Brazilian Driving License Becomes Valid in Portugal

Driving in Portugal will become easier for many people, including Brazilians. Now, the driving licence issued in Brazil (CNH) will also be valid in Portuguese territory. O Decree-Law nº 46/2022 was published last June 12 and comes into force on August 1, 2022. It enables the driving of vehicles by holders of driving licenses issued not only by Brazil, but by all member states of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Until then, driving was only allowed with a Brazilian driver’s license for 90 days, as happens with tourists. Those who decided to reside in the country had up to two years to change the document. In addition, in order to have access to the valid document, it was necessary to pay around 30 euros and undergo a medical evaluation. With this new change, it is now possible to use the document issued in the country of origin until the end of its validity.

The Portuguese government had already been trying to reduce bureaucracy in the process of exchanging the National Driver’s License (CNH) for the European country’s driver’s “license”. Recently it stopped requiring the presentation of a declaration of authenticity for holders of the new model of CNH that has a QR code on the back.

To be considered valid, the qualification document issued by the OECD or CPLP cannot have been issued or renewed more than 15 years ago. Its bearer must be the minimum age required by Portuguese law for the respective qualification, and maximum age up to 60 years. For those over 60 years of age, there will be no change.

In Portugal, Brazilians used to wait over a year for their Portuguese driving license, which is the responsibility of the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT). The long waiting time was a reflection of the large number of requests. Brazilians account for more than 40% of exchange requests. In 2021, this represented around 18 thousand requests.

Among the countries that will benefit from the facilitation are, besides Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor – all Portuguese-speaking countries – and also drivers with licences issued by Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, United States, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland and Turkey.