Driving in Portugal with a US License: Exchange, IDP and Rules (2026)

Moving to Portugal from the US and wondering if you can keep driving on your state license? In most cases, yes. Since 2022, Portugal lets people with a US license keep driving here after they become residents, as long as a few conditions hold. And if you want a Portuguese license, you can swap yours without taking a driving test.

This guide starts with the American case: visiting, becoming a resident, exchanging your license, and the International Driving Permit. After that it covers EU licenses, licenses from other countries, and getting a first license in Portugal.

Quick note before you start: this is general information, not legal advice. Driving rules change, and IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes, the agency that handles licenses) has the final word on your case. Confirm your own situation with IMT or an adviser before you rely on it.

The short answer

• Visiting? A valid US license works. The State Department's Portugal page says you can drive on it for up to six months.
• Living here? You can keep driving on your US license while it's valid, you're under 60, and it was issued or last renewed less than 15 years ago.
• Want a Portuguese license? You can exchange a US license without a driving test. You need a medical certificate, and IMT charges €30.
• An International Driving Permit is not a license. It only works alongside your US license, and it stops helping once you're a resident.

Driving in Portugal with a US license

As a visitor

On a holiday or a scouting trip, a valid US license is enough. Portugal's road code, the Código da Estrada, recognises licenses from OECD countries, and the US is one of them (article 125). The State Department puts it simply: you can drive in Portugal with a US license for up to six months.

Your license has to be valid and not suspended, and you need to meet Portugal's minimum age for the vehicle. For a car that's 18.

If you're 60 or over, or your license was issued or last renewed more than 15 years ago, you're still fine as a tourist, just under a different rule. The US signed the 1949 Geneva road traffic convention (IMT's list), and article 125 lets holders of convention licenses drive for the first 185 days after they enter Portugal, as long as they aren't resident.

Renting a car? Some rental companies ask for an International Driving Permit even when the law doesn't. Check your booking terms before you fly.

Once you're a resident: how long your US license stays valid

This is where Portugal changed the rules. Decreto-Lei 46/2022, in force since 1 August 2022, lets holders of licenses from OECD and CPLP countries keep driving in Portugal after they become residents, without exchanging. IMT lists the United States among the countries covered.

There's no fixed deadline. Your US license keeps working for as long as all of these are true:

• It's valid, not expired.
• It was issued or last renewed less than 15 years ago.
• You're under 60.
• You meet Portugal's minimum age for the vehicle.
• It hasn't been seized, suspended or cancelled, in Portugal or in the US.

The day one of those stops being true, your license no longer qualifies under this rule. For a lot of retirees, the one to watch is turning 60. If you're 58 or 59 and planning to stay, exchange before your birthday.

Two limits to know. IMT points out that this permission only applies in Portugal, because you haven't actually swapped your license. And you can't add categories or endorsements to a US license here. For example, the Group 2 endorsement you need to drive for a ride-hailing app (TVDE) requires exchanging first.

Still waiting on residency? Our guide to the Portugal residence permit walks through that side.

Can you exchange a US license without a driving test?

Yes. Article 128 of the Código da Estrada exempts licenses covered by the OECD rule from the driving exam on exchange, and IMT confirms that OECD and CPLP license holders skip the exam for every category they exchange. You still have to meet the normal requirements for a Portuguese license, which in practice means a medical assessment.

Why exchange if you don't have to? A Portuguese license isn't limited to Portugal the way the OECD permission is, you can add categories and endorsements to it, and you stop worrying about the 60 and 15-year cut-offs. If you're settling here for the long run, it's usually worth doing while the exam exemption clearly applies to you.

When your US license stops qualifying

If you're 60 or over, or your license is more than 15 years past its issue or renewal date, the OECD rule doesn't cover you. You fall under the general rule for licenses from convention countries, and it's much stricter. IMT sets out the timeline, counted from the date your residence permit was issued:

Driving on a foreign license outside these limits carries a fine of €300 to €1,500 under article 125.

The law doesn't spell out how that clock works for someone who has been resident for years and then turns 60. Don't test it. Exchange before you reach either cut-off, and if you're already past one, talk to IMT before you get behind the wheel.

Documents IMT asks for

You upload these as PDFs, one document per file, up to 2 MB each (IMT user manual, OECD and CPLP page):

• Your residence permit, front and back.
• Your passport, if the residence permit doesn't show your photo and signature.
• A tax address certificate (certidão de domicílio fiscal) from the Portal das Finanças, if your residence document doesn't show your address.
• Your US license, front and back.
• A certificate of authenticity for your license, issued by the authority that issued it or by a consular service, showing which categories you earned by exam and which by equivalence.
• A psychological assessment certificate, only if you're exchanging truck or bus categories (C, D or E).

The certificate of authenticity is the one that trips people up, because it comes from the US. Ask your state's licensing agency what they can issue, and sort it out before you move. A US license doesn't need a translation: IMT only asks for one when the license isn't in Portuguese, French, English or Spanish. And make the file complete, since IMT says incomplete requests aren't registered and you'd have to submit again.

How to exchange your US license with IMT, step by step

Exchanges are online only. IMT doesn't accept them at the counter. Here's how it runs:

1. Get your medical certificate. A doctor issues an electronic medical certificate (atestado médico eletrónico) on the health ministry's platform, and it reaches IMT automatically. You don't upload it.
2. Log in to A Minha Carta de Condução, IMT's license portal. You can sign in with a Citizen Card, Chave Móvel Digital, or your NIF and Portal das Finanças password. The form can be filled in English.
3. Fill in the form and upload your documents. Enter each category on your license separately, with the date you got it and its expiry date.
4. Pay. IMT emails you a Multibanco reference, which becomes payable 24 hours after it's issued.
5. Answer any follow-up. If IMT asks for more information, reply through the portal within 30 days, or the request is closed and the fee isn't refunded.
6. Go to an IMT counter. Once your request is approved, IMT asks you to come in person to hand over your US license and the original certificate of authenticity, and to have your photo and signature taken. If you don't show up within 180 days, the file is closed.

Your Portuguese license is then mailed to you, or you can pick it up at an IMT counter. One more thing: you have to be resident to apply. IMT doesn't process exchanges for people living abroad, so this is a job for after you move.

What the exchange costs

IMT lists the exchange fee as €30, with a 10% discount for requests made online (IMT). The doctor's fee for the medical certificate comes on top, and IMT doesn't set it.

• Looking for a new car? Read our article Buying A Car In Portugal: Prices, Taxes, And Tips For First-Timers and explore how different things are compared to your home country.
• Read Also: How To Import A Car To Portugal: Is It Worth It?

International Driving Permit: do you need one?

An International Driving Permit (IDP) is not a license. The State Department describes it as an official translation of your US license into 10 languages, meant as a supplement to a valid license, not a replacement.

Portuguese law only accepts an IDP when you show it together with the license it's based on, and as a non-resident you can use it for the first 185 days after you arrive (article 125). The State Department also notes that an IDP isn't valid in your country of residence. Once you live in Portugal, it does nothing for you here.

So is it required? Not for a valid US license, which Portuguese law already recognises. It can still help at a rental desk or a roadside check where nobody reads English, so it can be worth carrying on a visit.

Where to get one: the State Department has authorised only two organisations to issue IDPs to Americans, the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA). Get it before your trip, and skip websites selling "international driver's licenses" from anyone else.

Driving in Portugal with an EU license

If your license comes from an EU or EEA country, you can drive on it in Portugal until the expiry date printed on it. IMT asks you to register your residence with them, which is free. If your license has no expiry date, IMT says to do this within 60 days of settling in Portugal.

You can also exchange it for a Portuguese license if you prefer. It runs through the same online portal, with a medical certificate, for the same €30 fee.

• Learn more about How To Get Car Insurance In Portugal: Premiums And Penalties.

Licenses from other countries

Americans aren't the only ones covered. Decreto-Lei 46/2022 applies to licenses from OECD and CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) states that signed one of the road traffic conventions or a bilateral agreement with Portugal.

According to IMT, that means licenses from the countries below. Holders can drive here as residents under the same conditions as Americans (valid license, under 60, less than 15 years since issue or renewal) and can exchange without a driving test:

• Angola
• Australia
• Brazil
• Cape Verde
• Canada
• Chile
• Iceland
• Israel
• Japan
• Mozambique
• New Zealand
• South Korea
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States of America

Licenses from other countries that signed the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna conventions (IMT's list) follow the 185-day visitor rule and the 90-day and two-year timeline in the table above. Under article 128 of the Código da Estrada, car categories (B and BE) and the lighter motorcycle categories are exchanged without an exam, but a practical test applies if you don't request the exchange within two years of becoming resident. Licenses from countries outside the conventions, with no agreement with Portugal, can still be exchanged, but you have to pass both the theory and the practical test.

Getting your first license in Portugal

Never had a license, or yours can't be exchanged? You'll get a Portuguese one the standard way. For a car (category B), IMT's requirements are:

• Be 18 or older.
• Be physically and mentally fit to drive.
• Live in Portugal.
• Not be banned from driving.
• Pass the driving exam.

You start at a driving school (escola de condução). To enrol, you need an ID document showing you live in Portugal, your NIF, and an electronic medical certificate from a doctor.

IMT's own fees are small, and the driving school pays them on your behalf:

IMT gives a 10% discount on requests made online. Lessons are the bigger cost, and each school sets its own prices, so compare a few before you sign up.

If you’re wondering what a NIF Number is, you should know that it’s one of the most important documents you’ll need in Portugal. Pretty much everything is dependent on your fiscal number, so you might want to read our guide on obtaining an NIF Number in Portugal.

• Don’t know what the public transport system looks like for foreigners? Check out our article on Public Transport In Portugal and find out how to get around the city on your own.