How to Upgrade Your A2 to A Motorcycle License in Portugal (Without a Driving School)

A motorcyclist leaning hard into a sharp curve on a sportbike

If you’ve been riding on an A2 license in Portugal for a couple of years and you’re eyeing something with real power under you, there’s good news: you don’t need to go back to driving school. Portugal lets you “autopropor” (self-propose) directly for the practical exam. Almost nothing about this process exists in English, which is exactly why it’s worth writing down properly.

This guide walks through what the upgrade actually involves, based on the official IMT rules (Decreto-Lei n.º 138/2012, the RHLC, Portugal’s driving licence regulation). It is not legal advice, and requirements can shift slightly by district. Always double-check the specifics with your local IMT or Loja do Cidadão before booking anything.

Who this applies to

You qualify to self-propose for category A once you’ve held an A2 licence for 2 years. If you never held A1 or A2 and are trying to get straight to category A, that’s a different path: driving school is mandatory, and you need to be at least 24.

If you’re a foreign resident, here’s the part most PT-language guides don’t bother covering. The standard process assumes a Cartão de Cidadão. If you’re on a residence permit instead, IMT’s own documentation for adjacent processes points to a valid passport or residence card as acceptable alternatives, as long as the details match what’s already on file in IMT’s driver database from when you got your A2, with a current photo. If your residence permit has been renewed since then, it’s worth confirming that update actually made it into their system before you book anything, rather than finding out at the counter. Still, confirm with your local IMT office directly, this varies enough by office that it’s not worth guessing.

What you need

That last one catches people off guard. You’re expected to supply the communication equipment yourself, not just show up.

Theory exam or not?

If you already passed the theory exam for a lower category, you generally don’t need to repeat it. The upgrade is practical-exam-only. There’s a fee difference depending on whether IMT requires you to sit the theory again, so don’t assume either way until you’ve confirmed your specific case.

What it costs

For mainland Portugal, as of the rules currently in force:

If you fail and need to retake the practical exam, you only pay the exam fee again, not the full amount.

One thing worth flagging since it’s easy to get wrong: Madeira and the Azores run their own regional IMT fee schedules, and they’re not identical to the mainland. Madeira’s page lists €87.50 / €105 for the same two scenarios. If you’re doing this from one of the autonomous regions, check your regional IMT site instead of assuming the mainland numbers apply to you.

Public IMT or a private exam center? Pick private.

This is the part that actually matters most, and it’s the part nobody tells you before you’re stuck waiting. You are not limited to booking through the public IMT. Portugal also licenses 13 private exam centers authorized to run the exact same official theory and practical tests: 2 run by ACP (Porto and Carregado), 6 by ANIECA (including Braga, Penafiel, and Albergaria-a-Velha), 1 by APEC (Lisbon), and 4 by AHBVT (Associação Humanitária dos Bombeiros Voluntários de Tábua). Self-proposed candidates can book through these the same way school-enrolled candidates do. It’s the same exam, the same IMT-set curriculum, a different scheduling queue. (That list comes from IMT’s own published directory of private centers, last updated in 2021, so confirm a center is still operating before you drive out to one.)

The cost difference is smaller than you’d expect. IMT charges roughly €15 for the theory exam and €30 for the practical. ACP charges roughly €12 for theory and €40 for practical. Add it up and the gap lands under €10 total.

The time difference is where it actually matters. IMT scheduling has been running around 4 months in normal periods, and worse in Lisbon specifically. If your exam window happens to land in August, add even more delay: instructors and examiners take vacation that month too, so anything already slow gets slower. Private centers like ACP have been averaging around 5 days to get you a slot. A shortage of IMT examiners is the reason for the gap, and it’s pushing more people toward private centers as a result.

So the practical recommendation: unless you genuinely don’t mind losing a season of riding to a scheduling queue, book through a private center. The extra cost is close to negligible and you get your upgraded license in about a week instead of months. (These wait-time and price figures come from a comparison ACP itself published, and ACP is one of the private providers, so treat the exact numbers as directionally right rather than gospel, and confirm current wait times before you commit.)

The actual steps

  1. Get your medical certificate first. Nothing else can move until you have it.
  2. Decide public IMT or a private center (ACP, ANIECA, APEC, or AHBVT), then contact them directly to register as a self-proposed candidate for category A.
  3. Pay the applicable fees.
  4. Schedule your practical exam. Bring your own bike, a car with driver for the examiner, and your communication headset.
  5. Pass, and your upgraded licence gets issued.

Why this is worth doing

A2 caps you at 35kW and a power-to-weight ratio under 0.2 kW/kg. That’s plenty for a lot of riding, but it locks you out of a good chunk of the bikes people actually want. If you’ve already got two years on an A2 under your belt, this is a genuinely low-friction way to remove that cap without paying for lessons you don’t need.