Up to now, to drive legally in Portugal, Brazilians had to wait for 90 days after the residence authorization to apply for the exchange of their driver’s license for the Portuguese document.
The right to drive using the driver’s license of the country of origin was entitled to citizens of the European Union and United Kingdom that reside in Portugal. Now this range will be broadened for the countries of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), in which Brazil takes part, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an organization in which the Brazilian government wants to include the country.
The decision is yet to be published in the Official Gazette of Portugal
Among the benefited countries are, apart from Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste, as well as citizens from Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, United States, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland and Turkey.
Drivers can use the document issued in their country of origin until expiration. After that, they have to change to the Portuguese version.
Before the decision, only citizens from the European Union, United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein could live and drive in Portugal with the document issued in their country of origin.
In three months, it was possible to drive using the Brazilian. After this period, Brazilians had up to two years to apply for the exchange of driver’s license in Portugal, but they were not allowed to drive anymore according to local legislation.
To have access to a valid document, it was necessary to pay about 30 euros and undergo a medical evaluation. After two years, they had to renew it the traditional way, which obliged them to take a new driver’s test,
Brazilians staying in Portugal for up to 185, as tourists, do not have to tackle documentation changes and can drive normally.
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