Guia (driving licence)

The paper document you receive when you hand in a foreign driving licence for exchange at IMT. It is valid for six months and lets you keep driving while the Portuguese licence is produced.

Where people slip: it is a Portuguese document for driving in Portugal — treating it as an international licence abroad is a different question, and rental firms in other countries may not accept it. There is also a window: the exchange is expected within a period after you take up residence, and letting the foreign licence lapse first makes the whole thing harder.

Do this: start the exchange early rather than at the end of the window, keep the guia with you whenever you drive, and do not book a driving holiday abroad on it without checking first.