Dominican Driving licence - what is considerd validation

Moro

New member
Jul 28, 2017
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Hi,

I am trying to apply for a dominican republic driving licence,
I have read that I am required to validate my current driving licence at the british embassy.

What is considerd as validation of a driving licence?

The embassy state they don't validate documents all they can do is certify a copy,
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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Are you a legal resident of the DR? First you have to be a legal resident with a cedula.

There is another thread on DR1 about the procedure to get a license if your government does not properly validate a license for Dominican purposes. Sounds like a certified copy is not sufficient, since they are just saying the copy is the same as the original, but other Brits can verify that. My country does not validate licenses, so I had to get one here from scratch, pay the fees at Banreservas, get a learners permit, take an eye test, blood typing, computer based "written" test. No need in my case to take a driving test, but you might have to. If you take it in an automatic transmission car, then your license would be valid if you drove a stick shift.
 

pularvik

Active member
Jan 2, 2011
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My experience here was that they are not interested in your out of country licence,--like Windeguy says, you start from scratch,-its not onerous but just consumes time.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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You used to not to have to take the Dominican test, just with the UK license validated the Dominican driving license people issue you with a Dominican one. Americans cannot do this as their licenses issued by states and not the country, but most European embassies can do it. Having said that the embassies are doing less and less so I am not sure they still do it.

Matilda
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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If anyone should take the driving test, it is people who formerly drove on the wrong side of the road.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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dr1.com
My experience here was that they are not interested in your out of country licence,--like Windeguy says, you start from scratch,-its not onerous but just consumes time.

No, as a Canadian you can get your Canadian license verified at the Canadian Embassy, go through the legalization process and do your eye test, blood test, have your picture taken and you have your Dominican Drivers license. My wife and I have both done so.
 

Kipling333

Bronze
Jan 12, 2010
2,528
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Moro ..strangely I was with an Italian last night who told me that for Italian drivers licence holders ,you need to get the drivers licence apostillised ,,not too sure if there is such a word but you need to have an apostille for your drivers licence ..having got that you take the licence and the apostille and a translation into spanish to the licence office in Santo Domingo ,,,think it is in Tiradentes but across J F Kennedy from the commercial area .. It took some time in Italy but no time here in the capital. But first you will need to know if they will do that for an English drivers licence.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
5,485
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Moro ..strangely I was with an Italian last night who told me that for Italian drivers licence holders ,you need to get the drivers licence apostillised ,,not too sure if there is such a word but you need to have an apostille for your drivers licence ..having got that you take the licence and the apostille and a translation into spanish to the licence office in Santo Domingo ,,,think it is in Tiradentes but across J F Kennedy from the commercial area .. It took some time in Italy but no time here in the capital. But first you will need to know if they will do that for an English drivers licence.

I am sure they do - that is what used to happen. And given that Brits are excellent drivers I can't see why not.

Matilda (A Brit driving here for 17 years without an accident - even though on the wrong side of the road Windeguy lol)
 

Moro

New member
Jul 28, 2017
23
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1
Are you a legal resident of the DR? First you have to be a legal resident with a cedula.

There is another thread on DR1 about the procedure to get a license if your government does not properly validate a license for Dominican purposes. Sounds like a certified copy is not sufficient, since they are just saying the copy is the same as the original, but other Brits can verify that. My country does not validate licenses, so I had to get one here from scratch, pay the fees at Banreservas, get a learners permit, take an eye test, blood typing, computer based "written" test. No need in my case to take a driving test, but you might have to. If you take it in an automatic transmission car, then your license would be valid if you drove a stick shift.

Hey,

Yes im a legal resident, i've just read somewhere if your countrys embassy doesnt validate the drivers licence you can get it done at the dominican embassy in your home country
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
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Hey,

Yes im a legal resident, i've just read somewhere if your countrys embassy doesnt validate the drivers licence you can get it done at the dominican embassy in your home country

I have not heard that, but it might be possible.
 

Moro

New member
Jul 28, 2017
23
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1
I have not heard that, but it might be possible.

Im going to contact the DR embassy because so far its hearsay from a website :justlanded.com/english/Dominican-Republic/Dominican-Republic-Guide/Travel-Leisure/Driving-License

Valid driving license
When your embassy validates the driver’s licence

You must present valid licences from your country of origin for certification from the Dominican embassy or consulate offices of your country who will verify the validity of the licence.

Once you have this you need to take your documents to be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mirex). You will need to provide photocopies of all documents, and pay the applicable taxes
 

Eyes

Member
Apr 30, 2012
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I'm from London uk live in dr too if you have a uk licence Moro l would go and get a Dominican licence from the school there is a short theory test nothing like the difficulty of the uk test, then your asked to drive around a circle and park if you have your uk licence you will pass!
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
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In the time it takes you to track down the correct info about validating a foreign license, you would have been able to get said license going through the regular start to finish process. For me, I was not prepared to sit on a bus for 11 hrs, spend several more hours in SD going from Embassy to Foreign affairs getting paperwork stamped. I went to the bank and paid the fees and taxes. Asked a local outside the licensing office to take me to the closest PN office to get a record check, listened to the driving class for the six important Spanish words I needed to focus on when doing the computer test and then went to to get my learners permit. It took 3 hours (including travel time to and from Puerto Plata) and $RD 2000 for the class. The class was a big help because my Spanish was worse than awful at the time. I did the computer test on my own and had no problems.

It was disheartening that I had to go back in 45 days to do my practical driving test but nowhere near as annoying as sitting on a bus and dealing the the SD traffic, bureaucracy and indifference. Of all the processes here, getting a driver's license is one of the easier ones.

If you happen to live close to SD or you have to go there for another reason, maybe it can be worth the effort to get a foreign licensed validated to save some time. The computer test takes 30 minutes and the practical driving test takes about 15 minutes. If you have to spend 3 or more hours shuffling documents, save some time and just the take the tests. One advantage of the test, you'll learn that it is an infraction to honk your horn at livestock standing on the roadway...

With the new rules cutting the wait period for a practical test to 15 days, it will be even quicker.
 

Moro

New member
Jul 28, 2017
23
0
1
I'm from London uk live in dr too if you have a uk licence Moro l would go and get a Dominican licence from the school there is a short theory test nothing like the difficulty of the uk test, then your asked to drive around a circle and park if you have your uk licence you will pass!

Hey,

Sounds decent,

How long did it take you?

What was the costs involved?

Whats the name of school?

El moro,
 

Moro

New member
Jul 28, 2017
23
0
1
In the time it takes you to track down the correct info about validating a foreign license, you would have been able to get said license going through the regular start to finish process. For me, I was not prepared to sit on a bus for 11 hrs, spend several more hours in SD going from Embassy to Foreign affairs getting paperwork stamped. I went to the bank and paid the fees and taxes. Asked a local outside the licensing office to take me to the closest PN office to get a record check, listened to the driving class for the six important Spanish words I needed to focus on when doing the computer test and then went to to get my learners permit. It took 3 hours (including travel time to and from Puerto Plata) and $RD 2000 for the class. The class was a big help because my Spanish was worse than awful at the time. I did the computer test on my own and had no problems.

It was disheartening that I had to go back in 45 days to do my practical driving test but nowhere near as annoying as sitting on a bus and dealing the the SD traffic, bureaucracy and indifference. Of all the processes here, getting a driver's license is one of the easier ones.

If you happen to live close to SD or you have to go there for another reason, maybe it can be worth the effort to get a foreign licensed validated to save some time. The computer test takes 30 minutes and the practical driving test takes about 15 minutes. If you have to spend 3 or more hours shuffling documents, save some time and just the take the tests. One advantage of the test, you'll learn that it is an infraction to honk your horn at livestock standing on the roadway...

With the new rules cutting the wait period for a practical test to 15 days, it will be even quicker.

Thanks,

I didnt see your comment,
 

CG

Bronze
Sep 16, 2004
984
146
63
It was disheartening that I had to go back in 45 days to do my practical driving test [/QUOTE said:
I politely told them I lived in the north and could not come back in 45 days for the driving test, they said Ok come back tomorrow... I did and left with my license.