Driving Licenses Issued by OECD and CPLP Countries

You do not have to exchange your driving license if you are from a member state of CPLP or OECD (countries - Angola, Australia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, Chile, United States of America, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Mozambique, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Switzerland and Turkey).

The conditions are: 

• if you are under 60 years old;
• if you are the mandatory minimum age in Portugal to drive the vehicle(s) of the category(ies) shown on the foreign license;
• the foreign driving license is valid;
• no more than 15 years have passed since the foreign license was issued or since the last renewal;
• the country that issued the driving license is part of the transit conventions (Geneva, 1949 and/or Vienna, 1968) or has a bilateral agreement with Portugal;
• the foreign driving license is not impounded, suspended, expired or revoked in Portugal or in the country of origin.

Driving licenses obtained in the European Union or EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein)

You are allowed to drive in Portugal with your driving license until the expiration date written on the document.

If your driving license does not have an expiration date stated on it, you must register your residence. It’s a free service but it must be done within 60 days (about 2 months) after establishing residency in Portugal.

• Visit the IMT service desk in your area of residence. You can schedule your appointment 🔗here or using the SigaApp

If you have a license from a country that is not part of any Conventions:

If you have a license from this country, you are not allowed to drive in Portugal. Aside from submitting all the documents, you must:

• Pass a multimedia theoretical test and practical driving examination for each category they hold.
• Get a medical evaluation and a medical certificate. Your doctor should make it available on the electronic platform for medical certificates.
• Get a psychological evaluation if you wish to have the categories for driving heavy vehicles on your Portuguese license.
• Fill in the 🔗form and submit the following documents:
  • Residence Permit
  • Certificate of authenticity of the driving license, issued by the issuing authority or consular service. It should contain information about which categories were obtained through examination (what type of test) and the categories obtained.
  • Driving license
  • If the driving license is not in Portuguese, French, English, or Spanish, you must get an authenticated translation by the consular service of Portugal or another EU member country.
  • Certificate of psychological evaluation (if applicable)

After submitting the form, you have to wait for communication from IMT instructing you about the next steps.

* The theoretical test and practical driving examination costs 30 Euros per test. 

If you pass the driving examination (both theoretical and practical tests), your driving license will be issued, or the remaining tests will be scheduled if you wish to add more categories to your driving license.