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do i have to go thru a driving school (which is expensive) or go straigth to the traffic department? i have a license in my country but i heard it is of no use because UAE only honors international and GCC licenses.

please help me.

Depends what country you are from. What country is your driver's liscence from?

For example, I hold a Canadian liscence and I don't need to do any tests. My lisence can be used in Dubai as a visitor and can easily be transferred to a local license once I get my residency by paying a small fee only...

many countries have recipricol agreements with the uae regarding vehicle licenses - others (possibly where the standard of driving is poor) do not and local lessons and an examination are required.

if you are in the lucky catagory where you can have it transfered it costs you 150 AED and an eye test, simply take your current license to the traffic department it takes between 1/2 and 1 hour to process. if you have a residency visa your uae license will be valid for 10 years, and only 6 months if you are the holder of a visit visa.

you may only use an international drivers license if you are using a rental car! if you are using a private car with an international lisence (and have an accident) you will end up with the pink ticket!!!! (guilty)

From what I hear, it seems UAE has a very poor driving standard championed by many nuts

if there was a nail around, you'd be hitting it squarly on the head!

after driving here for about 2 weeks you will soon realise that "when in rome..." and "if you can't beat them join them" take on a whole new meaning!

True!

Unlike other places in the world where I have friends, UAE is the only place where one of my friends lost his daughter in a car accident.

Also, recently, I read on Aljazeera that one of their staff lost his family..his wife, his daughter and his son. They took a cab going to school registration and had a fatal accident.

I'm willing to bet my life that either the cab driver or whoever struck them was one of those nuts

Hiya,

You can log onto the Dubai Traffic Police website www.dxbtraffic.gov.ae and there's a section which actually tells you which countries are able to just transfer their license to a local one.

To be fair there's no way in a million years I'd trust the driving instructors in the UAE, take off the board from their car and they seem to be some of the worst traffic offenders, complete nutters and the lessons and tests are a complete joke.

I once showed some people the Highway Code book from the UK and they couldn't believe that we had to learn everything in it to pass the test.

Sadly it's not always the lack of driving skills it's the attitude many off these people have towards their daily life, everything's in a rush and they have to be infront and don't care, wrap that attitude in 2 tonnes of metal and the lunacy on the roads in Dubai is what you end up with!

thanks guys, sad that my country (Phil) is not one of those listed .and there was no info about international license which i can get in manila, im so hesitant to go thru the driving schools (very costly for me)

sly, i'm pretty sure you can just go to the police, tell them that you've been taking lessons from a private teacher,then take your test? may have to sit through a lecture, eye test and stuff, then the roads. give it a try, good luck

PS. don't go to belhasa for any reason- they're a rip off.

thanks for that Bobbie, i'll give it a try!

I went to the Traffic dept and passed the signal test, i am scheduled for a road test on the 8th of october. i did not go to a driving school, any tips ?

I passed my test here a year ago.. With Emirates Driving Institute, it took 7 weeks and two tests! And 2'600 Dhs

They will try to milk you and find reason to fail you in order to get money out of you, I did make things difficult as I refused to be taught in the car with three other learners, along with myself and the instructor.

so it is best not to go through a driving school then, i'll try my luck on saturday. share me some tips on how to "please" the evaulator/officer.

sly wrote:so it is best not to go through a driving school then, i'll try my luck on saturday. share me some tips on how to "please" the evaulator/officer.

Hey, so did you pass your test? Mikkie is right. Emirates and most driving schools will just get the money out of you. If you haven't passed the road test, and if you are interested, I can recommend you to one of the driving schools we (hoteliers) use. An experienced driver from your home country (Phils) is not a guarantee that you will pass the test here immediately. A 12yr driver (Asian) failed on his first attempt. For whatever reason, I dunno! My Australian friend (holding an Asian licence) went straight to the police station, did the road test, stalled the car few times and whoppah.... passed the test! Get it?!

i failed , and i don't exactly know why. some say you wont pass on the 1st attempt while some say it is luck (when the officer is in the good mood),while others say if you go through belhasa or emirates school the chances are good.

i informed my company they say they would pay for belhasa (stubborn me huh?), now let me share this...

My first session. Armed with 15 years road experience I sat on the driver’s seat confidently, adjusted the mirrors, buckled up, turned the ignition on…then I heard a resounding “WRONG!!!” from the man on my right, I almost literally buried myself n the seat – I lost confidence ,suddenly I was a real novice- I confused the wiper with the signal indicator. Etc. ..then on the road I was driving really slow to play safe only to hear another sudden “WRONG!”. Inside the small car, there were only two sounds: my heartbeat and WRONG.

wheew , what an expience. pisses me off to see reckless drivers in every corner of dubai yet it’s as if perfect road discipline and driving skills are required to have a license. Vehicular accidents occur everyday in dubai. Ironic. But as most people say: “what to do?”

wish me luck guys. It is like getting a multiple entry visa to Mars.

i finally got my license after a real great deal of stress, it took me a month and a lot of money .....whew!!

Is the road-test car a manual or an automatic? If it's manual, I'm s-c-r-e-w-e-d

you can opt for a manual or automatic, good luck

sly wrote:i finally got my license after a real great deal of stress, it took me a month and a lot of money .....whew!!

Getting a drivers license is one of those unavoidable headaches which you have to suffer and bear, not just in Dubai but I assume anywhere on the planet!

In Dubai, you will also most likely empty your pockets getting it!

LLTT