Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence in Portugal

• Whether you need to exchange your licence at all — and how simply — depends on where it was issued: EU/EEA, an OECD/CPLP or convention country, or neither.
• EU/EEA licences don't need exchanging until they expire, but you must register your Portuguese address with IMT within 60 days of becoming a resident.
• Licences from OECD, CPLP, or other convention countries can keep driving on the original past residency (within age and issue-date limits), and voluntary exchange skips the driving test.
• With no agreement in place, you'll need to sit a Portuguese theory and practical driving test to get a Portuguese licence.

If you're moving to Portugal and already hold a driving licence, whether — and how — you need to exchange it for a Portuguese one depends entirely on the country that issued it. EU and EEA licences barely need anything at first; licences from further afield can mean anything from a simple paperwork swap to a full Portuguese driving test.

The three routes: EU/EEA, reciprocity, or neither

Portugal splits foreign licences into three broad groups, and which one yours falls into decides how much — if any — exchanging you actually have to do.

• EU and EEA licences: valid in Portugal for as long as they remain valid in the country that issued them — no exchange is required simply because you moved. You do, however, have to register your Portuguese address with IMT within 60 days of establishing residence, free of charge; skipping this can cause problems later with renewals or points penalties.
• Reciprocity-agreement countries (OECD member states, CPLP countries, and other signatories to the Geneva or Vienna road traffic conventions): since Decreto-Lei n.º 46/2022, holders of licences from countries such as the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and several others can keep driving on their original licence after becoming resident, as long as it was issued less than 15 years ago, they're under 60, and it's still valid. Exchanging voluntarily skips the driving test entirely — you just need a Portuguese medical certificate (and a psychological certificate for heavier categories).
• Convention countries outside that reciprocity list: exchange is possible with a certificate of authenticity from your original licensing authority, but you have 90 days from establishing residence to submit the request — after that you lose the right to drive on the foreign licence and need a practical test; after two years, both theory and practical exams become mandatory.
• No agreement at all with Portugal: exchange isn't available — you'll need to go through the standard process for a first Portuguese licence, including theory and practical driving tests.

Documents you'll need

• Your original foreign licence (surrendered when your Portuguese one is issued).
• A valid ID document or residence permit, plus your NIF.
• Proof of address in Portugal.
• An electronic medical fitness certificate from a Portuguese-registered doctor — a certificate from your home country isn't accepted.
• A psychological certificate, for categories C, D and their combinations (heavy goods and passenger vehicles).
• For non-EU/EEA licences: a certificate of authenticity from the original issuing authority (valid no more than 6 months), with a certified translation if it isn't already in Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, or German.

How to request the exchange

1. 1
   Check whether your country has a reciprocity agreement

   Confirm whether your licence's country of issue is an EU/EEA member, falls under Portugal's OECD/CPLP reciprocity rules or another Geneva/Vienna Convention arrangement, or has no agreement with Portugal at all — this determines everything that follows.

2. 2
   Gather your documents

   You'll typically need your original licence, a valid ID document or residence permit, your NIF, proof of your Portuguese address, and an electronic medical fitness certificate from a Portuguese-registered doctor (plus a psychological certificate for heavier vehicle categories). Non-EU/EEA licences also need a certificate of authenticity from the original issuing authority, translated if it isn't already in Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, or German.

3. 3
   Submit your exchange request through IMT Online

   Since 21 January 2026, servicos.imt-ip.pt is the only channel for this — in-person submissions at an IMT counter or Loja de Cidadão are no longer accepted. You'll need Chave Móvel Digital or IMT credentials to log in.

4. 4
   Pay the exchange fee

   The standard exchange fee is €30, plus €30 for a driving test if one is required for your case.

5. 5
   Receive your Portuguese licence, or sit a test if there's no agreement

   If your country has no reciprocity or convention arrangement with Portugal, you'll need to pass a theory and practical driving test before IMT issues your card. Otherwise, a provisional paper licence covers you in Portugal while the physical card — officially about 60 days, though longer waits are common — is mailed to your registered address.

Exchanging costs €30 whichever category you're in; if a driving test turns out to be required, add another €30 for that, or €15 for a learner's permit.

Two different IMTs — don't mix them up

If you've spent any time researching Portuguese taxes, you'll have run into a different IMT: Imposto Municipal sobre as Transmissões Onerosas de Imóveis, the property transfer tax charged when you buy real estate. It has nothing to do with driving licences. The IMT that handles your licence exchange is the Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes — the transport authority — and its portal is servicos.imt-ip.pt, entirely separate from the Finanças system that collects the property tax.

While you wait

A provisional paper licence covers you in Portugal while your application is processed — officially around 60 days, though several months is common in practice. It's only valid within Portugal, though: it doesn't let you drive in other EU countries or hire a car abroad, so if you'll need to drive outside Portugal during that window, keep your original licence's home-country validity current, or get an International Driving Permit issued from it before you hand it over.