Pilotabroad

Sorry to be the class dunce needing things to be dumbed down but even after reading the above, the embassy, speaking to IMT, I still cant fathom what happens next week (brexit day 31st).

I've been resident a year.
I've had my licence validation letter that I carry around.
I tried to sort the swap over to Portuguese licence today but got the runaround.

Now having to consider flight changes etc next week at great cost as I really cant tell if it is essential to swap before Jan 31st, before Dec 31st, dont swap, anything inbetween. (REALLY want to avoid doing a Portuguese test having not learned enough of the language yet)

As I say, sorry for being the dunce but would appreciate opinions on the above.

This official document confused me even more as it seemed to read that if you were over 90days resident it meant even more confusion...

www.imt-ip.pt › DocumentsPDF
Brexit FAQ – Driving Licences 1. I am a British citizen and I live in Portugal ... - IMT

Pilotabroad

Hopefully this works

mfesharne

Assuming a UK passport & licence.........No you don't have to change before the end of the month but at this moment no-one knows how long you'll have as no-one knows for sure if there will be a transition period or not but either way you will have 2 years after the end of Brexit with or without the transition period.

The old law said 90 days but it was changed to 2 years about 10 days ago.

But the exchange process is easy so why are they giving you the run around?

Red Eric

I agree with mfesharne about the increase in the window for exchanging licences to 2 years.

However, aside from that (seeing as it doesn't seem to have worked its way onto the IMT and other sites yet), according to this version of that official document (and which is currently on the IMT website) with or without a transition period, registered residents would already have had until 31st December 2020 to exchange their licences. I assume yours is an earlier version which you've saved?

Pilotabroad

Two of the usual suspects answering eh?...... thank god/Allah/buddha for you guys!

To be honest I was confident I was ok for the rest of 2020 to sort it until I read that leaflet and saw.....

"Point 3 final bullet point, within the price breakdown of those who have regustered their uk licence and will now have to exchange for a Portugal issued license AND have been resident for more than 90days.... fees include €15 for learner permit, €30 for practical test"

Pilotabroad

Red Eric.... it may indeed be an old version but it's still on the imt website as I only downloaded it yesterday.

mfesharne.... to be fair not just imt giving the runaround. Though last year I'd read here and other places that the imt may or may not require a medical so when I decided to register my licence at Santerem I asked about whether required when I did and after a look through my details etc was told no I didnt. Surprise yesterday they said I did require one, when asked about whether it was janwa1st or dec31st deadline recieved a shrug of the shoulders and "who knows". Found a medical centre who wanted €45 then said they couldn't imput it as not enough boxes to complete the uk driving licence number so its impossible (tip for others that box is only filled by Portuguese registered licence holders if applying for a new one due expiry), eventually back office to be told the people who deal with licences had finished early!

Hence the stress.... yes I realise I could of swapped earlier but specific personal reasons prevented that.

Can I ask exactly where the 2year change is written?
I tried the earlier link but seemed to be info relevant to licence plates?

Red Eric

Think I may have solved that mystery - it appears it might coincidentally have been updated (or updated again) on that page only yesterday. The whole site seems to be being updated or upgraded at the mo - maybe there's been some fallout as a result.



It's definitely in there :

mfesharne

IMT have the 2 worst websites known to man I reckon............... One doesn't work at all & the other only works sporadically.

Pilotabroad

Cheers guys, your contributions are always invaluable and appreciated

orangeblossom

If you are currently near London, you could try to find out about getting a one year international permit. Many years ago, I was moving to north Africa and in those days you had to wait monhs for a driving test so couldln't get a test before I was due to leave. I took an international test in London and got a one year permit to drive, pretty much world wide (the test was much easier than the UK test). At the time the test was only available in London but the test probably doesn't apply for those who already have a full licence. If this permit still exists then you should be able to get such a permit on top of your UK licence and you could then use it while the PT authorities have your UK licence in their hands.

DoubleFilms

This is all good stuff, but do as a resident do we still need to register our licences within the shorter time limit?

Or do we now have 2 years to register as well as to exchange them?

Red Eric

No, you must at least register the licence within 60 days of fixing residence in Portugal. Once that's done, you'll have a larger window in which to effect the exchange, which is currently given on the government websites as having to be done by 31st December 2020 for UK licence holders. That will probably be updated soon (given the recent law change) to allow 2 years from the start of residency, athough we can't yet be 100% certain of that.

Alternatively, you can just go straight for the exchange within the initial 60 days.

Bomber Harris

Outras Situações

Bomber Harris

Permit me to throw the proverbial cat amongst the pidgeons.

It has been suggested in a previous post that non EU driving licences (which a UK licence now is since 01/02/20) don't have to be exchanged within 90 days and can now be exchanged within 2 years. I have strong doubts that is not in fact the case, for the following reasons by referencing the RHLC (Regulamento da Habilitação Legal para Conduzir) which is the Portuguese driving licence law.
Section 125.4 states - Após fixação da residência em Portugal, o titular das licenças referidas no número anterior deve proceder à troca do título de condução, no prazo de 90 dias.

The legislation referred to in the post that suggests it is now 2 years did not in fact alter Section 125.4, it altered Section 128.7(c). Section 128 deals with the circumstances that may arise on exchanging for a Portuguese driving licence that would require a Portuguese driving test to be taken.
Section 128.7(c) previously stated - Não for requerida a troca do título estrangeiro no prazo estabelecido no n.º 4 do artigo 125º.

Whilst I wouldn't claim to know the exact answer my personal belief is that the period to exchange has not been extended to 2 years because Section 125 hasn't been altered. It must still be exchanged within 90 days of becoming resident but whereas previously from day 91 it expired and became worthless resulting in the need for a PT driving test to be taken the change has only made it comparable to an expired Portuguese driving licence in that whist it made have expired no test is required provided it hasn't expired longer than 2 years.

The post that suggested the period to exchange had gone from 90 days to 2 years perhaps didn't read the link they provided, the relevant part being (I've used capital letters for emphasis).
"The period of exchange of national and foreign driving licenses is also extended, after obtaining residence in national territory, WITHOUT THE NEED TO PERFORM THE PRACTICAL TEST, going from 90 days to two years."

If I hadn't already exchanged my UK licence I would err on the side of caution and ensure I exchanged before 31/12/20 as per the official info from IMT.

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

Red Eric

That's a very attentive reading - I'd completely missed that.

So it looks like it remains that you have a limited period in which the licence is valid for driving on, and you're obliged to exchange very shortly after establishing residency if you want to continue doing so.

But you can exchange beyond that period without having to sit a test and you're not breaking any laws or risking any sanctions as long as you're not actually driving.