Sometimes as a foreigner people may encounter difficulties in dealing with official entities. Even having learned some Portuguese it can be challenging PARTICULARLY where complicated technical terms and laws are concerned.

The High Commissioner for Migration (ACM) has a Telephone Translation Service (STT) that can assist you in contacting the services or entities with which you wish to communicate.

The STT offers a database of 60 translators/interpreters that fluently speak, besides Portuguese, one or more languages, and is aimed at Portuguese speakers / foreigners who need to communicate with foreigners and Portuguese citizens / entities.

This service sets a telephone conference between the manager of the service institution, a translator and the migrant.

The service is available free of charge (the customer only pays for the phone call) every working day between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm, through the Migrant Support Line – 808 257 257 – if you call from land line, the call cost is the same as a local call; and +351 218 106 191 – if you call from a mobile phone.

More details here