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Getting a Disabled Parking Card in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

Who qualifies for the free EU disabled parking card in Portugal, how to apply to IMT, how long it lasts, where you can park, and using it abroad.

The Portugal Brief 7 min read

Getting a Disabled Parking Card in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You live in Portugal and have a disability that makes walking or using public transport hard.
  • You care for someone with a disability and drive them.
  • You hold a disabled parking card from another EU country and want to use it here.

Not for you if: you still need the disability certificate the card depends on. Read the Multipurpose Disability Certificate guide first.

Portugal's disabled parking card (cartão de estacionamento para pessoas com deficiência) follows the common EU model. It is free and issued by IMT, the Institute for Mobility and Transport. It usually lasts ten years, or five years if it is based on a cancer patient's certificate. You need a multipurpose disability certificate showing a disability of 60% or more, or 95% for sight loss. The card belongs to you, not to a car.

It lets you use reserved bays when you are in the vehicle, and it is recognised across the EU.

Who qualifies

You can get the card if you live in Portugal, whatever your nationality, and you have one of these:

  • A physical or motor disability of 60% or more that is permanent. It must make it hard for you to move about on the street without help or aids (such as a wheelchair, crutches, a stick, or a prosthesis), or hard to use ordinary public transport.
  • An intellectual disability, or autism spectrum disorder, with a disability of 60% or more.
  • A visual disability, with permanent sight loss of 95% or more.
  • Cancer, with a disability of 60% or more on the special certificate issued to cancer patients.
  • A disability from service in the Armed Forces, with a motor disability of 60% or more.

All percentages are measured on Portugal's National Disability Table (Tabela Nacional de Incapacidades).

60% alone is not always enough. For a physical disability, the certificate must also show that it limits your movement or your use of public transport. On certificates from a medical board (junta médica), this goes in the field for the nature of the disability (natureza da incapacidade).

Older rules used a 90% threshold for multiple disabilities. That rule no longer applies.

The certificate comes first

Almost every application turns on one document: the multipurpose disability certificate (atestado médico de incapacidade multiuso). It is issued after a medical assessment of your disability. See the Multipurpose Disability Certificate guide for how it works.

Before you apply for the card, check two things on your certificate:

  1. The field about the parking card law is filled in. IMT says this field must be completed. If it is blank, expect the application to come back.
  2. The nature of the disability is stated, if your route is a physical disability.

If you have cancer, the certificate issued under the special procedure for cancer patients is enough on its own, if it shows 60% or more. The card is then issued for five years at most.

If your disability comes from Armed Forces service, you use the Armed Forces disabled person's card instead. You add a document from the competent medical body that proves the disability and its nature.

How to apply

The card is free. You can apply in three ways:

  • Online, through IMT Online. IMT publishes a user manual for this service.
  • In person, at an IMT counter in a regional directorate or district office.
  • By email, if the application form carries an electronic signature.

Documents you need:

  • Form 13-IMT (Requerimento 13-IMT), signed by you or your legal representative
  • your identity document, such as your Citizen Card or residence card
  • your multipurpose disability certificate, or the Armed Forces documents

IMT does not publish a processing time.

How long the card lasts

  • Ten years is the standard period.
  • Until your review date, if your certificate says your disability must be reassessed sooner.
  • Five years at most, if the card is based on a cancer patient's certificate.

Renewing. You or your representative ask IMT to renew it, using the same process. If your certificate did not set a reassessment, you do not need to send it again.

The card does not show which rule applies. Note the expiry date when it arrives, and apply in good time.

What the card lets you do

Use reserved bays. You may park in bays reserved for people with disabilities, marked with signs.

Park elsewhere only when absolutely necessary. The law allows short stops outside reserved bays in cases of absolute necessity. You must not block pedestrians or traffic. This does not let you park on a pedestrian crossing, a pavement in use, or a bus stop.

Display it properly. Put the card behind the windscreen, with the front clearly visible from outside, whenever you park in a reserved bay.

Use it only when you are in the car. The card can only be used in a vehicle that is actually carrying you. You can use it in any car that carries you, including a relative's car. A family member alone in your car cannot use it.

Free parking at public bodies

Public bodies that have parking for the people they serve must offer free spaces for people with disabilities. This also applies when that parking is run by a private company under contract. Public bodies with no parking of their own must provide reserved street spaces instead.

This rule covers public bodies only. It is not a general exemption from paid street parking. Paid parking zones are run by each town hall (câmara municipal), and their rules vary. A reserved bay near your home is also a separate request to your town hall. Ask your town hall about both.

Using the card abroad, and foreign cards here

Your Portuguese card abroad. The card follows the EU model, so other EU countries should recognise it. The rights attached to it are set by each country, and often by each town. Check the rules before you travel. The EU's Your Europe website has a page for each country.

A foreign card in Portugal. Portugal recognises disabled parking cards issued by other EU countries. It also recognises cards from countries in the European Conference of Ministers of Transport. You may use the reserved bays here with them. Local rules on paid parking still apply.

When you use a card in another country, display it at the front of the car. The EU also has a free-standing notice, in the local language, that you can show beside it.

Misuse, and parking in a reserved bay without a card

Misusing the card. If the card is used improperly or fraudulently, the police can seize it on the spot and suspend it for one year. If it happens again, they can take it permanently. The person who loses the card is the holder, even if a relative misused it.

Parking in a reserved bay without the right. Stopping or parking in a reserved bay without authorisation is a serious traffic offence. The fine is €60 to €300, and you lose 2 points on your driving licence. The car can also be towed. See Driving in Portugal for how fines and points work.

Other help the certificate opens

The same certificate can unlock other support:

Quick checklist

  1. Get your multipurpose disability certificate, with the right percentage.
  2. Check that the parking card field, and the nature of the disability, are filled in.
  3. Fill in Form 13-IMT.
  4. Apply on IMT Online, at an IMT counter, or by signed email.
  5. Display the card behind the windscreen every time you use a reserved bay.
  6. Note the expiry date and renew in time.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; check the official source before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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