Taking a car from the Netherlands to Portugal: the Dutch side and beyond

• Export document. The car is deregistered for export in the Dutch register. The buyer, or whoever the export is in the name of, receives the export certificate, also called kentekenbewijs deel II, plus the registration card with a corner cut off. The seller receives the vrijwaringsbewijs, the proof that the Dutch registration has stopped.
• White export plates. The car keeps its registration number, now on white plates, for the trip.
• Export insurance. We arrange 14 days of third-party cover with a Green Card through our insurance partner, and extend it by 14 days at a time if the insurer agrees.
• BPM refund service. We help you claim part of the BPM (the Dutch registration tax) back from the Belastingdienst where the conditions are met; see BPM refund on export.
• CoC guidance. On request, if the certificate of conformity is missing.

No EX-A customs declaration is needed: Portugal is in the EU, and within the EU there is no export declaration. If the buyer cannot come to the Netherlands, a contact person here may arrange the export for them. Our page on Dutch car export documents for Portugal explains each paper.

Three Portuguese bodies are involved: the IMT (the Portuguese mobility and transport institute), customs at the AT (the tax and customs authority) and the IRN, which keeps the vehicle register. In the order the AT gives:

1. The buyer gathers the papers: an invoice, or a declaração de venda between private individuals, the CoC (European certificate of conformity) and the Dutch registration papers.
2. When the car enters the country, 20 working days start running for the customs vehicle declaration, the DAV.
3. Within that time the owner applies online to the IMT for a national homologation number using the CoC, and has the car inspected for registration at a category B inspection centre (CITV).
4. The DAV is filed electronically on the Portal das Finanças. The AT calculates the ISV, the one-off vehicle tax, payable within 10 working days of notification. Once it is paid, the car gets a Portuguese registration number.
5. The owner submits the file to the IMT. In Portugal the IMT fee is €45 with a CoC or national homologation and €165 without.
6. Ownership is recorded in the Registo Automóvel within 60 days, after which the IMT issues the Certificado de Matrícula.

The full route, with documents, deadlines and pitfalls, is on our page about how to import a car to Portugal and register it. Dutch and Portuguese costs side by side are on our price page.

At our desk, a standard application with complete papers is usually ready in about 15 minutes. There is no official average for the Portuguese process. As an indication only: with complete papers (a CoC that shows the CO2 emissions, the homologation number applied for online, no valuation requested), it usually takes a few weeks in practice to reach the Certificado de Matrícula. Without a CoC, when CO2 has to be measured, or when inspection centres and IMT offices are busy, it can take longer. The key legal deadline is the DAV within 20 working days of entry.

From the Netherlands the road south runs through Belgium, France and Spain. On Dutch roads, white export plates are valid for 14 days and never beyond the APK (the Dutch roadworthiness test). In the transit countries and in Portugal, the rules for a Dutch export plate vary by country, so check them before you set off, and certainly for any day after the first 14. Make sure the insurance and Green Card cover the whole route. More on Dutch export plates for the trip and export insurance with a Green Card.

We do not offer transport ourselves. A car carried on a lorry or trailer usually needs no driving insurance, but the export document is still required.

If you are buying a car in the Netherlands to register it in Portugal, export it in your own name, as the RDW advises: you receive the export certificate, and the seller receives the vrijwaringsbewijs. Bring a valid passport, ID card or driving licence and your full address abroad. We do not search for or sell cars. Want to sell one instead? See selling a car for export.

Did you take your car south on ordinary Dutch plates, for example when you moved or to spend the winter there? We can still arrange the Dutch export with the export certificate (kentekenbewijs deel II), entirely remotely, using a separate procedure that runs by post, insured with DHL: standard in about 5 working days, DHL Express in about 1 working day. Contact us first and we will tell you what is needed and what it costs.

For a car still in the Netherlands, online preparation is possible too: you send the yellow Dutch plates by post or courier, we start once they arrive, and documents and plates go out insured with tracking, also to Portugal. Moving for good? Read about moving to Portugal with a car, including the ISV exemption.

Each vehicle type has its own rules for insurance, APK and the number of white plates, and its own tax treatment in Portugal. See motorhome, caravan and trailer export or exporting a van or truck.