禁漫天堂

聽 聽 I'm having a terrible time trying to change my driving licence.聽 I just get sent round in circles. Please can someone HELP ?聽 聽 聽 聽 -@quickmessage

Have a read this post > /forum/viewtopic.php?id=1015822

@quickmessage聽 The IMT who issue change of driving licences are run by inept, incompetent fools. It is known to be the slowest inefficient change service in the E.U..聽 I tried to change mine but they lost the application four times then gave me the run-a-round also. I contacted the E.U. in Brussels and was told that the E.U. set a limit of 6 weeks maximum for change of licence but even thugh all other member states comply with this, Portugal did not comply with the directive. I had letters sent from the E.U. to IMT and the E.U. were flabbergasted by the stupidity of IMT. The average time to have the licence changed is about two years. It took them 2 and a half years to process mine and then they left one catagory off and spelt my name wrong. I spoke to my solicitor about it and he advised me not to go back to get it changed as it could take another two years. He said if it is wrong just to keep the original application with the correct catagories and correct spelling with the licence and if stopped by the police show all to the police, explaining that IMT are fools.

Yes, it is such a worry. I went all the way to IMT in Faro. It was heaving and I waited over an hour, I get to the desk and the surly woman did not like the fact I could not speak Portuguese. She looked at me and told me to do it online!聽 聽I have tried to, many times and thought I had done it but I have heard nothing, so have been trying again but for some reason cannot download my information. Maybe its me being a a dizzy old lady that does not understand much about computers!聽 I am losing the will to live as my UK licence runs out next month. I am told there is a guy in Tavira that can do it, but charges a 150 euros. That seems a rip off?聽 However I think I will be forced to use his service.

聽 聽 Yes, it is such a worry. I went all the way to IMT in Faro. It was heaving and I waited over an hour, I get to the desk and the surly woman did not like the fact I could not speak Portuguese. She looked at me and told me to do it online!聽 聽I have tried to, many times and thought I had done it but I have heard nothing, so have been trying again but for some reason cannot download my information. Maybe its me being a a dizzy old lady that does not understand much about computers!聽 I am losing the will to live as my UK licence runs out next month. I am told there is a guy in Tavira that can do it, but charges a 150 euros. That seems a rip off?聽 However I think I will be forced to use his service.
聽 聽

聽 聽 -@quickmessage

Do you know anyone who speaks Portuguese to help you?

If i am not mistaken there was an article in the portugal news saying that you no longer had to exchange your driving license, we only ever registered ours at the IMT in faro in 2018 & have never had a problem with the authorities when having to show our drivers licence.

i agree the staff at the IMT faro are horrible rude very unhelpful & a 20 minute slot cost a full day waiting in faro.

we got stopped today by the police doing random checks on vehicles we showed our licences which have been renewed in the uk since we have been here no problems.

You can drive with a foreign licence in Portugal:

1. If your driving licence was issued by a country that is a member of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) or the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries).

Some countries that are part of this regime are: Angola, Australia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, Chile, United States of America, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Mozambique, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, S茫o Tom茅 and Pr铆ncipe, Switzerland and Turkey. But be aware that in order not to have to exchange your foreign driving licence for a Portuguese one, you must meet certain requirements*. We suggest you check them out in detail on the IMT online portal:

*The driver must be under 60 years old

___

2. If your driving licence is from a country that is a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area (EEA - Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, etc.),

Only until your driving licence expires. After that, you'll have to exchange it for a Portuguese driving licence. However, if you live in the country, you have 60 days from the start of your residence to register your address with the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT). This is a mandatory requirement, but the registration process is free and can be done conveniently online.

If you want to change your foreign driving licence, you must:

1. Have a medical assessment and your medical certificate must be made available by your doctor on the electronic medical certificate platform. It is not necessary to send to IMT a copy of the electronic medical certificate. Once it has been issued by the doctor, the certificate is sent electronically to IMT.

2. Click here, fill in the form :

3. and submit it with the following documentation:聽

- Residence permit;

- Copy of passport (the passport number must correspond to the one on the certificate);

- Tax residence certificate issued through the Tax Office Portal;

- Your Valid driving licence;

- Psychological assessment certificate, if you have categories C/D/E;

- Certificate of authenticity of the driving licence, issued by the issuing authority or consular office, indicating the categories obtained by examination (and what type of test) and the categories obtained by equivalence;

- Certified translation of the driving licence by the consular service of Portugal or another member state in the respective country, when its content is not in Portuguese, French, English or Spanish;

It is not necessary to send to IMT a copy of the electronic medical certificate. Once it has been issued by the doctor, the certificate is sent electronically to IMT, I.P.

After submitting the request, you must wait for a communication from the services indicating that you need to go to the IMT service desk.

Hi guys,

I was at the IMT office in Lisbon, Marvila today and handed in my old drivers license for the temporary paper license, thinking that it would only take a couple of weeks to receive the official license. I have now done some research and seen that some people wait up to 2 years to receive their official license.

I have also found out that this paper license is only valid in Portugal, but as I don鈥榯 have a car here and travel a lot, I mainly need my license outside of Portugal, so the paper license is of no use to me. Do you think it would be possible to go back to that IMT office and request my old license back until I receive the new one?

@domme91,

For Portuguese citizens:

When applying via the internet, the driving license is sent within 10 days by mail. If you apply at an IMT office, it only takes 8 days. At the other service points, you may have to wait up to 25 days to receive your new driving licence

For non-nationals:

It's likely to take another week or two. But 2 years?!!!聽 Find out from IMT, and avoid reading posts by some people that aren't true !

@JohnnyPT Thank you so much for responding to my questions! I was trying to get the info from IMT, but the lady at the IMT office in Marvila didn芒聙聵t speak a single word of english unfortunately. I was referring to what other people were saying here about how long it took them to receive their drivers license: /forum/viewtopic.php?id=1015822But if you say it is much faster, I hope and want to believe that!

聽 聽 @domme91,
For Portuguese citizens:
When applying via the internet, the driving license is sent within 10 days by mail. If you apply at an IMT office, it only takes 8 days. At the other service points, you may have to wait up to 25 days to receive your new driving licence

For non-nationals:
It's likely to take another week or two. But 2 years?!!!聽 Find out from IMT, and avoid reading posts by some people that aren't true !
聽 聽

聽 聽 -@JohnnyPT

As I have said in past posts/threads exchanging the license. The old one is sent to to Embassy of your country then sent back to your home country. The whole process can take a couple of months. By no means it can take 2 years.

@SimCityAT

Thank you so much for replying, that info helps a lot and is much appreciated

Official gov website:

Replace the driving license

Does imt send email went lisence is ready or being posted??? please reply guys

@SimCityAT聽 ****

聽 聽***聽 聽 聽-@Hairyhippy

Dont tell me things are rubbish when they are NOT! More fool your friends if they waited 2 years.

@Hairyhippy Thank you for the info, much appreciated! So at least I know I can use the paper license along with photos of my old license without needing to worry about it, appreciate the info!

@Hairyhippy Do you know someone I could contact that could get it to me sooner?

@SimCityAT聽 聽 No, I don't.

聽 聽 @SimCityAT聽 聽 No, I don't.
聽 聽

聽 聽 -@quickmessage

You can contact the Embassy to assist you.

Really ?聽 聽In Lisbon?

Unfortunately, some pockets of corruption have been detected at the IMT and are being analysed. The solution is to report them to the PSP/GNR police or report this here (*), and not to continue "fuelling" this problem...

_____

(*) IMT Reporting channel

You can do this anonymously. Fill this form:

@JohnnyPT

An update - apologies if I have missed anything elsewhere.

I have come across information which indicates that as residents in Portugal holding full and valid driving licences issued in the UK or Gibraltar, we can drive in Portugal on our current licences until they expire.

The Agreement between the Portuguese Republic and the United Kingdom was approved in Portugal by Decreto n.潞 29-A/2023, de 30 de novembro (Di谩rio da Rep煤blica, 1.陋 s茅rie, n.潞 230) and entered into force on 31 December 2023.

Under Article 3(1)鈥�(2) of that Agreement, a valid UK driving licence is recognised in Portugal for the full period of its validity, and the only additional requirement foreseen is that Portugal may require notification of residence (Gov.uk also notes that the IMT website currently indicates that the online system for registering foreign licences is not available).

The Agreement does not establish a general obligation for immediate exchange of a valid licence, except in specific circumstances such as expiry, renewal, loss, theft, or category change.

I am aware that Decreto-Lei n.潞 46/2022, de 12 de julho (in force since 1 August 2022) and the corresponding pages on gov.pt set out a general regime for OECD/CPLP countries, including conditions such as being under 60 years of age and an obligation to exchange within 2 years. However, as the bilateral Agreement of 13 October 2023 (approved by Decreto n.潞 29-A/2023) is now in force, I understand that its provisions prevail for UK licences, and that no such restrictions apply: recognition is for the entire period of validity of the licence.

IMT/Gov.pt sites appear to have overlooked this bilateral agreement. Gov.uk says: A bilateral agreement between the UK and Portugal on the mutual recognition and exchange of driving licences entered into force on 31 December 2023. This means that if you are resident in Portugal and hold a full and valid driving licence issued in the UK or Gibraltar, you can:

drive in Portugal on your current licence until it expires.

Any thoughts/clarifications apprecaited!

@northernlites

Good morning I am german with a British licence. Following residency had to exchange my licence to a portuguese one , I am driving a registered portugues car and no insurance will accept a British licence, as you cannot leave your car on uk plates.

@northernlites
Good morning I am german with a British licence. Following residency had to exchange my licence to a portuguese one , I am driving a registered portugues car and no insurance will accept a British licence, as you cannot leave your car on uk plates. - @4betterorworse

I'm confused, what license do you have, a UK or a Portuguese license? Does your car have British number plates?

Item 8 on the front on UK licence聽 (not license) is聽 聽 聽" the licence holder鈥檚 permanent address in Great Britain" .聽 聽 So being resident in Portugal how does your "valid licence" have holder's permanent address in the Great Britain ?聽 Sounds like it's not a valid licence to me..

@SimCityAT

I have a portuguese driving licence as per requirement with a portuguese car and plate

Not sure if this is the correct group/forum, but just wanted to share that I successfully exchanged my USDL for a PTDL today! Emigrated to PT in Sep 2024, got residency in Nov 2024, bought a car in Dec 2024, got resident card in Mar 2024 and hit a brick wall to exchange my USDL. (My fault bc I forgot the apostille and didn鈥檛 get it until Jun 2025 馃槵馃樀鈥嶐煉�).

I was finally able to submit my docs online (was told they actually had to rebuild the entire system - which sounds right bc I noticed it was out of commission practically all summer (Jun-Aug)). Anyway, I was finally able to submit on Aug 26 and it took approximately 6 weeks before I got an email advising my docs were 鈥渁provado鈥�. The email contained a link to make an appointment to bring in my hard copy docs (which I did two days later [today]).

Once at IMT, the exchange was painless and quick (approx 15 mins). I sat down, she snapped a photo, I signed an electronic pad, she entered more info, asked for my hard copy resident permit and USDL, she kept my USDL (as expected), returned my resident permit, confirmed where I wanted to receive my PTDL, printed the temp license, thanked me, and wished me 鈥渂om dia鈥�. I said 鈥渕uito obrigada e tenho bom dia鈥� and I 鈥渉it the road Jack鈥�! 馃榿

I share this in the hopes that it might help someone who may be experiencing the same frustrations I did, and to encourage you not to give up. Just patiently wait knowing that you鈥檝e done your part by submitting all of your docs. Hopefully this rebuilt system will facilitate exchanges quicker. Wishing you all success in your exchanges!!

Just an update on my DL exchange: 26/8/25 online submission, 16/10/25 in-person appt (to exchange docs), 23/10/25 physical DL ready for pick up (I chose to pick up in-person bc didn鈥檛 want to chance any CTT/mail delivery/having to be home to sign challenges). Received email that it was ready on 23/10/25 and earliest pick up appt was 28/10/25.

Seems that the new system is working smoothly (at least for me) bc I feel like the time between the submission of my docs and the time for pick up was quick. 馃殫馃殭

While you are celebrating this wonderful performance, I think that the whole process is mad. Why would they take away your existing DL to issue you with a new DL. Imagine people moving from place to place every few years. Other countries are doing much better, I think.

At times I had 5 DLs because countries issued their DL without taking away an existing DL. The shortest time for getting a new DL was in Dubai where the process from application to having the new DL took 45 minutes.

While you are celebrating this wonderful performance, I think that the whole process is mad. Why would they take away your existing DL to issue you with a new DL. Imagine people moving from place to place every few years. Other countries are doing much better, I think.
At times I had 5 DLs because countries issued their DL without taking away an existing DL. The shortest time for getting a new DL was in Dubai where the process from application to having the new DL took 45 minutes. - @TGCampo

Not strange at all, its very common all over the world.

Oh well, it鈥檚 their country and their rules, so, there you have it.