Paciência earned 51 caps for Portugal at youth level. His first for the under-21 team arrived on 5 March 2014 at the age of 19, when he started and missed a second-half penalty in a 2–0 home win over Macedonia for the 2015 UEFA European Championship qualifiers. Selected for the finals in the Czech Republic, he collected three substitute appearances for the runners-up, scoring in the 1–1 group stage draw with Sweden and converting his shootout attempt in the final against the same opponent.