Does anyone know the process to obtain a Dominican drivers license? Is there an office in the Punta Caña area I can go to or does it have to be done in the Capital? I live here now, have my Cédula so this would be a new license and not a conversion from another country, thank you
- Thread starter eb16rb4
- Start date
Obtain Dominican Drivers License
learn the search function
https://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/173509-Drivers-License?highlight=drivers
https://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/173509-Drivers-License?highlight=drivers
Documents needed:
Cedula
DR criminal record check (Crims can only drive without a license I guess)
Receipt for paying fees at Ban Reserva
Attend drivers school (optional but recommended if your Spanish is poor)
Submit documents to licensing place
Take computer knowledge test
get eyes tested (done at licensing office)
get a blood test (done at licensing office)
Receive learners permit.
Wait ~45 days
Pay more fees at Ban reserva
Go to licensing office to take road test
Choose a manual transmission car for test if you do not wish to have an automatic only restriction on your license
Walk away with full license.
Cedula
DR criminal record check (Crims can only drive without a license I guess)
Receipt for paying fees at Ban Reserva
Attend drivers school (optional but recommended if your Spanish is poor)
Submit documents to licensing place
Take computer knowledge test
get eyes tested (done at licensing office)
get a blood test (done at licensing office)
Receive learners permit.
Wait ~45 days
Pay more fees at Ban reserva
Go to licensing office to take road test
Choose a manual transmission car for test if you do not wish to have an automatic only restriction on your license
Walk away with full license.
I finally got my cedula last week, so today I went to DGTT in Puerto Plata to get my Dominican driver's license. Thanks to exhaustive search about the process on DR1, I arrived at the office fully prepared. I had already been to Banreservas to pay the various fees and get my Certificado de Buen Conducto. The small office was crowded with about 25 people in the waiting room and I had no idea what to do or where to go when I arrived. But a lady who worked there could see that I was lost so she approached me and told me what I needed to do and where I needed to go. Actually I found all the people who worked there to be very helpful. I presented my documents and then was ushered in relatively quickly for the eye test, blood type test, and fingerprints etc. That all went quite smoothly, but then I had to wait for 2 hours for my written exam. I had been given a 160-page booklet to review while I waited but it was all in Spanish and it all seemed like common sense anyway. My Spanish is limited but after 50 years of driving the USA I was confident that I would have no problem passing the exam.
Finally I was called into the exam room. The exam is pretty basic. They sit you at a desk in a room by yourself where you are presented with earphones and a touch-screen monitor. The monitor displays instructions about how to take the test, and then about 20 different driving situations are presented, and you have to respond to the audio question by simply answering "si" or "no". The correct answers to the situations depicted seemed quite obvious, but when I finished that exam the monitor immediately advised me that I had failed the test with a score of only 50! In addition to being in disbelief, I left the office with my ego severely deflated and feeling totally humiliated, particularly after reading on DR1 about how easy the test was. I mean, with only 2 possible answers to each question, a monkey throwing darts would be unlikely to do any worse than I did!
I was told to return in 3 weeks to pay 200 pesos to retake the test, and they gave me the booklet to take home and study. The extensive all-Spanish booklet includes pretty basic information on everything from interpreting road signs to changing the oil in your car. But I doubt that any amount of study in the next 3 weeks will allow me to do better as long as the test questions are asked in Spanish. I thought that I understood the gist of most of the questions that were asked, but obviously I didn't. I'm not sure how many times they allow you to fail the test before they finally give up and just give you the license.
Finally I was called into the exam room. The exam is pretty basic. They sit you at a desk in a room by yourself where you are presented with earphones and a touch-screen monitor. The monitor displays instructions about how to take the test, and then about 20 different driving situations are presented, and you have to respond to the audio question by simply answering "si" or "no". The correct answers to the situations depicted seemed quite obvious, but when I finished that exam the monitor immediately advised me that I had failed the test with a score of only 50! In addition to being in disbelief, I left the office with my ego severely deflated and feeling totally humiliated, particularly after reading on DR1 about how easy the test was. I mean, with only 2 possible answers to each question, a monkey throwing darts would be unlikely to do any worse than I did!
I was told to return in 3 weeks to pay 200 pesos to retake the test, and they gave me the booklet to take home and study. The extensive all-Spanish booklet includes pretty basic information on everything from interpreting road signs to changing the oil in your car. But I doubt that any amount of study in the next 3 weeks will allow me to do better as long as the test questions are asked in Spanish. I thought that I understood the gist of most of the questions that were asked, but obviously I didn't. I'm not sure how many times they allow you to fail the test before they finally give up and just give you the license.
These guys will make sure you pass. Whether they go in the room or not. You pay, you pass. Simple.
The wording of the questions can be tricky. They follow the format of "did the blue car commit an infraction", "Would the red car get a ticket for what it did", "is it an infraction to...", "are you permitted to...", "is what the blue car did acceptable..." and of course "is the green car parked correctly." Don't forget that it is prohibido to honk your horn at cattle in the street.
It is the Spanish words for infraction, ticket and the ability to understand if the question is a negative or a reverse of what you would expect them to ask.
I took the driving course offered nextdoor in Puerto Plata, understood absolutely nothing about what was said in class but did pay attention to what was written on the board and the teacher jumping up and down while pointing at the spanish words for infraction, ticket, correct , not correct etc.
The rest is comprehension of exactly what the question asks like in the above examples. I did very well despite limited spanish. No one was allowed into the test with me.
It is the Spanish words for infraction, ticket and the ability to understand if the question is a negative or a reverse of what you would expect them to ask.
I took the driving course offered nextdoor in Puerto Plata, understood absolutely nothing about what was said in class but did pay attention to what was written on the board and the teacher jumping up and down while pointing at the spanish words for infraction, ticket, correct , not correct etc.
The rest is comprehension of exactly what the question asks like in the above examples. I did very well despite limited spanish. No one was allowed into the test with me.
Rhanson1,
What may have tripped you up was the phrasing of the questions. They were a little tricky when I took the test.
For example:
They show a video with a car stopping at a stop sign, then proceeding.
Sometimes the question would be “Is this correct?” And the answer was yes.
Sometimes the question would be formed “Can you receive a multa/fine for this?” And the answer would be no.
That could be part of the reason you got the surprising low score.
ps: now see Cdn_gringo was simultaneously providing same explanation
What may have tripped you up was the phrasing of the questions. They were a little tricky when I took the test.
For example:
They show a video with a car stopping at a stop sign, then proceeding.
Sometimes the question would be “Is this correct?” And the answer was yes.
Sometimes the question would be formed “Can you receive a multa/fine for this?” And the answer would be no.
That could be part of the reason you got the surprising low score.
ps: now see Cdn_gringo was simultaneously providing same explanation
Everything here has a price.
The test and the process itself has come along way and it isn't the burden the it once was. With that said - 50:1 as ratio with a guarantee to get your license, I wouldn't play the roulette.
Get the drift?
This reminds me of a bar review course many years ago. The instructor told us to forget what we learned and to do what he says. Well, I did and passed a difficult, multi-day bar on the first try with many points to spare. Thereafter, I reverted to what I learned when practicing. The exam and actual practice are two very different animals. Some do not learn this until expending much money.
Right, now the guy just pays the administrator to pass you before the test. They are getting more sophisticated every day here.
It is also possible that I failed the test because I was over-thinking the questions. For example, when they showed a car in the right-hand lane of the road making a left-hand turn, I knew that was wrong. But when they showed that same car in the left-hand lane making a left-hand turn, I said that was also wrong because the video did not show any turn signals activated on the car. Am I going too deep?
The average newbie here getting a drivers license doesn't even know there is an administrator or how to even ask for one and there are too many "eyes" in the room.
I went to the Procuraduria in Pto. Plata last year to get my carta de buena conducta. They told me to come back in 3 hours to pick it up. I didn't have 3 hours to waste waiting. I discreetly tried slipping the rep 500 pesos to make it happen in 15 minutes. She got all nervous, started looking around over her shoulder, and told me there was no way she could do that.
Maybe someone like you could pull it off, but a newbie here? No way Jose. Bad advice.
Rhanson,
A couple of tips for when you take the driving test. I was told NOT doing the following will result in failing:
1) use your blinker when exiting the parking lot
2) be sure to set the parking brake before exiting the car
3) keep both hands on the wheel
4) not to go over the speed limit (evaluator told me at one point to speed up!)
5) of course, wear your seatbelt
For me the driving test was simple... one time around the block. Biggest problem was the evaluator wanted to talk about where I was from, etc, etc in the middle of the test.
Good luck with it all!
A couple of tips for when you take the driving test. I was told NOT doing the following will result in failing:
1) use your blinker when exiting the parking lot
2) be sure to set the parking brake before exiting the car
3) keep both hands on the wheel
4) not to go over the speed limit (evaluator told me at one point to speed up!)
5) of course, wear your seatbelt
For me the driving test was simple... one time around the block. Biggest problem was the evaluator wanted to talk about where I was from, etc, etc in the middle of the test.
Good luck with it all!