How do you convert a foreign driving licence in Portugal in 2026?

IMT states that a valid EU or EEA licence remains recognised in Portugal until the expiry printed on the document. After you establish residence, you must register that Portuguese residence with IMT within 60 days. Registration is free according to IMT’s EU guidance. You may also request a full exchange for a Portuguese licence if you want one.

Keep the physical foreign licence valid. An international driving permit is not a stand-alone substitute for the underlying national document.

For many convention or reciprocity countries, IMT describes tourist driving for a limited period before residence is fixed, then stricter clocks once a residence authorisation is issued. In the published convention track, you generally must file the exchange request within 90 days of the residence authorisation if you want to keep driving on the foreign title during that window. After that initial window, IMT warns that you may still apply to exchange but may no longer drive on the foreign licence. After two years, a practical test can be required to complete the exchange.

Licences from countries outside the convention lists are not valid for driving in Portugal. IMT says holders may still request an exchange, but they must pass theory and practical tests for each category. Always check IMT’s live country lists rather than a forum memory of “my nationality exchanges easily.”

IMT’s FAQ states that foreign-licence exchange requests are submitted online through the designated IMT portal, not as ordinary counter-only filings. Typical supporting items include identity or residence documents, fiscal-address evidence from Portal das Finanças when the residence card lacks an address, the original foreign licence, and medical certificates where the track requires them.

Lawful stay paperwork sits upstream: apply for a residence permit. A NIF helps with fiscal-address certificates banks and IMT may expect. If you can live without a car in Lisbon or Porto corridors, compare living without a car before you rush an exchange.