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Portuguese Expats Denied Driving Licence Transfers

DUBAI/ABU DHABI - Portuguese expats who were once able to convert their national driving licences into UAE licences now have to fly to Saudi Arabia to pick up a letter from their embassy there.

In recent months, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has struck Portugal off a list of approved countries for the purposes of transfer of driving licences.

“A lot of my friends changed their Portuguese driving licences into UAE licences a few months ago,” said Maguel Lucio, a Portuguese national working in Dubai.

“When I tried to do it, they told me that Portugal was no longer on the approved list. When I asked at the head office of the RTA why this was, they told me that it was because of ‘political reasons’.”

A spokesman for the RTA confirmed that Portugal was no longer on the list of approved countries but would not comment on why it had been removed.

Portugal does not have an embassy in the UAE and if nationals wish to convert driving licences into local licences they must first obtain a letter from the nearest embassy in Riyadh, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said.

“Expatriates should apply with the letter at the nearest traffic department in the emirate they live in,” said the spokesman. In normal circumstances, licence holders from countries not on the approved list must first take 20 lessons and a driving test.

Portugal is believed to be the only European country whose nationals cannot automatically transfer their driving licences into UAE equivalents. A transfer involves paying a nominal fee and taking a simple eye test.

“The Portuguese embassy or consulate need to approach the Ministry of Interior to formalise the procedure,” said Ali Mohammed Jassim, Director of Licensing  at the RTA.

No one from the Portuguese Embassy in Riyadh was willing to comment.

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