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Do you need to convert your US Driver License to a Portuguese Driver License once you relocate to Portugal?  You wouldn’t think this would be a difficult question to answer!  Honestly, I hadn’t even thought of this until I heard it mentioned by an Italian national in my Portuguese class.

I’m not the person who was scouring the expat forums on Facebook before we moved to Portugal. We traveled full-time and felt the draw to Portugal, but we did little research before we came.  Once someone told me they had changed the law and I no longer needed to convert ours, I was grateful and simply forgot about it.

Fast forward a couple of years when I was reading an expat forum conversation and realized we might need to convert ours. To be frank, I still don’t really know the answer.  The law itself contradicts itself and, after consulting with lawyers on a casual basis, I’m getting conflicting answers. Let’s lay it out, and you can decide for yourself.

One Expat’s Experience with Not Converting Her License

I copied the following directly from the expat forum into a note on my phone and plan to show it to the police if they pull me over. That may or may not help. The GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) may still choose to fine me as well. I think this will depend a lot on who I am dealing with at that moment.

“Sharing our experience – hopefully it might be useful for others in a similar situation.

(1) A few days ago my husband was stopped at a GNR checkpoint near Lagoa (Algarve). After verifying his resident card, car registration, insurance and US driver license, the GNR informed him that since he was a resident, he can no longer drive with a US license in Portugal. 

(2) We are under the age of 60 years with a valid US license. Under the new law passed a couple of years ago, we, as residents, are eligible to drive with this license. 

(3) We shared this information with him. But he did not seem to know about it and fined us 300 euros.

(4) The next day we went to IMT (IMT Serviço de Atendimento, similar to DMV) Faro to make sure we understood the law correctly – IMT confirmed our understanding and said we should not have paid the fine. They also said it should be sufficient to show the website with the law to GNR.

(5) We then went to the GNR office and presented the entire case. After checking with IMT, which included numerous internal conversations, the GNR folks in that office agreed with us and said we should not have paid the fine!

(6) They refunded the 300 euros and also annotated the printout of the law to keep in our car in case we are stopped in the future to show the officials.

Stuff happens. But we love how open to reason and responsive the GNR officials were to accept their error and fix it. They were all polite, professional and solutions-oriented! 🙏”

The comments on this chain varied, and I went down the rabbit hole on whether we also need to have this in our car or what the deal is with this.

A Review of Portuguese Authorities You Should Be Aware as an Expat

Let’s cover a few of the authorities involved in this question. Coming to Portugal, we didn’t know about any of these! It’s helpful to understand the terminology as we dive into this together.

GNR in Portugal

The GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) is one of Portugal’s main law enforcement agencies. It is a military police force responsible for maintaining public order and security, particularly in rural and suburban areas. Unlike regular police forces, the GNR operates under the Ministry of Internal Administration, but is structured as a military organization.

Think GNR = military.

Difference Between the GNR and Regular Police (PSP)

Portugal has two primary police forces, each with distinct roles:

GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) – Military Police

• Covers rural and suburban areas.
• Operates under military structure and follows military-style hierarchy.
• Handles traffic enforcement, highway patrols, border security and rural policing.
• Often responsible for major road incidents, customs control and environmental protection.
• Assists with civil protection operations during emergencies and natural disasters.
• Manages tourist police units in some regions.

PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública) – Civilian Police

• Covers urban areas and large cities.
• Operates under a civilian structure.
• Handles crime prevention, investigations and public safety in urban settings.
• Manages emergency response, crowd control and policing of large events.
• Issues ID cards and firearm permits.

Which Police Should You Call?

• For emergencies, dial 112, which is Portugal’s equivalent of 911.  The call center will direct you to the appropriate police force.
• If you’re in a rural area, the GNR is more likely to respond.
• If you’re in a city, the PSP will typically handle the situation.
• For traffic-related issues (especially outside cities), the GNR is in charge.

AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo) – Agency for Foreigners

If you are serious about moving to Portugal or already have moved, you are well aware of this agency. When we moved to Portugal in 2021, this agency’s name was SEF and I heard about it all the time.

Our immigration lawyer told me Portugal changed the name for PR reasons. Apparently, there was a deal of an immigrant by an SEF officer. I can’t confirm any of that, but it makes sense they would change the name.

The Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA), or Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, is Portugal’s public institute responsible for managing immigration, asylum and integration policies.  Established on October 29, 2023, AIMA assumed many administrative functions previously handled by the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF), which was dissolved as part of a restructuring to separate administrative and law enforcement duties related to immigration. 

Key Responsibilities of AIMA:

Immigration Services: Processing applications for residence permits, visa extensions and managing the legal stay of foreign nationals in Portugal.

Asylum and Refugee Support: Handling asylum requests and coordinating programs for the resettlement and integration of refugees.​  We actually have some Ukrainian refugees that live with us and are seeking asylum in Portugal.

Integration Initiatives: Implementing policies and programs to facilitate the integration of immigrants into Portuguese society.​

Transition from SEF to AIMA:

The dissolution of SEF led to a redistribution of its functions:​

AIMA: Took over administrative tasks related to immigration and asylum.

Public Security Police (PSP) and National Republican Guard (GNR): Assumed responsibilities for border control and other law enforcement duties formerly managed by SEF.​

Judiciary Police (PJ): Became responsible for investigating illegal immigration and human trafficking cases.​

IMT in Portugal

The IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes) is Portugal’s Institute for Mobility and Transport, responsible for regulating and overseeing transportation, road safety and driver licensing in the country.

IMT handles a wide range of mobility and transport-related tasks, including:

Driver’s Licenses – Issuing, renewing and exchanging foreign driver’s licenses.

Vehicle Registration & Inspection – Managing vehicle ownership documents and roadworthiness inspections (IPO). See my post about vehicle registration and insurance in Portugal.

Public Transport Regulations – Overseeing taxis, buses and commercial transport services.

Road Safety Policies – Enforcing driving regulations and promoting traffic safety.

Driving Schools & Exams – Certifying driving schools and conducting driving tests.

IMT and Expats

For expats, IMT is the authority responsible for exchanging foreign driver’s licenses, registering foreign vehicles, and handling transport-related permits. If you need to drive in Portugal long-term, you’ll likely deal with IMT to ensure compliance with Portuguese road laws.

You can visit an IMT (The Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes) office (serviço de atendimento) or use their online portal (IMT Online) to handle many administrative processes.

Do Americans Need to Exchange Their Driver’s Licenses When They Relocate to Portugal?

Ok, now that we know some of the authorities we might be dealing with as expats, let’s get back to our question. Do we actually need to exchange our licenses?

When I sent this question to my friend Sonia with Movvinn, she told me that we absolutely do need to know since we’ve been in the country for more than two years.

I sent her the exchange above from the forum, and she said she’d ask one of their staff lawyers. I waited with bated breath! What if we’ve been driving illegally in Portugal for over a year and I had no idea?

She came back to me with the answer that we DO need to exchange.  Crap.  

She sent me to this Portuguese government website:

I sent this webpage back to her.  This is also a Portuguese government website (from IMT):

To summarize this page, it basically says the United States falls under the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) convention and you only need to convert your license if you are over 60 years old, your license is expired, your license was issued more than 15 years ago, there is an issue with your license like it is expired or revoked or if you want a different kind of license, like a commercial license.

Here is a more detailed summary:

Requirements for Validity in Portugal:

Residents with licenses from the aforementioned countries must meet the following criteria to legally drive in Portugal:

• The issuing country must be a signatory to either the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna Traffic Conventions or have a bilateral agreement with Portugal.​
• The license must have been issued or renewed within the last 15 years.​
• The license holder must be under 60 years of age.
• The license must be valid and not expired.​
• The driver must meet Portugal’s minimum age requirements for the vehicle categories specified on the license.​
• The license should not be suspended, revoked or seized in either Portugal or the issuing country.

Meeting these conditions allows residents to drive in Portugal without exchanging their foreign licenses.

Limitations and Additional Considerations:

• This acceptance is only applicable within Portugal and does not extend to other countries.​
• To obtain additional driving categories or endorsements (e.g., Group II for TVDE or children’s transport, CAM, CQM), exchanging the foreign license for a Portuguese one is mandatory.
• The exchange process requires a medical evaluation, submission of necessary documentation (e.g., residence permit, tax residence certificate), and may involve other assessments depending on the categories sought.

In addition to this, the US Embassy says that US citizens in Portugal need to exchange their license after 185 days in Portugal!

WELL… if that isn’t clear as mud, right?

My Interpretation of All of This

While it’s very confusing and these two government sites seem to contradict each other, the only thing I come back to is actually what kind of agreement Portugal has with your home country.

There are bilateral agreements, and there are Signatories to Transit Conventions.  The United States falls under the second category.  The website Sonia sent to me (the second screenshot) references bilateral agreement countries. 

Eventually, after stressing about this for a few days, I came to this conclusion:  The law is confusing enough, but there is a government website and a written law, Decree-Law No. 46/2022, effective from August 1, 2022, that both state I can use my driver’s license from the US.

I am not over 60, my license is valid and I have no problems with my license. I plan to renew my US license when that time comes and stick to this for now.  Also, I have this website printed in both English and Portuguese in both of our cars.

Take note this doesn’t allow you to reside in another EU country for an extended period and have your US license, but unless you plan to stay more than 90 days, I wouldn’t worry about this.

Now, some expats do not ever plan to return to the United States and are choosing to convert their licenses voluntarily. Let’s dive into that.

How to Exchange Your US Driver License for a Portuguese Driver License as an Expat

If you are in the boat of “better safe than sorry” and want to exchange your license anyway, what does that look like?  Can you still use your Portuguese license in the US?

The Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes (IMT) manages the process. Here’s a detailed breakdown:​

1. Obtain a Residency Permit

Ensure you have legal residency status in Portugal before initiating the exchange process.​  This should have happened before you are really considering this anyway.  However, you may get to Portugal on the “temporary entry permit” that you get when your visa is approved and have to wait for your first appointment with AIMA.  Don’t try to apply until you have your physical residency card.  Sadly, this can take a year or more.

2. Gather Required Documents

Valid US Driver License: Ensure your license is current and not expired.​  If it is, you’ll need to go back to the US and renew.  Trust me, you do NOT want to have to go to Portuguese driving school.  We’ve had several nannies that have done this, and it’s like 300 hours of both classroom and practical training.  And it’s really, really hard.

For this reason, we plan to help our daughter get her license in the US and practice there.  Once she is 18, she can use her US license and an International Driver Permit.

Certified Translation: While not always mandatory, having an official translation of your US license can be beneficial.​  From what I’ve seen on forums, just get this done and get it apostilled (certified for international use) to be safe.  According to the US Embassy website: 

• An abstract of driving record from the issuing authority in the last state of residence in the United States. Here is the contact info for the DMV. The abstract must attest to the authenticity of the driving license, date of issue and expiration date, class of vehicles that you may drive and any suspension and revocation.

The abstract must be authentic. The authentication process, or “Apostille”, will be requested from the State authority.

Residency Card: Proof of your legal residency in Portugal.​

• NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal): Your Portuguese tax identification number.​
• Medical Certificate: Obtain a health certificate from a Portuguese doctor, as per IMT requirements.​  Yep, that means a physical.  I was told all Portuguese drivers at 50 have to get this done and then at regular intervals thereafter.
• IMT Application Form: Complete the official form for exchanging foreign licenses.

3. Submit Your Application
   • Visit a local IMT office or utilize their online services to submit your application. Ensure all documents are in order to prevent delays.​
   • From the IMT website:
   •   Fill out this form 

Scan the following documents: 

Residence permit 

Certificate of authenticity of the driving licence issued by the issuing entity or consular services 

Driver license 

A certified translation of your driver license, if the content is in any language other than Portuguese, French, English or Spanish.

The certification must be carried out by the Portuguese Consulate or the consular services of another member state in the respective

country of origin

A psychological assessment certificate, if you are applying to retain vehicle categories C, D and/or E. Send the form and scanned documents to trocas.estrangeiras@imt-ip.pt

4. Await Processing
   • Processing times can vary.  It’s advisable to follow up with the IMT if you experience significant delays.​  In Portugal, the squeaky wheel definitely gets the oil!

Advantages of Converting Your License to a Portuguese Driver License

Some of my expat friends swear they will never leave Portugal.  They are in the process of converting their licenses.  Why?  Converting your US license to a Portuguese driver license comes with several benefits:

• Legal Compliance: If you plan to stay in Portugal long-term, having a Portuguese license ensures you are legally covered.
  
• No Need for an International Driving Permit: Once you have a Portuguese license, you no longer need to worry about renewing an IDP annually.  To be frank, we are never asked for our International Driver Permit, but it is a pain to try and do this on visits to the US.
  
• Easier Interactions with Authorities: If you’re stopped by police or need to provide identification, a Portuguese license simplifies the process.  This is valid, right?  For now, I have printed pages of the law sites mentioned above that I plan to show if needed.
  
• European Mobility: A Portuguese license allows you to drive across all EU countries without additional permits.
  
• Insurance Benefits: Some insurance providers may offer better rates or coverage options for drivers with a local license.

What to Show the Police if You’re Pulled Over in Portugal

Driver License

Vehicle Registration Document (Documento Único Automóvel – DUA).  This is the vehicle title and registration document, confirming that the car is legally registered in Portugal.  If you are leasing the vehicle, you’ll have a lien on this document registered with the IMT.  It is the closest this to a “title” in Portugal, but in reality, the government tracks the ownership.

Car Insurance Certificate (Carta Verde – Green Card).  Proof of valid mandatory vehicle insurance in Portugal.  This used to be required to be displayed on the windshield, but no longer is.  However, we learned that lesson the hard way with a 250€ fine.

ID or Passport.  If you are a resident, your Portuguese Citizen Card (Cartão de Cidadão) or residence permit is required.  If you are a tourist, your passport or ID card from your home country is needed.

Periodic Vehicle Inspection Certificate (IPO – Inspeção Periódica Obrigatória).  If the vehicle is more than four years old, it must have a valid inspection certificate.

Proof of Road Tax Payment (IUC – Imposto Único de Circulação).  This tax must be paid annually for all registered vehicles.  You can pay this by logging into the Financias website with your NIF.

In addition to the documents previously mentioned, it’s crucial to note that:​

Reflective Vest and Triangle: While not documents, these items are mandatory to have in your vehicle and may be checked during a stop.  Also note that, for whatever reason, people never move off the road when there is a fender bender.  It drives us nuts, but they do have their vest and triangle!

So there you have it.  You now know everything I do about exchanging your driver license.  To be honest, it’s still not really clear, is it?  For now, we are sticking with our US licenses, but someday we may convert them.  We do plan to stay for the next few years at least!

In the meantime, we will enjoy driving around beautiful Portugal.

Additional Readings

Renting, Buying, or Shipping a Car in Portugal

Understanding Electricity Charges and Providers in Portugal

Moving Your Family to Portugal from the United States: What to Know