steppitoe

AFPOP are just clarifying this with IMTT because of the problems people have being experiencing.

Current advices is to register your licence with IMTT.

daisyman1951

If AFPOP crack this one I may very well join! Be grateful if you let me know what they say?

PT_Cruiser

Actually, you don't need to exchange your UK driving licence to drive in PT even after becoming resident, IMTT requests the registration of your UK licence number probably to create an offence list just in case you do something serious, and I believe that you can use it the same way on any EU country.

PT_Cruiser

That GNR was probably taking advantage of the fact that you are not aware of the Portuguese driving law (he knows that you are not a native, some of them take the shot). You would not lose your license, you would pay a 120€ fine, you would lose your licence for 1 month only if you had any previous "serious" offence, the first one is always suspended. You can assume it like this: first serious offence is 6 points and the second is 6 points = 12 (Driving ban for up to 24 months, will depend on certain criteria). Any "very serious" offence it's similar to 12 points (immediate ban). Any "light" offences are not recorded, so they are 0 points. Be aware that even with a foreign licence you can still attend to court in case of a "very serious" offence (e.g. alcohol over 1,2 g/litre), however, it is likely that you pay the fine only, I believe that authorities cannot take your foreign licence from you.
In general, the best option is to register your UK licence with IMTT and keep it, GNR or PSP can't do nothing about it, do not exchange it for a PT one, you don't need it, not even for insurance purposes, car insurance is cheap in PT and I think you can transfer NCB. Unlike me, I had to exchange my PT licence for a UK one, because car insurance in the UK is extremely expensive.

steppitoe

IMTT have confirmed that until your licence expires, as long as it is valid and has a expiry date on it and you have registered it with IMTT, there is no requirement to change it to a PT one.

It would appear that the two year rule applies if you have a licence without and expiry date.

When your licence expires you should then change over to licence of your country of residence.

gedscottish

Unfortunatly the other day Mr Brigada Transito decided to fine me also for crossing a continuous white line. 49€, I never had cash or a bank card so he took my licence! Just need to pay the fine and make a 110km round trip to pick it up! He did ask why I never had a PT licence, I was just about to argue that I did not legally need one but instead opted to lie to him and tell him that I live between both countries.

Regarding car insurance, you trying the Portuguese they get cheap insurance! You can't transfer your insurance history to the UK, they won't accept it?

PT_Cruiser

Don't forget the fact that if you normally live less than 185 days in a 12 month period in the UK, your UK driving licence is not legal, I'm not sure how things works in PT regarding that matter, but some of my friends that are expats in France and Switzerland keep their PT licences and live normally there. However, if you mention to GNR or PSP that you normally live in the UK and that you actually have an address there, and that you are just on PT spending 3 months vacation, I think that they will not bother with that, and they will let you go, unless you keep a high profile .
Be aware that PT licences can be temporarily taken away if someone don't have the means to pay the fine immediately, some patrol vehicles have portable debit card readers. It's ridiculous, however, I think that is illegal for authorities to take away a driving licence issued on a foreign country, I have to confirm that.

Regarding to insurance, I was with AXA in PT, I have requested my NCB in years and not in percentage, but I'm still waiting for their reply. The problem is that I transfered my policy in PT to my sister's name because she bought my PT car and kept my "bonus discount". NCB works in a different way in PT, I will assume that I will pay as 0 years NCB.

gedscottish

There is a bit of debate as to a UK licence being legal or not, I would like to see it in black and white as EU rules suggest its legal?!
Unfortunately with local GNR I have no chance of getting away with telling them I am here part time as most know me(which has proved to be a good thing on several occasions)
I would be very interested to see if what the traffic Police did was in fact legal or not by taking my licence. Although I complain they make complicate things further

Your insurance policy could not have been changed over to your sisters name(driver they could change but policy holder no) but they may have accepted to have transferred the bonus onto a new policy in her name. If you have no joy from AXA, send me a PM with the registration number(and previous registrations) and I will send you a record of your insurance history via email.(showing dates/years/sinistros recorded.) But be aware that it is up to the UK insurance company as to whether or not they accept the proof of bonus, they are in no way obliged to do so(PT companies often only accept when it is the same vehicle that has been imported) The French usually accept it, I have no idea about the british!