the GNR or the PSP, and SIBA is run by the Borders and Foreigners Coordination Unit (UCFE) within the Internal Security System. AIMA does not receive the bulletins.

What is the deadline?

Three working days after each foreign guest's arrival and three working days after their departure.

Do children have to be reported too?

Yes, all of them, whatever their age. Parents may fill in and sign for their minor children.

My property is on Airbnb or Booking. Does the platform report for me?

The official sources we read do not mention platforms: the law places the obligation on whoever provides the accommodation. If you use a tool that sends bulletins for you, make sure it is linked to your SIBA registration and check the submissions.

How much does SIBA registration cost?

We found no fee: registration is online and access is given by an activation key sent by email.

Sources

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