Certificate of authenticity of the driving licence - UK

Hi - What I was told by a few people is that I needed to have my NZDL apostilled here in New Zealand.

I'm assuming it's the same thing in the UK.

Good Luck

@neale_p,

You don't need to change your driving licence if you're under 60. You have the requirements here:

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

Information on the certificate of authenticity can also be found at this link.

@neale_p I exchanged a UK driving licence for a Portuguese driving licence last year.

I used the DVLA website to obtain the following documents electronically:

1. a copy of my driving licence details (a one-page document titled “Confirmation of GB driving licence details”); and
2. a check code that allowed IMT to confirm my details with DVLA if they wanted to.

I think I obtained both documents through the DVLA web page you referred to in your message.

I submitted both documents to IMT in PDF format with the rest of my licence exchange application, and IMT accepted them. I did not need to have anything apostilled.

As others have pointed out, you may be able to continue to use your UK driving licence in Portugal until it expires without exchanging it, as long as you register it with IMT. See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-in- … sportes%20(IMT).

Hope this helps.

James

@JohnnyPT The 60-year age limit does not seem to apply to holders of UK driving licences under the new UK-Portugal driving licence agreement that went into effect at the beginning of 2024.

The agreement permits UK licence holders to drive in Portugal until their licences expire, without reference to age. This is significant, because a lot of older Brits have licences that don’t expire until their 70th birthday.

@James,

Thank you for your correction.

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

Hi James in Portugal

can i ask do you have the email address for the IMT to submit all the documents electronically, I assume they are all PDF scanned & sent as 1 document, thanks

Jean

@neale_p

Hi

I exchanged my UK driving licence recently and tried that approach with IMT. They rejected my application insisting that I provided a validated record. This meant that I had to telephone the DVLA, wait a while to get through, and requeste an authenticated version of my driving record. To be fair to the DVLA this arrived in a few weeks and this time my application was accepted by IMT

hope this helps

@Jean Denise

Go to this page:

http://www.imtonline.pt/index.php/9-unc … iros-en-25

Then click on the box that describes which country’s driving licence you want to exchange. This will take you to a page of instructions that contains a link to the relevant form.

Yes, you attach documents to the form in PDF format and submit the form electronically to IMT. When you get the medical exam, the doctor will submit your results to IMT separately. Once IMT has your information, they will contact you to schedule an appointment.

Thanks for the info James will sort next week, is it compulsory to have a medical exam, our driving licences are registered at the IMT we did that when we first moved here but now feel its time to exchange them

@Jean Denise  I don’t know for sure whether there are any exceptions to the medical test requirement, but the IMT website suggests that the medical exam is required for any licence exchange regardless of which country the licence is from.

Thanks everyone for your replies to my post. All very useful.

I began the registration of my UK licence with IMT back in Sep 23. Got a couple of emails and then nothing. The last one just said 'Waiting for information / documents'. Not sure what information/documents they are waiting for and whether its from me or another source ?

Anyway - I am going to visit IMT tomorrow armed with lots of documents and hopefully I can get an update on where the registration process is.....