Assiduous presence on our roads during the summer, cars with foreign license plates have to comply with some rules to be admitted and to be able to circulate in national territory.
For a start, these rules only apply to vehicles with a permanent registration in a European Union country — Switzerland is not included. In addition, to benefit from tax exemption, the owner must have proven permanent residence outside Portugal.
As for who can drive a car with a foreign license plate in Portugal, the law is also strict. Can only drive:
- those who do not reside in Portugal;
- the owner or holder of the vehicle and their family members (spouses, de facto unions, ascendants and descendants in the first degree);
- another distinct person in cases of force majeure (eg breakdown) or as a result of a contract for the provision of professional driving services.
It should also be noted that it is prohibited to drive a car with a foreign registration number if you are an emigrant and bring the car from your country of residence to stay permanently in Portugal — you have 20 days to legalize the vehicle after entering the country; or if you live alternately in Portugal and in the country of residence, but keep a car in Portugal with registration in the country of origin.
How long can they move around here?
In total, a car with a foreign registration number cannot be in Portugal for more than 180 days (six months) per year (12 months), and all these days do not have to be followed.For example, if a car with a foreign license plate is in Portugal during the months of January and March (about 90 days), and then only returns in June, it can still drive legally in our country, tax free, for around 90 days more. If it reaches 180 days in the aggregate, it will have to leave the country and will only be able to return at the beginning of the following year.
During this 180-day period, the vehicle is suspended from paying taxes in our country under article 30 of the Vehicle Tax Code.
And the insurance?
As far as insurance is concerned, the well-known mandatory civil liability insurance is valid in all countries of the European Union.
Finally, as for extraordinary coverage, these may be limited both in time and distance or even excluded depending on the country where we operate and the level of risk associated with that territory.
In these cases, the ideal is to contact the insurance company to confirm whether in the country where we are going we are entitled to benefit from all the coverage we have paid for.