Obtaining a Portuguese driving licence after becoming a resident

Exchange a foreign driving licence for a portuguese one

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 33#5074328

(Post #3)

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Since you have a UK driving licence (case A22):

You can drive in Portugal, as a tourist, with a driving licence issued by the UK, for a period of 185 days following your entry into Portugal and providing you are not intending to settle here.

If you take up residence in Portugal, you must take into account the following deadlines, counting from the day you obtained the residence permit:

• Up to 90 days, you can continue to drive with a foreign driver's licence, but you must file an exchange request with the IMT

• After the initial 90 days and up to 2 years, you can file the exchange request at the IMT, but you can no longer drive in Portugal with your UK driver's licence

• After 2 years, you cannot drive with a foreign driving licence and if you want to exchange it for a Portuguese driving licence, you are subject to a driving test (practical test) and you must pass.

I am confused by the use of the term 'foreign'.  Am I right in thinking that the rules for the UK and other 3rd country Nationals differ from licences from other EU countries?

The word "Foreigner" is applied from the Portuguese point of view.

After Brexit, driving licences issued by the UK are now treated the same as those issued by other 3rd countries, non EU countries, and with which Portugal does not yet have a bilateral agreement. But it is likely that there might be such an agreement in the near future, as is the case with Switzerland or UEA...

Thanks Johnny.  I have come to the same conclusion.  I need to get my medical done hopefully this week.  No psychological assessment as I am not applying for a C, D or E class licence.  I am out of the country from 17/12 till end Jan so a little urgent to get the medical.  Not yet part of P's health system so will just pay for examination and report.  My deadline is 02/02/23.

Thanks once again.

dear sir,

i aggree driving test  no problem

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dear sir,
i aggree driving test no problem
you accept me please i have a more exprience of
computer hardware software
-@tareqrahman9

Hello and thanks for your message.

I'm sorry but could you please give us more information ?

Have a nice day,

Mickael

Team Expat.com

When I have looked on the IMT website, it says "Optional exchange and no submission to driving test." for UK driving licence holders.

https://www.imt-ip.pt/cartasconducao/cartasconducao.asp

Optional

I thought I had read in the Portugal news recently that UK driving licence holders no longer need to exchange their UK licences until they:

a) reach the age of 60, or

b) the current UK licence reaches its expiry date

Anyone else heard of this ?

@Neale,

The information on the IMT website related to what you are saying is this one, but it is valid until 31 December 2022. After that, I don't know...

https://www.imt-ip.pt/sites/IMTT/Portug … rexit.aspx

The Portugal News report that mentions it is this one? ....

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/20 … orce/69119

Hi

we read that as well in the Portugal news & also when we went to the IMT we were told then that it was not necessary to exchange our driving licence so long as we registered them which we did & was told carry on until licences expires or we reached the age where like the UK you have to have a medical & a driving test, which is what will happen in a couple of years for my husband who will be 69 & his UK licence expires.

Jean

@JohnnyPT  Hi Johnny - yup - thats the one

@Jean Denise Hi - to get registered, did you need to provide any paperwork to IMT, other than your driving licence and Residencia Card ?

We had to provide loads of paperwork, word of advice photocopy everything we did ours in 2018 & the staff were totally not friendly nor helpful if you didn’t have your paperwork in order then they didn’t want to know, so if you think you are supplying to much paperwork your not.

1) passport

2) residency paperwork

3) driving licence

4) proof of address

this is just some paperwork, good luck

Jean

@Jean Denise Thanks for this - very helpful - I will go in armed with everything !!!

Forgot to say as well we did ours in Faro

the queues where round the corner we got there around 08.00 & left at 17.00 but the appointment was only 15 mins long so be prepared for a long day.

Jean

@Jean Denise Oh blimey !!! another long day dealing with the bureaucracy. I am currently staying in Lisbon, and there is a very small IMT office about 2 minutes from me. Most of the time its empty, so i may just chance it one day soon and see if they able to register me - they may not be an IMT office geared up for that though.

All this can be avoided by pre-booking at IMT and other similar services. Unfortunately I think this only works for Portuguese citizens, or all those who have a Portuguese citizen card or are registered at the Portuguese social security, and have the number NISS....

https://siga.marcacaodeatendimento.pt/M … Entidades#

@neale,

Go there before opening hours (9am), you might get lucky....

thank you so much

@JohnnyPT Just got back from the local IMT office. No queue - just me and the IMT agent. The good news is that 'yes' they are able to register my driving licence in this office. The bad news is that She did not speak a word of English, so i struggled to understand what other documents I need to bring to complete the registrations. However, here are the ones I did understand:

Utente Number (SNS Health Number)

Residency card

UK Drivers licence

Title Residency (I guess this is my proof of address / rental agreement)

I will probably go back with a Portuguese friend who can help with the translation !

There is this information that could be useful, it talks about the required documents and other useful issues:

https://eportugal.gov.pt/servicos/troca … portuguesa

For the issuance of a Portuguese driving licence, you must present the following documents:

- your valid UK driving licence (you must hand in the original)

- your Id document

- your proof of authorization to reside in Portugal

- your portuguese tax Identification Number (NIF)

- your Electronic Medical Certificate (sent online by the doctor to IMT), If you are 60 or over.

Hello,

After struggling to submit all the required documents in order to exchange my foreign driving licence, i finally got an appointment at an IMT office but unfortunately, I will be out of the country on this particular date.

Is it possible to reschedule to a different date?

If it's possible, how complicated is it?

Or is it better to cancel my trip (which will cost me a lot of money) and go for the appointment on the assigned date?

Thank you.

IMT offices take appointments using the "siga" cellular phone app.  If your current appointment wasn't made that way, maybe there's some other way to cancel it, and then you just fire up the app and make a new appointment on a date that you'll be able to meet.  That's my picture, which could be overly simplistic since I have no idea how you got this appointment for an apparently arbitrary date.

@akupurpleheart

You can call. You can just do walk in to some offices like Leiria. Go between 8:30-8:45 am. It's first come first serve.

"your Electronic Medical Certificate (sent online by the doctor to IMT)"      If you are 60 or over.

It's possible to see / knows what contain this document?

Thanks!

Hello

I am hoping someone can assist. I have gone through the process, successfully,  to exchange my UK driving licence for a Portugeuse one and received an email from IMT that my new licence has issued. My query is how do I receive this? Will it come in the post, do I collect it somewhere or do I  need to go back to IMT Leiria office where I made the application?

many thanks in advance

Roz

Hi Roz,

Isn't there any additional information in your email?

As far as I know, the driving licence is sent by registered post to the address given by the driver at the time of application. Wait a week, check your post. That's how I got mine, by post.

No nothing!

This is what I got below.

I will keep checking postbox.....

Thanks again, as always!

Roz

On Thu, 8 Feb 2024, 10:38 Gestao IMT, <gestao.imt@imt-ip.pt> wrote:

O seu pedido de troca de titulo de condução estrangeiro com o número de registo 30000012 931 encontra-se no estado | Your request for exchange a driving licence with register n.º 30000012 931 is

ESTADO: Concluído com emissão de carta de condução portuguesa | Application completed with a Portuguese driving licence issued

Informação adicional | Adicional information

Melhores cumprimentos | Best regards

IMT, IP

Have you tried clicking on "Informação adicional | Adicional information" ?

I think it's sent by post.

@JohnnyPT Yes, when I exchanged licenses last year, the IMT sent the Portugal license by post to my residence.

The license arrived in the post about a week after I received the e-mail from IMT letting me know that the license would be issued.

Thanks everyone!

"Fazer figas" (fingers crossed in both languages!)  that this will occur.

Regards

@roz66

Dear Roz, good afternoon,

They will send it by post to the address you mentioned in your application. Usually it takes around 2-4 months.

Congratulations on your Portuguese Drive Permit, I hope you’ll receive it soon!

Best regards,

Estevao ***