Even though we don't own a car (yet), it is important for us to exchange our driver's licenses while the opportunity exists to do so without a driving test. This is no small feat. It requires many steps, some of which we should have taken before arriving in Portugal. So this will be a cautionary tale, as well.
Here are the steps to be taken. 1) Obtain your driver's records from your current location and send them off to get them apostilled by your state authority. 2) Get a notarized copy of your driver's license and send it to the Portuguese embassy, along with $30 to request the Certificate of Authenticity of Driving License. This is the step we missed doing while in the U.S. and now we are having to do it via 3rd party.
And you also have to have your NIF (like a national identity number) and a Residence Card (the plastic card, not the temporary), as well as a medical exam.
The medical exam is why I am really making this post, since this was the first doctor's visit that we made in Portugal, using the National Health System. Even though we maintain private insurance (at very reasonable rates), the SNS examination is needed to certify for license exchange. And I was very impressed with the process. So here are some of the highlights.
Firstly, we needed an eye exam from an optician. We had one just at the end of our block and it was very thorough, with a cost of €20 each.
We were given an attestation of our vision to take with us to the doctor's appointment. When we initially received our Numero de Utente (the patient number you use with the SNS, or national health care), we were given the appointment one month away. This is probably the downside of free healthcare. However, if we had needed any emergency care, we were free to come in to the clinic at any time. It is just that scheduled visits are probably always a little longer. In fact, we were told to come on the weekend, if needed, as that was the best time to be seen by a doctor.
We were ushered into the office and the doctor saw us both, together. She looked over our paperwork, asked a few questions then took blood pressure as a matter of course. I was able to ask her for a prescription for the two medications that I take and she not only filled them, but suggested a better blood pressure medicine, since I had received a basic (thus cheaper) medication from VA. I'm not complaining about the VA medical. They took great care of me, but she felt that the medication I was prescribed was in common use in the U.S. and not the most effective. We shall see if it helps.
Denise, on the other hand, had very high blood pressure. Very unusual for her, as she is usually too low. So the doctor gave us orders for a blood panel to be taken by a local clinic. We will have to do that in the next few weeks, as well as make a daily diary of our pressure readings.
All-in-all, I was very impressed by the care we received and the patience shown by the doctor who worked with our limited Portuguese, but never made us feel bad about it. The total cost: €0. Our next steps are awaiting the Attestation from the Embassy (being handled by my sister) and on the medical side, getting our blood drawn for the examination to come.
This will be the last step to finalize our move here. We have to file taxes this year, but since we received a 10 year "pass" on paying, due to an incentive program we took advantage of, this will be a simple matter. Will keep you posted on our progress.
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