I finally was able to organise the medical examination to be able to change my UK driver's licence for a Portuguese licence so that I can meet the 90 days deadline from when my residency was granted to when I submit my licence application.
However, I learnt that you do have to be in the SNS for the doctor to upload the medical exam results to IMT. When she tried to upload the results, she got an error message because there was no SNS number.
She rang the Centro de Saude de Tomar which was a short walk away to organise for me to go around and get my User number for the SNS. This I did with no fuss at all [Passport, CRUE and NIF] and returned to the doctor. She already had the details on her screen. So she completed the document and it uploaded successfully and then she gave me my medical certificate which I will upload when I do my application.
The medical examination just involved answering questions about my health. I took a list of the medicaition I take [those slips you get from the pharmacy in the UK with your scripts] and she went through each one.
Now, all I am waiting on is the Certificate of Authenticity from the DVLA in the UK which verifies the details on my UK licence as being correct. I was told that takes about 2 weeks and is posted to the address the DVLA has on record.
It was a private doctor who did my examination and the cost was €50. She did insist I have an eye test which I did before my appointment with her. And the eye test was FREE. Can you believe it?
For now, that's the last piece in the jigsaw of moving to Portugal completed in the 4 months I have been here. Everything has gone so smoothly, it has been amazing. I was an EU citizen to start with and that I am sure overcame possible complications. I hope my non-EU partner joining me goes as smoothly. But now I know what to do and where to go for everything here in Tomar.
A word of advice, keep all your documentation for everything in a folder and take the whole folder to any appointment you may have. AND, always take your passport and NIF. These two are an absolute must for everything.
