Registered Letter in Portugal: Online vs the Post Office, Costs and When Each Is Worth It

The question is simple: go to a CTT post office (CTT is the Portuguese postal service) or handle it online? Both options produce the same legal result, a registered letter with aviso de receção (AR, the signed proof-of-delivery slip), valid for any legal purpose in Portugal. What changes is the process, the cost and the time it takes. If you are abroad, the difference is even starker: one option requires being physically in Portugal, the other does not.

Whether it is a tenancy notice, a debt collection letter, the termination of a commercial contract, a communication to an insurer or any other formal notice, this article compares the two options head-on so you can decide with complete information.

Important note (as of July 2026): CTT itself does not offer a fully online registered letter service for individuals. As of July 2026, CTT's online service only generates the shipping paperwork (acceptance slip and label); according to the official CTT help pages, you still have to finish the sending at a post office. For individuals, sending a registered letter with aviso de receção 100% online, with no contract, no software and no trip to a counter, only exists at cartaregistada.pt.

Quick comparison

The process in detail

In the in-person route, the most laborious step is usually the first one: writing the letter. For the most common Portuguese tenancy cases, rent updates, unpaid rent and lease termination, the online service generates the text from lawyer-reviewed templates, with dates and legal references pre-filled. The sender reviews and confirms before sending. For any other type of letter, you can upload your own PDF.

Costs: online costs more, that is a fact

There is no point sugar-coating it: sending a registered letter with AR at a CTT counter costs €6.05. At cartaregistada.pt, the price is €14.99.

The €8.94 difference buys a complete service: letter generation from lawyer-reviewed templates (for rent updates, unpaid rent and lease termination), including the automatic calculation of the INE coefficient (the official index used for annual rent updates in Portugal) and pre-filled dates and references, or the upload of your own PDF. We then handle the printing, enveloping and lodging with CTT as a registered letter with AR. No leaving the house, no queue, at any hour, from any country.

If you already have the letter ready, you are near a CTT post office with convenient hours and you do not mind going in person, the counter is the cheaper option. Full stop.

What is included in the €14.99

• Letter generation from lawyer-reviewed templates (rent update, unpaid rent, lease termination), or upload of your own PDF.
• Automatic calculation of the INE coefficient for rent updates.
• Pre-filled dates, addresses and references, with the minimum legal notice periods flagged. The final check is always the sender's responsibility.
• Printing, enveloping and lodging with CTT as a registered letter with AR.
• Digital proof of sending (CTT tracking number).

Delivery timelines

CTT quotes 2 to 3 business days for registered mail within mainland Portugal. With the online service, we lodge the letter with CTT within 2 business days of your submission. From that point on, the timeline is CTT's normal one, 2 to 3 business days.

In practice, the letter reaches the recipient slightly later than if you handed it in at a CTT counter yourself. That is the price of convenience: no trip, no queue, from any device, anywhere in the world.

The aviso de receção (AR), the slip signed by the recipient confirming delivery, comes back by post in both cases, normally 5 to 10 days after sending, depending on when the recipient collects the letter.

Legal validity: they are equivalent

This point matters: a registered letter with AR sent online has exactly the same legal validity as one posted at a CTT counter. What gives the sending its legal value is the CTT registration and the proof of delivery, not the channel through which the letter was submitted.

Both letters are physically sent by CTT. The only difference is who handles the logistics before the sending.

When each option is worth it

Choose the post office if:

• You already have the letter written and prefer to handle the sending yourself
• You are in Portugal, near a CTT post office with convenient hours
• You send registered letters regularly and know the process well
• Cost is the deciding factor

Choose online if:

• It is a rent update, an unpaid rent notice or a lease termination, and you want the letter generated from a lawyer-reviewed template instead of drafting it from scratch (and in correct legal Portuguese)
• You live outside Portugal or cannot get to a CTT counter
• You need to submit the request outside CTT hours (the service is available 24/7)
• You want to avoid the trip and the queue, whatever the letter type
• You prefer not to handle the errand in person

For most people who use this service, landlords with a rent update or an unpaid rent notice to deal with, and owners managing Portuguese property from abroad, the question is not saving a few euros. It is submitting the request in ten minutes, without drafting the letter from scratch, without a trip and without a queue.