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Car Import Portugal

From yellow plate to matrícula

Importing your car into Portugal

From Dutch to Portuguese plates, step by step. With the deadlines and conditions from the law itself, and for every number the source and the date we read it.

What does the RDW know about your car?

Where most people get stuck: the colour in the DAV. You only pick a number there, with no name next to it. Enter your plate and we give you the right colour number.

Where is your car registered now?

Your plate goes straight from your browser to the RDW open data. We do not receive it and store nothing.

See the import guideCalculate your ISV

By Gerardus Koetje · Updated on

9steps from border to registrationEach with its own office and its own page on this site.
20working days for your DAVThe clock starts when the car enters Portugal.
12months to apply for the relocation exemptionCounted from the day you moved to Portugal.

The route

From Dutch to Portuguese plates in 9 steps

Half the work is the order. Every step has its own page with the rules, the deadline and the source.

  1. Step 01Prepare in the NetherlandsBefore you leave, collect the proof that you lived in the Netherlands and that the car is yours. From Portugal that is much harder.
  2. Step 02Export from the NetherlandsYou can end the Dutch registration before you leave or only once the car is registered in Portugal. The choice decides which papers you hold.
  3. Step 03Understanding ISVYou pay ISV once, at the first Portuguese registration. Engine capacity, CO2 emissions and age decide the amount.
  4. Step 04ISV exemptionIf you move to Portugal you may bring one car of your own tax-free. Six months of residence, six months of ownership, twelve months to apply.
  5. Step 05Homologation and inspectionCustoms wants to see two technical documents: the IMT declaration and the inspection certificate. Arrange those first, inside the deadline for the declaration.
  6. Step 06Filing the DAVWithin 20 working days of arrival you file the DAV online. It is where the ISV is calculated or your exemption processed, and where the registration number appears.
  7. Step 07Portuguese registrationThe number comes from customs, the certificate from the IMT. You have 60 days to request the second.
  8. Step 08 · Often forgottenRegistration in your nameThe registration number is not the end. Ownership is registered separately, at another service, and there is a 60-day deadline on it.
  9. Step 09Paying IUCFrom the Portuguese registration on you pay IUC every year. For an imported car the first EU registration counts, and that helps.

See the whole route with deadlines and costs

The deadlines that run

20 working days
to file the DAV, from the day the car enters Portugal
10 working days
to pay the ISV, from the notice of assessment
60 days
to register the car in your name
12 months
to apply for the relocation exemption, from your move

ISV · Imposto Sobre Veículos

What will it cost you?

ISV depends on engine size, CO₂ emissions, fuel and the age of the car. Fill in your details for an indication using this year’s tables.

Moving to Portugal?Did you live outside Portugal for at least six months and have you owned the car for at least six months? Then you can apply for an ISV exemption.Read the conditions for the exemption
Where is the car registered now?
Vehicle type
CO₂ test method on your CoC

Fill in the details for an indication.

Indication using the 2026 tables of the CISV (art. 7.º, 8.º and 11.º), read on 14 November 2026. Not included: the valuation formula of art. 11.º n.º 3. Customs set the final amount. Ordinary hybrid without a plug? Choose the fuel of the engine: the reduced rate of art. 8.º needs more than 50 km electric range. Source: Código do Imposto sobre Veículos (versão consolidada) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira).

The guide

The workbook for the whole import

The pages on this site explain the rules. The guide is the workbook: what to do in which week, which papers to take to which office, where to click in the Portal das Finanças and what to do when an application is rejected.

  • 10 chapters, in Dutch and in English
  • Checklists per step that remember your progress
  • Your own deadlines worked out from your arrival date
  • Read online straight away and download as a PDF
  • Every deadline and condition with its source and check date
Buy the guide · €19.99Read chapter 1 for free

One-off payment. Instant access after checkout, no account.

What you need to know before you start

If you go to live in Portugal and bring your car, that car has to be registered in Portugal. It is not a choice: the scheme for foreign plates only applies to people who do not live in Portugal. From the moment the car enters the country you have 20 working days to file the customs declaration, the DAV.

That declaration comes with a tax: the ISV. Depending on engine and emissions it can be a considerable amount. But if you are really moving to Portugal, you can be exempt from it. The conditions are less strict than you can still read online: six months lived abroad, the car owned for six months, and the request filed within 12 months of your move. The full story is in ISV exemption.

The order is half the work

The route runs past four authorities: the RDW in the Netherlands, and in Portugal the IMT, customs and the IRN. They do not work for each other. Customs wants to see an IMT declaration and an inspection report with the declaration, and the IMT then wants the settled declaration back. Take the steps in the wrong order and you lose weeks.

The official order is:

  1. Collect your papers in the Netherlands, before you leave: Prepare in the Netherlands.
  2. Decide how you end the Dutch registration: Export from the Netherlands.
  3. In Portugal, request the homologation declaration and have the car inspected: Homologation and inspection.
  4. File the DAV, with or without a request for exemption: Filing the DAV.
  5. The registration number and the registration certificate: Portuguese registration.
  6. Have the car registered in your name: Registration in your name.
  7. The annual tax: Paying IUC.

Import, or buy a car there?

Not every car is worth bringing. Without the exemption you pay ISV. With a large engine and high emissions it can be substantial, even though a used car gets a reduction of 10% to 80%. With the exemption the tax falls away, but you are tied to the car for 12 months. The trade-off is in Import or buy.

If you drive electric it is simpler: a fully electric car falls outside ISV. See Electric and hybrid.

How this site works

All amounts, deadlines and conditions on this site come from sources we read ourselves: the Portuguese ISV code, the Portuguese government's pages, the Dutch RDW and the Dutch tax office. A highlighted value in the text, such as 20 working days, is a fact from our register. Click it and you see the source, the legal basis and the date we checked it. The whole register is on Facts and sources.

Where we could not establish something from an official source, we say so and name no number. Portuguese terms are explained in the Glossary.

Frequently asked questions

When do I not have to pay ISV?

When you move to Portugal and bring your own car. You must be over 18, have lived abroad for at least six months, have owned the car for at least six months and file the request within 12 months of your move. All conditions are in ISV exemption.

How soon do I have to declare the car after arriving in Portugal?

You file the DAV within 20 working days after the car enters Portugal. Before that declaration you already need the IMT homologation declaration and the inspection, so start on those in the first week. See Filing the DAV.

How much ISV will I pay for my car?

That depends on the engine capacity, the CO2 emissions and the age of the car. For a used car from the EU the amount is reduced by 10% to 80%. We cannot give a fixed amount: the rates change with the budget. Calculate it with the simulator in the Portal das Finanças before you decide. The explanation is in Understanding ISV.

Can I do the import myself or do I need an agency?

You can do it yourself. The declaration, the exemption request and the homologation declaration are done online, and filing the exemption request is free. It does require your papers to be in order and the deadlines to be watched. If you do not want that or do not read Portuguese, you can hire a despachante (customs agent) or an import agency; they charge their own fee.

How long does the whole route take?

The law only sets deadlines for your steps: the DAV within 20 working days, any payment within 10 working days, the registration request within 60 days and the ownership registration within 60 days. How long the IMT and customs take over their part is not fixed anywhere and varies a lot. Count on weeks to a few months and start right after arrival.

Am I done once I have the Portuguese registration number?

No, and this is the step that is forgotten most often. After the registration number you request the certificado de matrícula from the IMT and have the car registered in your name at the IRN; that has a legal deadline of 60 days. The first IUC follows after that. See Registration in your name.

All questions →

Facts and sources on this page

Every highlighted value in the text comes from an official source that we read ourselves.

Sources watched dailyLast check: 34 official sources · 52 factsFacts last re-read on 2 sources have changed; we are re-reading them.All sources →