Mitzi2012

Could anyone tell me how long it will take to get Portuguese plates on a car from the time the paperwork is submitted. Thank you.

Loafing Along

Normally about 6 weeks

mfesharne

A matter of a few weeks as LA has said but before you start, do you know about the import/matriculation tax issues?

Mitzi2012

I have been given the list of paperwork that I am required to provide and I have it all bar the registering as a Resident, which we will do in June. Is there anything else I should be aware of? ( I am moving from Switzerland so my car is LHD and no modifications required.)

Loafing Along

Very important that you bring with you a document from your Town Hall that clearly states you are moving from there to take up residence in Portugal.

Mitzi2012

Yes, I will have that once I announce our departure from our local commune.

mfesharne

Mitzi

I don't know what info you've been given so here's all the info

Each adult new immigrant is allowed to import one motor vehicle free of import tax IF (note the big IF) the vehicle meets the required criteria which is:

The importer can prove the vehicle has been registered to the him/her for at least 6 months previously (in the country it's coming from) & that he/she has lived in that country for that time period, the importer must provide a Certificate of Conformity or if the vehicle was manufactured pre CoC they will accept a downloaded copy of the original sales brochure that shows the tech spec of the vehicle.

The vehicle must be standard or any (obvious) changes to the vehicle must be listed on a letter from a main dealer or manufacturer listing all changes from standard stating & that all said changes from standard are acceptable replacements.

The matriculation process must be started within 12 months of the applicant getting his/her Residencia. (it was previously 6 months) Whilst you can do the matriculation process yourself, it's much easier if you have a local agent do it for you & current (at time of writing (March 2018)) cost is usually about €400 plus the one off matriculation inspection of about €125 + annual road tax.

Road tax is calculated on engine size & emissions and priced as a new car on the date of matriculation not on year of manufacture. If you do go the tax free import route, you are not allowed to sell the car for 1 year unless you repay the tax you've previously avoided but if you did pay the tax then you can sell it any time you wish.

If you pay the import tax it's calculated on age of vehicle, engine size & emissions NOT on value & is often VERY expensive, especially for cars with large engines/high emissions & some cars can cost tens of thousands of Euros & one day difference in the date of manufacture from one year to the next can sometimes mean a massive increase/decrease in tax payable so do your research on the simulator link below very carefully.

You're allowed to keep a foreign registered car in Portugal for 180 days maximum before you either matriculate it or remove it back to the country it came from for a further 180 days. The only exception to this rule is for some (but not all) students on some (but not all) study permits

If you have a foreign registered car in Portugal, it must be taxed, tested & insured in it’s country of registration all the time it’s in Portugal & if the GNR catch you with an overstaying vehicle or without tax, test or insurance, they can & often do, permanently confiscate the vehicle which they will then sell or destroy. Note that whilst a foreign registered vehicle can be put through a Portuguese IPO/MOT inspection the pass certificate has no legal standing & is not a replacement for the test certificate from the country of origin.

During the Portuguese matriculation/registration process the vehicle has to be submitted for a one off matriculation inspection which is a greatly enhanced safety inspection which includes a rolling road test & if the vehicle comes from a country that drives on the left the headlight units will need to be changed. Beam deflectors are not acceptable.

Once matriculated the vehicle is subject to the ordinary Portuguese IPO annual inspection.

If importing from the UK you will be expected to provide a ‘Car Importation Certificate’ Details of how to obtain that here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-portugal

You can calculate the import tax (if payable) & annual road tax payable here: https://aduaneiro.portaldasfinancas....muladorISV.jsp


Act here: https://dre.pt/web/guest/pesquisa/-/...ils/normal?l=1

Note: The required ownership period prior to matriculation used to be 12 months but was reduced to 6 months in January 2018.


https://www.portaldascomunidades.mne...acao-automovel

peterfc

A day to run round and collect the paperwork and in my case a trip to the Consulate.Then an evening filling the forms in. Next day a trip to the test station then of to the Customs and by 2.14pm all done in a day.

Peter

Pilou

We started the procedure (a professional) February 20. The February 23 the MOT. On 21 of April we needed to give the official documents of the car ans we received a paper stating the we are in the procedure of getting Portuguese papers.
With these papers we cannot leave the country! We have these papers now 4 weeks.

We hope to receive very soon the provisinary papers with our new plate number. As of that moment we can replace the plates of our car. This document has a max validity of 2 months.

This whole proces is much longer than we thought.

riv

Why exactly do you say you 'cannot leave the country' ?

I understand you mean can't leave without your car but why would this be the case ?

You have commenced a registration procedure in Portugal but this has not yet been completed - so why are you any less able to travel around the EU in your car than you were prior to commencing the Portugal reg procedure ?

Does not make any sense to me but I would be interested to find out why the rules require you to keep your car within Portuguese territory.

Pilou

In fact I don't understand this either! We don't have the official documents anymore. This is replaced by a paper saying that the importation is in proces. With this paper we can only drive withing Portugal. Our agent told us that this can take 3 months. Now it is 6 weeks.

Btw the official papers are at the office of my agent! I saw them when you was looking into our file. I understand that she as an officla agent is responsible for our original documents and she needs to give them to Customs when the legal department of Customs has studied our case and the importation is OK.

That is the moment we will receive another paper with the new plate number on it. We can put Portuguese plates on the car and drive with this paper outside Portugal. This paper is valid 2 months. Within these 2 months the official papers will be send to me.

Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!! Is the the EU????