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Is an Australian Drivers License valid here? My husband's coming over for about a month so i was wondering if he has to go thro with the whole international license thing or is it avoidable?

any info n experiences? would be really appreciated

If he is here only for a month I can't see a reason to change your license even if you come from the moon. Besides, he only knows how to drive on the "wrong" side of the road.

On a visit visa to hire a car you need both your aussie drivers license AND an International Drivers licence available from RACQ or Motor Registries can't remeber which one. Its about 20 bucks and you need to take in a passport photo and passport with you.

cant hire a car without one

PS why's your husband getting you to do the dirty work?

The legal situation here in Dubai is as follows;

An Australian on a visit visa must have an International License to be able to drive a hire car (Legally speaking you are not allowed to drive a privately registered vehicle if you are on a visit visa)

sage & onion wrote:(Legally speaking you are not allowed to drive a privately registered vehicle if you are on a visit visa)

isnt there some provision for a temp permit or something? i read somewhere that you provide your local license to the RTA and get a time limited permit to drive a pvt vehicle in dubai.

sage & onion wrote:The legal situation here in Dubai is as follows;

An Australian on a visit visa must have an International License to be able to drive a hire car

Wow, that's exactly what Scarlet said! Except she said it first.

^ian^ wrote:

sage & onion wrote:The legal situation here in Dubai is as follows;

An Australian on a visit visa must have an International License to be able to drive a hire car

Wow, that's exactly what Scarlet said! Except she said it first.

You know Ian, you are a real idiot, you never hesitate to critisise others, what makes you so damned perfect.
When I opened this thread this morning and started my reply it was before Scarlet had said anything, with the link open I then got into a discussion with one of my Australian colleagues regarding the subject matter to ensure that I was giving the correct advice, following this discussion I then posted.

oooh men, fighting over me - that's so nice

To the OP - it is not difficult to get an Int license it takes 10 minutes. No test involved

thanks for the replies...but to drive my car, a private vehicle, he still needs an international one.

which can be done here in this country?

zaidin whats this provisonal one? he doesnt have a local (emirates) license

On the topic of non-UAE license holders:

I'm 17 and will be taking my test on March 1st in the UK. I'll be coming back to Dubai in June for 3 months and my Dad is sponsoring me on his Residence Visa for the period.

The plan is to let me earn a little money before I pack myself off to be a tax dodging Uni student in September by acting as a company driver, using the company pickup.

I've spoken to an Emirati who said that even though I am 17 (18 (legal UAE driving age) on October 5th) I would still be ok to drive on the UK licence, because if the police did pull me over and see my UK licence, they'd just wave me on, or something to that effect....

Is he "correct" in what he is saying, or would I be in deep doo doo if I was caught?

You need an international driver's license to drive a HIRE car in the UAE while on a visit visa. You are not allowed to drive any other car unless you have a residency visa and a UAE license. That is the law. Why listen to hearsay from a friend when the law applies to everyone and you could get caught! If you have a UK license and can get your residence permit you can change your license to a UAE license. They likely won't check your age (hopefully you look 18 ) and you will be fine to drive here in a non-hire car.

kanelli wrote:You need an international driver's license to drive a HIRE car in the UAE while on a visit visa. You are not allowed to drive any other car unless you have a residency visa and a UAE license. That is the law. Why listen to hearsay from a friend when the law applies to everyone and you could get caught! If you have a UK license and can get your residence permit you can change your license to a UAE license. They likely won't check your age (hopefully you look 18 ) and you will be fine to drive here in a non-hire car.

I heard they have raised the legal age to 21, didn't see any written confirmation though.

My advice, drive legal, that way if you get into any problem you are covered by insurance (if you have it), if you are not legal, the Insurance Company will drop you like a stone.