Drivers license exchange timeline

Hi Sponger,

I find your case a rather weird one. The driving licence is sent to you by mail. Have you changed residence in the meantime? Has your mail been lost? It usually takes no more than 15 days to 1 month...

Try to fill in this form to get information:

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

Assunto/Subject: Carta de condução - informações OR Carta de condução - Reclamações

Message: It is better to write in Portuguese. Please use an online translator

Obrigado!

Would like to ask what documents needed in the order to change USA driving license to Portuguese?

Would like to ask what documents needed in the order to change USA driving license to Portuguese?
-@Mia5555

I would be interested to know whether one has to change the driver's license at all. Wouldn't it be better to have an additional license? When I was working abroad I had at times 5 driver's licenses at a time. Most are expired by now, but ...

Hi,

You have official information here from Portuguese Government Online.

You must fill out the online form and wait for IMT's indication to go to an IMT desk. Once in the desk to register your driving test application, your biometric data will also be collected.

https://eportugal.gov.pt/en/servicos/tr … portuguesa

_____

Additional info:

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

(Post #3)

We received our temporary (paper) license last week in Lisbon at the IMT office.  They told us that they had 18,000 licenses to verify and that it will take a minimum of 6 months and possibly 1 year before we receive our actual license in the mail.  They also mentioned that the temporary license is only valid for 6 months and that we will have to renew it at that time by requesting an appointment with IMT. 

Cheers.

We received our temporary (paper) license last week in Lisbon at the IMT office. They told us that they had 18,000 licenses to verify and that it will take a minimum of 6 months and possibly 1 year before we receive our actual license in the mail. They also mentioned that the temporary license is only valid for 6 months and that we will have to renew it at that time by requesting an appointment with IMT.
Cheers.
-@dougified

That was my experience as well with IMT in Lisbon years ago. Fortunately I have several driver's licenses, so was not limited in what I could do (e.g. rent a car abroad). This is for many the main (!) issue, I think and it speaks against Portugal when you are coming from outside the EU.

@sponger I did mine in Lisbon on 11 November 2022. Still waiting and they can't give me an idea where it is in the process or system. Extremely frustrating.

When you exchange your driving license, your old one is sent to your Embassy and send it passed back to your home country. Thats why there are delays.

@sponger   We have not done so, but from what we hear, you are experiencing a normal delay.  We are told to expect 7 months before you get a hard copy.

Further, your paper license is not good outside of Portugal.

Is same delays happens when you want to get new driver license?

@dougified

we actually had to do the same thing two weeks ago. Note that we didn't have an appointment at IMT as we've never been able to access the online SIGA appointments. We just walked into the very crowded IMT office in Saldanha, walked to the general information line, waited in line for about 20 minutes to speak with someone, explained that we were still waiting for our permanant licenses and showed them our expired temporary licences.  Someone came over, took our temporary licenses....we waiting about 10 more minutes, and they returned with new stamps good for another six months.  Super friendly and super helpful to us.

@sponger I did mine in Lisbon on 11 November 2022. Still waiting and they can't give me an idea where it is in the process or system. Extremely frustrating.
-@Brian_SA

yea...just one of those things i accept as part of living here. 

Would like to ask what documents needed in the order to change USA driving license to Portuguese?
-@Mia5555
I would be interested to know whether one has to change the driver's license at all. Wouldn't it be better to have an additional license? When I was working abroad I had at times 5 driver's licenses at a time. Most are expired by now, but ...
-@nz7521137

you aren't required to do an exchange anymore. the week after we did our exchange is when they changed the rules...otherwise i likely would have kept my old license.

@sponger hi, please explain what you mean by "aren't required to do an exchange anymore...". Thanks

@sponger hi, please explain what you mean by "aren't required to do an exchange anymore...". Thanks
-@Perpetual_traveler

i was probably overly vague with that comment....but here is a link i quickly found about what i was referring:

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/20 … nses/68613

I would alos make sure this is valid. At the time, a couple of different freinds here in Portugal asked me why i did the exchange when the rules changed...which is how i became aware of the rules change. it is 100% possible the article is misleading or just plain wrong...which makes me and others wrong as well.

@sponger This is correct. It hasn't been required since mid last year.

@nac25

thanks. this was bugging me that i could be wrong (as I've told this to a couple of others) so i went and found the link to IMT:

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

I have received this mail today from imt does anyone know how long does it take to verify

Your request to change your foreign driving license is under review.

Until the completion of the process, you must use the replacement form issued to you.

If necessary, for its revalidation, you must go to an IMT service, and it is recommended to schedule an appointment in advance for this purpose through the SIGA platform, available at: https://siga.marcacaodeatendimento.pt/M … /Entidades

As soon as the process undergoes changes, you will be notified via email to the address indicated in the submission form of your order.

We are available for further clarifications, for this you can contact IMT I.P directly. through the form available at: https://www.imt-ip.pt/sites/IMTT/Portug … e-nos.aspx

@sponger any news on this? 7 months and still waiting

@SimCityAT They take my American Driver's license? How come? That's my ID in my Country?

Are you sure?

Yes, they take it.  We asked for replacement duplicates of our licenses, from our state.  I've read that Portugal will find out about this from the state DOL and ask for the duplicates too, but ... one reads all kinds of things about what the government will do, and that one doesn't sound very plausible.

@SimCityAT They take my American Driver's license? How come? That's my ID in my Country?
Are you sure?
-@mariacmorenovarela

Yes, I am sure because they need to check that it is valid. (This is an official answer from an Embassy.)

All of this is just part of the usual Portuguese (or better EU) madness. In most countries one can simply get a new (additional) driver's license without the existing license being taken away or invalidated. I honestly don't know what this is all about. I by now have a Portuguese driver's license, but I was lucky to only give them a DL that I didn't need anymore and still had one to use while waiting for the new Portuguese one.

All of this is just part of the usual Portuguese (or better EU) madness. In most countries one can simply get a new (additional) driver's license without the existing license being taken away or invalidated. I honestly don't know what this is all about. I by now have a Portuguese driver's license, but I was lucky to only give them a DL that I didn't need anymore and still had one to use while waiting for the new Portuguese one.
-@nz7521137

Yeah, it also depends on the officier, some let you keep your liceense and give  you a recipt then others just take it away.

@sponger any news on this? 7 months and still waiting
-@nushivalon

update: in late April i received and email from IMT. Per the email, they were requesting documents that I had previously provided. What they asked for was actually required and submitted online before IMT would even schedule me to for the appointment to get my temporary license. But no big deal as I kept copies of everything. Of course I was a bit nervous as what they were requesting was dated/apostilled in the US more than a year prior..

Good news is i did receive the DL about two weeks ago! Not a quick process but it worked eventually!

@sponger Yeah, you were lucky, but still the system is flawed. What if you need to travel outside Portugal and require a driver's license for that.

i guess it depends where you are traveling. I beleive the paper license is recognized in the US as valid. I traveled back to the US three times over the last year and was also able to rent cars in several states with the paper license. 

I wouldn't say I was lucky as it still took a year to get the license.  I know other people who got their exchanges done in a matter of several weeks, just not in the Lisbon area.

@sponger But still, there are many places in the world where you can get an additional DL without surrendering your original DL. I had that In Austria, Australia, New Zealand, UAE and Oman. Tunisia simply accepted my Austrian DL. This whole process of the Portuguese administration is - in mu opinion - idiotic.

It has been 7 months for me also. I went to Saldanha to extend the paper and the lady didn't even ask any questions. She knows the drill... Also didn't want to provide an estimate of when I can expect the new licence.

Can anyone tell me how long after your application is excepted. Is the appointment to go to a IMT office. My online application was just excepted last week and I'm waiting for further notice.

Thank in advance

Ps. Was also wondering is the first appointment scheduled bt IMT or do you schedule after receiving a email

@sponger I handed in my South African driver's license exchange in Lisbon on 21 November 2022. I just received my Portuguese Drivers License in the post today. Takes months. My one friend's arrived 1 year and 3 weeks later. He got his last week.

@Brian_SA

Thank you for your response,  they just excepted my process last week.  I need to leave for about 2-months. I'm told I need to go to a imt office and give my biometrics.  Was wondering if its safe to leave or will they need my biometrics right away.

@Brian_SA

By the way congratulations!!!!

Just to give a update it took about seven days for my application to be approved, the next day I went to Viseu pt. Without a appointment and it took 1.5 hours. Now I'm just waiting on the new licence to come in the mail. I was told at the counter it would take 1 to 6 months.

I had my biometrics at imt office done in Portugal in may 2023 waiting for my new Lisence and today I received this email :-

Automatic reply please do not reply to this email. | Automatic reply please do not reply to this email.

Your request for exchange of foreign driving license with registration number 100000is in the state | Your request for exchange a driving license with register n.° 10000 is

STATUS: Order under review | Waiting for analysis

Additional information | Additional information

Best regards | Best regards

IMT, IP

Hi guys,

I was at the IMT office in Lisbon, Marvila today and handed in my old drivers license for the temporary paper license, thinking that it would only take a couple of weeks to receive the official license. I have now done some research and seen that some people wait up to 2 years to receive their official license.

I have also found out that this paper license is only valid in Portugal, but as I don‘t have a car here and travel a lot, I mainly need my license outside of Portugal, so the paper license is of no use to me. Do you think it would be possible to go back to that IMT office and request my old license back until I receive the new one?

Good luck with that.