US - PT Drivers License Exchange

Hi,
Try to get information by email from one or two notaries near where you live in Portugal. Explain your situation. They also do certification of documents translated into Portuguese. Maybe this can help you:

Solicitors, Lawyers & Notaries in Portugal

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=941009

hi
my wife changed also her driving licence to a portugues one - she is european
the acp - automobile club of portugal - assisted in all the aspects - if you become member - at a very reasonable price - they do it and assist

Thank you. I will look for a notary in the local area.  Also, thank you for the solicitor and lawyer links. We will likely need their assistance when we are ready to buy a home here.

Thank you Elmar.

Hi CL,

With great difficulty I successfully exchanged my Massachusetts driver’s license this year. You don’t mention what state you are from - these things vary state to state - but what I needed to get was a ‘true and attested’ version of my driving record. It is a bit lengthier and more expensive version but it comes with the seal of the registrar of the motor vehicle department which means it is notarized. That is what needs to be apostilled and submitted to the IMT. You don’t need to have it notarized in Portugal. I want to bring to your attention something else you will need and that you did not mention - the IMT in Faro demanded a document stating what was the Portuguese equivalent of a Massachusetts class D license. You need to contact the Portuguese consulate in your home state to get this. I never thought this was going to be possible, but it is and happened very quickly once I got someone to respond to my emails. You will need to provide them a copy of your driving record and your license. The consulate in Boston accepted screen grabs as an email attachment. They wrote a letter telling the equivalency (they must do this fairly regularly) and then the letter and the copy of the driving license are stamped and signed by the consul general. They mailed the documents to my brother and he Fed Exed it to me. Let me be clear: nobody initially asked me for this and I was issued a temporary Portuguese license - but then a letter came in the mail saying they needed this ‘document’ and my temporary license was revoked (and they had taken away my US license).  This whole process took months but I finally got the plastic license a few months ago. I hope you benefit from my mistakes.

Good luck
Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the detailed reply. Based on your experience, I think this will be more complicated than I thought. I checked the DMV website in Nebraska where we came from, and although I can print out my driving record online, it is a very informal looking document and I don't think it would ever be accepted by the IMT. I can get a printed version if I mail in a request, but I'm not sure it would have the seal of the registrar.  I will have to check on this.

My (mis) understanding, prior to your email, was that the IMT just needed a copy of my US drivers license (front and back), notarized and apostilled. As of today my US DL copy has been notarized and is currently in the apostille process in the US. I expect to get it back here via FedEx by end of next week (7/30). So fortunately, at least this IMT requirement will be complete. I do still have my Nebraska drivers license.

I will really need to hurry to get the driving record requirement completed and accepted by the IMT -- before the 90 day deadline expires. Hopefully I can get a temporary PT drivers permit so I can continue to drive while this is in process.

Sincerely,
CL

Like some countries I lived in Portugal seems to have a huge "Department for the Complication of Simple Affairs". So, don't get too frustrated.

The number of competent employees in government, banking, financial administration is shockingly low. As soon as one has to deviate from stock standard processes (which can easily happen for expats) the results can be devastating (and costly).

I think that this is one of the low points of living in Portugal. And, yes, there are highlights.

Hi CL,
I am in the same boat but from California. In California, I got the DMV record from my local DMV office(it is printed on a paper with DMV watermark on it but no other signature) and sent it to Sacramento Secretary of State to get it Apostilled. They promptly returned it saying they don't authenticate contents of documents only signatures of public officials. So on their advice, I wrote an affidavit stating this was my driver license record, attached my DMV record from the DMV office,  got the affidavit notarized (notary attached a separate page) and then sent it back to Sacramento Secretary of State who then apostilled the Notary's signature and sent me back the documents
Looking at various forums, I also sent another copy of the DMV record to Portuguese Consulate in San Francisco who promptly attested the DMV record and sent it back to me
Too late, I found out that  If I apply by mail to California DMV they will send a certified DMV record which I can get attested by the Portuguese Embassy. But I only had time to get the Certified DMV record by mail before I had to fly to Lisbon and couldn't attest this certified copy
I am scheduling my DL exchange appt now and will post my results after
Radhika

I was in the same situation recently.  I suggest you reach out to apostileworld.com.  They helped me get  a notarised copy of of my NYS drivers license and apostille of my driving record.  It might be that they can only do this for former NYS residents, though.

Hope this helps.

Dave Roth

@Elmar Derkitsch I just spoke to ACP, we are members, and they said they only renew. I am confused.