Exchange of the driving licence in Portugal and IMT

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Foreigners after acquiring citizenship or residence should do the portugal driving licence exchange. If you have already obtained Portuguese citizenship or portuguese residence, the next step is to change your foreign driving license which is applied at the IMT portugal driving licence exchange department. The situation you are in varies according to which countries driving license can be exchanged in Portugal.

The entire process is taken care through the IMT - Instituto da Mobilidade e Transportes I.P.

The procedure is started online and later in person to obtain the needed biometric data that will figure on the future driving licence.

Before proceeding, please see the situation you fit in:

You will see which countries driving license can be exchanged in portugal by following the 3 situations described ahead.

Situation 1.

Driving licenses issued by a European Union or the European Economic Area Country (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein)

You can drive in Portugal with this license until the document expires, or even if does’nt have validity date. But, you have 60 days, after moving to the country, to register your address in Portugal with IMT.

Documents you will need:

 Portuguese identification document (Passport or Identification card)

 Proof of residence in Portugal;

 Original foreign driving license and certified photocopy of the same document;

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Situation 2.

Driving licenses issued by OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries) and CPLP countries (Angola, Australia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, Chile, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Mozambique, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Sao Tome and Principe, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America.)

You can drive in Portugal, and you don’t need to Exchange your driving license if:

 you are under 60 years old

 you have the mandatory minimum age in Portugal to drive

 the foreign driver is license is valid

 no more than 15 years have passed since the issuance of the foreign license or since the last renewal

 the country that issued the license is part of the traffic conventions (Geneva, 1949 and/or Vienna, 1968) or has a bilateral agreement with Portugal

 the foreign drivers license is not seized, suspended, expired or revoked in Portugal or in the country of origin.

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Situation 3.

Driving licences issued by countries that Portugal has a bilateral agreement or a reciprocity recognition for the recognition and

Exchange of driving licenses Contracting parts of international traffic conventions (Argélia, Argentina, Austrália, Áustria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bélgica, Benim, Botsuana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgária, Burkina Faso, Camboja, Canadá, República Central Africana, Chile, Congo, Costa do Marfim, Croácia, Cuba, Chipre, República Checa, República Democrática do Congo, Dinamarca, República Dominicana, Equador, Egito, Ilhas Fiji, Finlândia, França, Geórgia, Gana, Grécia, Guatemala, Haiti, Vaticano, Hungria, Islândia, Índia, Irlanda, Israel, Itália, Jamaica, Japão, Jordânia, Quirguistão, República Democrática Popular do Laos, Líbano, Lesoto, Liechtenstein, Lituânia, Luxemburgo, Madagáscar, Malawi, Malásia, Mali, Malta, Mônaco, Montenegro, Marrocos, Namíbia, Holanda, Nova Zelândia, Níger, Nigéria, Noruega, Papua Nova Guiné, Paraguai, Peru, Filipinas, Polônia, Portugal, República da Coreia, Romênia, Federação Russa, Ruanda, São Marino, Senegal, Sérvia, Sérvia, Serra Leoa, Singapura, Eslováquia, Eslovênia, África do Sul, Espanha, Sri Lanka, Suécia, Suíça, República Árabe Síria, Tailândia, Togo, Trinidad e Tobago, Tunísia, Turquia, Uganda, Emirados Árabes Unidos, Reino Unido da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda do Norte, Estados Unidos da América, Venezuela (República Bolivariana da), Vietnam e Zimbabué.)

- if you do not reside in Portugal: you can use your driving license for 185 days in Portugal

- If you intend to reside in Portugal you must:

you can use your driving license for up to 90 days from the date of   issue of your residence document. But you must apply to IMT for an exchange during this period

• From 90 days to 2 years. You can not use your driving license. But you can still apply   to IMT for an exchange during this period 

• After 2 years.  You can't use your driving license. You can apply for the exchange of your licence. But you will have to pass a practical driving test

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Documents you will need to exchange the driving licence:

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 medical certificate

 Residence permit

 ​Certificate of authenticity of the driving license, issued by the issuing entity or consular service, indicating the categories obtained by examination (and what type of test) and the categories obtained by equivalence 

 Driving licence 

 A certified translation of your driving licence, if the content is in any language other than portuguese. The certification must be carried out by the Portuguese Consulate or the consular services of another member state in the respective country of origin

 A psychological assessment certificate, if you are applying to retain vehicle categories C, D and/or E  - class B is a regular car and class A motocycles.

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Situation 4. Driving licences obtained in countries that are not contracting parts to international traffic conventions In this case you can not drive in Portugal, unless you ask for the Exchange.

For the IMT submission the costs are 30€