# Usage of foreign registered car in Portugal



## george_pfx (3 mo ago)

Hello,

I'm planning to move to PT for 6 months and wanted to know if I could take my car with me. I read about the temporary admission regime and the 183 days and everything, but given I don't speak any Portuguese I thought it'd be easier to have a local reconfirm the conditions and procedures.

The relevant info:

car is registered in EU country - Romania; has valid insurance & inspection (insurance is valid in PT too)
registration is in the name of a LLC that I own (sole director & associate), also the company is registered in RO
it has been owned for more than 12 months (few years actually)
all paperwork is OK (registration certificate, vehicle identification certificate, company documents, etc)
I intend to stay in PT for no more than 6 months, destination is Madeira
I will be using the car exclusively for personal use, not for business; I will be the only driver
I am driving to PT, but then I'll have to ship the car from Lisbon to Madeira

Questions:

is this possible at all as per described by Portal das Financas?
any potential issue due to registration in the LLC's name even if the LLC is owned and managed by myself?
do I have to do anything special to qualify (submit any request anywhere) or it's "plug and play"?
even if no special procedure must be taken, but especially if there are some steps to be taken, do I have to translate into PT all the documents of the car (and perhaps of the LLC) or can I use the originals only?
what should I show to the Customs when picking the car up from the ferry? how about a normal Police stop?
anything different in Madeira/Funchal rather than if this was for the mainland PT?
A lot to go through so I can only thank so much to whoever has the patience and knowledge to answer some of this <3.

Thanks and looking forward to visiting your beautiful country <3


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

As the car is from EU then it may be here for 6 months. Orgional paperwork (for person as well) should be available for inspection if the car is stopped - it would be pragmatic to have documents translated as this may make it easier but is not compulsary. Insurance to cover driver using car so a letter of permission from "registered car owner" for the driver to drive it may also be useful. You'll also need to stop, usually at first services over the border and get the car numberplate + your credit card scanned for the Auto Tolls/motorway gantries (other payment methods are available). You'll need to get some evidence of when the car arrived in Portugal as, if stopped, you have to prove how long the vehicle has been in country. From experience "Normal police car stop" involves having to provide everything the knowledgeable stoppers ask for, in my case as I was leaving Portugal, they said they would impound car + contents until I could prove the car had been in Portugal for less then 6 months.


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## george_pfx (3 mo ago)

Thanks a lot for the infos. What would they consider as "proof that the car has not been in PT for more than 6 months"? Would my shipment documents (Lisbon->Madeira) count? But obviously I could have been for another 6 months prior to that on the mainland PT... 



> > Insurance to cover driver using car so a letter of permission from "registered car owner" for the driver to drive it may also be useful


I'm self-employed at the said LLC, would an annex to the employment contract (in which it is specified that said person can drive said vehicle for personal use) be good for this purpose? The insurance is good I think because it's in the name of the LLC but at the driver name it is me.


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

I used Spanish + Portuguese fuel receipts and the receipt from registering for automatic tolls to give an arrival date but I think there are some offices by major road crossings where an "incoming" stamp is possible.

Simple letter possibly in Portugese and English basically with the register owner's details (as per registration doc) giving driver details ( as per driving license) permission to use vehicle, signed by a company officer. All it's for is to connect two bits of foreign paperwork.


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## ManuelUrdi (27 d ago)

Buna ziua. In case this is still useful for you: are you sure it's worth driving all the way, shipping by boat Lisbon-Madeira and that? Because normal insurances (as far I know) are only valid in foreign countries for 30 days.
And at least in Portugal mainland, police pays special attention to foreign license plates, and as most cars are more expensive in Portugal than other European countries, there are restrictions about which person can drive.
It could be more practical to buy a second hand car already in Madeira and selling it before returning.


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## george_pfx (3 mo ago)

ManuelUrdi said:


> Buna ziua. In case this is still useful for you: are you sure it's worth driving all the way, shipping by boat Lisbon-Madeira and that? Because normal insurances (as far I know) are only valid in foreign countries for 30 days.
> And at least in Portugal mainland, police pays special attention to foreign license plates, and as most cars are more expensive in Portugal than other European countries, there are restrictions about which person can drive.
> It could be more practical to buy a second hand car already in Madeira and selling it before returning.


Buna ziua to you too, haha, and thanks for the input!

As far as I was able to research online, it looks like insurances made in one member state are valid (via Green Card Program) throughout most of the other member states. My insurance company was also able to confirm this, Portugal indeed being supported and without a 30-day-only period (but really until the end of the contract).

If others are interested in this: on the back of your insurance document you should be able to find something like this. Make sure the countries you will be traversing as well as the final destination country are not "X"-ed, and double check with your local insurance company.

I've considered the buy-and-sell strategy, but eventually I decided that prices are a bit too high for cars that are dirt cheap anywhere else and combining that with the language barrier, avoiding scams, having to deal with local authorities for paperwork/etc and having to leave my perfectly good car abandoned for 6 months and driving an underpowered engine on the hilly Madeira -- it turnt out I'd rather take my chances.

I'm here since almost 2 weeks and only saw about three UA and D plates (Ukraine and Germany), so indeed it's probably rare and it sticks out. I have a lot of documents with me and most important ones translated in PT as well, also kept gas recipes from France/Spain/PT, but from what I heard from the locals Police rarely stops unless you're driving like a maniac (which in all truth and fairness, some of them do indeed, lol).

Another expat here said she just began the procedure of registering her car locally (after having driven it for 6 months with the foreign plates) and that the authorities gave her some papers to prove she started, but that the whole process will take a few months because they are so busy?!?! I doubt that, but who knows - maybe a lot of cars are being imported on the island indeed.

If anyone is interested in costs: about 1500€ from Bucharest to Funchal all-inclusive: gas, tolls, shipping, 7 nights of accommodation (split in 2), food, etc. I also treated it like a roadtrip and visited places and friends, so that probably added to the cost (4200 km total distance), but I doubt you could save more than 20% no matter what you do or don't.

All in all, it was an interesting experience for me and I don't regret it, but for y'all looking into pulling something like this - make sure you plan ahead very well and are patient and a good researcher and driver and navigating all sorts of stuff that can happen .


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