Red Eric

With apologies for quoting myself, I'm going to return to this for one moment in the light of some info very helpfully posted on the France forum by Eurotrash.
The following, from the European Commission, explicitly forbids the issuing of the existing docs to UK nationals after 1st Jan :
Brexit Readiness: treating UK nationals at the external Schengen borders and related issues

(note last point)

So, unless the authorities here are going to be flexible about issuing the about-to-be-introduced WA residence document, which they're currently saying can only be obtained by holders of one of the existing EU docs, that could be problematic for the late arrivals who don't get a certificate of registration of residence prior to 31st Dec.

wellinever

Even more important that I find out what will be needed to extend the 90 day in 180 day rule as far as Portugal is concerned, or a quick dash to the camara to apply for residency.
Eric
did you look at the 60 or 90 day question regarding change of driving license?

Red Eric

60 days from fixing residence is definitely the requirement doing something about driving licences for EU citizens.

The 90 days was to apply to UK licence holders both in the event of a no agreement Brexit (when that was previously on the cards before the transition period was agreed) and for new residents arriving post transition period end.

So as far as I'm concerned, the logical position is that if you get registered prior to the end of the transition period, you exchange your licence within 60 days and if that period expires before you start the process, you may be liable to be required to take a test.

I could be wrong, but I'd err on the side of caution if it were me.

wellinever

So in your opinion is that the IMT has not updated their published info to reflect the facts??

Red Eric

Which facts are you referring to?

wellinever

this is the page to which I was referring a post or two previously

http://www.imt-ip.pt/sites/IMTT/Port...06-03-2020.pdf

wellinever

It might be that the pdf to which i refer does not refer to the precise point I was seeking clarification on.
the 90 day period would appear to talk about those becoming resident after 31st Dec, giving 90 days in that case.
But its does not mention the 60 day timescale to change a license.

Red Eric

Intriguing.

It appears to be a more recent and rather better reflection of the current scenario than the one that's most easily visible to me when visiting the IMT website

It not only clears up the whole business about the 90 days vs 2 years but also puts to bed any need for further discussion on the matter of the Certificate of Authenticity not presently being required for UK licences.

I wonder why it isn't the one that's linked to in Drivers / Brexit off the main menu And why that whole 2 year business in general isn't better explained up front in the Exchange foreign licence section on there so that nobody gets the false impression that new residents from any number of countries are good to drive on their foreign licence during that entire period, which is actually the way it reads at the moment.

How did you access it?
Yes, it doesn't explicitly spell out the current requirements for people relocating within the transition period. It's mentioned that the licence remains valid but not the requirement to either register or exchange within 60 days.

It does say what happens at the end of the transition period for those who have complied by registering their licences but not yet exchanged, though.

wellinever

hi red
its an odd site.the first link i put up is no longer there??? It says page not found.
the most recent link came from my searching the word Brexit, which is what I did in the first place.
Now I have just done that again and I get what is possibly what you have seen which is this link

http://www.imt-ip.pt/sites/IMTT/Port...20ENG%20v2.pdf

wellinever

Its as clear as mud to me, if I applied for and got residency during December, how could I or anyone else exchange their license before end december in the event of a deal?
I cant hep thinking that in the event of a deal, that the UK and Portugal might not keep the same recognition of licenses in both countries as is the case now

Red Eric

Ah, right.

Yes, I've found docs on that site by doing Google searches but if the stuff isn't obviously available off the menus and isn't dated, I'm wary about citing it.

Well my thinking is that whatever arises subsequently, anybody registering residence between now and the end of the transition period then has 60 days to initiate the licence exchange. Agreement or no makes no difference to that at this stage, to my mind.

Bomber Harris

Driving licences aren't part of the negotiations as there is already an agreement, it's called the International Treaty on Road Traffic. If it were not for that Treaty whereby countries that have signed up to it agree to recognise each other's driving licences a UK licence couldn't be exchanged for a PT licence.
You can start the exchange online as soon as you have registered residency.

There is no 60 days to exchange licences, the 60 days is for EU licence holders to register their EU licence with IMT, and a UK licence ceased to be an EU licence the day the UK left the EU - 31st January 2020. It's only the Withdrawal Agreement that has given UK licence holders a stay of execution from the 90 days rule being applied until midnight 31/12/20. From 01/01/21 it will be enforced, so anyone who got residency more than 90 days before 31/12/20 is going to be unlicenced on 01/01/21 if the haven't applied for the exchange.

Red Eric

I stand corrected on the 60 days, then.

Thanks.

wellinever

From 01/01/21 it will be enforced, so anyone who got residency more than 90 days before 31/12/20 is going to be unlicenced on 01/01/21 if the haven't applied for the exchange.

So does that mean that if I take out residency on 20 December 2020 that I would have until 90 days after that date to request the exchange ?

Bomber Harris

The circumstances you describe means your licence would only be valid for driving for the first 90 days of becoming resident, day one being the 20th December, after that it it isn't a valid driving licence and it would be illegal for you to drive. It can still be exchanged without taking a Portuguese driving test until the 20th December 2022.
The 2 year validity for exchange is exactly the same period an expired Portuguese licence can be renewed without a re-test)