In this article you will find out whether a foreign citizen can drive a car in Russia with a driver’s license from their country; can a foreign citizen drive in Russia with a Russian license and what restrictions exist; can a citizen of the Russian Federation travel to Russia with a foreign license and other important information.
- Is it possible to drive in Russia with a foreign license?
- Foreign citizen with Russian rights
- Russian citizen with foreign rights
- Fine for Russian citizens for driving on a foreign license
- The procedure for exchanging foreign rights for Russian ones
- Which national rights correspond to the Vienna Convention.
Regulatory documents used in the article:
- Vienna Convention - “Convention on Road Traffic” (Concluded in Vienna on November 8, 1968);
- Federal Law of December 10, 1995 N 196-FZ “On Road Safety”;
- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 24, 2014 N 1097 “On admission to driving vehicles”;
- Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated October 20, 2015 N 995 “On approval of the administrative regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the provision of public services for conducting examinations for the right to drive vehicles and issuing driver’s licenses”;
- Order of the Ministry of Health of Russia dated June 15, 2015 N 344n “On conducting mandatory medical examination of vehicle drivers (candidate vehicle drivers).
Let's look at the different situations in order.
Driving in Russia with a foreign license
You can drive a car in Russia with a foreign license if the driver is a citizen of a foreign state.
It is not allowed to drive a vehicle on the basis of foreign national driver's licenses when carrying out business and labor activities directly related to driving vehicles (clause 13 of Article 25 of Federal Law No. 196 of December 10, 1995 - entered into force on June 1, 2017).
The provision of paragraph 13 of Article 25 does not apply to citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic , as well as citizens of states whose legislation establishes the use of Russian as the official language (note: citizens of Belarus), carrying out business and labor activities on the territory of the Russian Federation, directly related to driving vehicles ( as amended by 204-FZ dated July 26, 2017).
Fines for breaking the law
Foreign citizens and stateless persons who have not received a Russian driving license in a timely manner and who drive vehicles for commercial purposes or under an employment contract are liable in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
In this case, a fine will be imposed on both the driver himself and representatives of the company responsible for operating the vehicle:
- From 5 to 15 thousand rubles. – for the driver
- 50 thousand rubles. – for responsible persons of the enterprise
Foreign citizen with Russian rights
Foreign citizens have the right to obtain a Russian driver's license. Obtaining a Russian certificate gives a foreign citizen the right to work in the field of road transport in Russia. The Russian national driver's license is issued for 10 years.
New rules will come into effect in 2021: Foreign driver's licenses will cease to be valid 6 months after receiving a Russian passport. Read more in the article.
Refusal - possible reasons
Even if a person provides all the required documents to the traffic police, he may be refused to issue a Russian driving license. Here are the most common reasons:
- Absence of stamps and required signatures on papers;
- The person has not reached the required age;
- Fake papers were provided;
- Previously, a person was deprived of his license for a serious traffic violation;
- Providing false information in an application;
- Lack of document;
- Expiration of at least one document;
- Presence of health problems and contraindications for driving.
For an applicant to be refused, even one of the listed reasons is sufficient.
Russian citizen with foreign rights
If you are a Russian citizen and permanently reside in Russia, then you must drive only with a Russian license. The right of any state not to recognize foreign rights for citizens of its country as valid is enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (Article 41, paragraph 7):
Parties to the convention are not obliged to:
a) recognize as valid national or international driving licenses issued in the territory of another Contracting Party to persons who had their usual place of residence in their territory at the time of issue of that driving license or who transferred their usual place of residence to their territory after the issue of that license;
b) recognize the validity of the above-mentioned driving licenses issued to drivers whose usual place of residence at the time of issue of the licenses was not in the territory where the licenses were issued, or who changed their place of residence after the issue of the licenses to another territory.
Thus, being a citizen of the Russian Federation and a resident of the Russian Federation, you cannot use a foreign driver’s license on the territory of Russia. Even if you received a foreign license on a tourist trip or during temporary residence in another country, you will not be able to use it in Russia.
Citizens and residents of the Russian Federation have the right to drive vehicles on the territory of Russia only with a Russian driver's license.
This is evidenced by established judicial practice and examples of court decisions:
- Oktyabrsky District Court (St. Petersburg) -
- Frunzensky District Court of Vladivostok (Primorsky Territory) -
- Leninsky District Court of Tyumen (Tyumen Region) -
- Gatchina City Court (Leningrad Region) -
The courts indicate in their decisions (example wording):
Taking into account the fact that Tad******va S.M. is a citizen of the Russian Federation, is not a person permanently or temporarily residing or temporarily staying on the territory of the Russian Federation, a state of national (civil) affiliation Tad******va S.M. is the Russian Federation, therefore, national documents for it are documents issued by the competent authorities of the Russian Federation for use on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Thus, the provisions of the legal norm (Article 25 of the Federal Law “On Road Safety”), which allows driving a vehicle in the Russian Federation on the basis of a foreign national driver’s license, are not applicable to citizens of the Russian Federation; they apply to foreign citizens temporarily staying in the Russian Federation .
Step by step process guide
If our legislation obliges a foreign citizen to exchange a foreign ID for a Russian one, he can do this:
- simplified;
- in the general order (that is, as Russian citizens receiving rights for the first time).
As stated in paragraph 41 of the Rules, it is possible to change it in a simplified manner when the foreign certificate complies with the requirements of international treaties - Appendix 6 of the Convention.
Interesting! The simplified, general procedure differs only in the absence of the need in the 1st case to undergo training at a driving school. As defined in clause 142 of the Regulations, under the simplified procedure all the same administrative procedures are carried out as under the general procedure.
This means that if necessary, you will have to change your Ukrainian driver’s license:
- pass exams (clause 38 of the Rules);
- contact the nearest registration and examination unit of the traffic police;
- submit documents, the list of which is provided for in clause 39 of the Rules;
- pay the state fee for issuing Russian licenses, the cost of which is established by clause 43 of Art. 333.33. Tax Code of Russia (2000 rubles);
- wait for the appointment of an official individual who verified the submitted documents, the identity of the applicant in accordance with clauses 60 - clause 75 of the Regulations, and the date of the theoretical exam;
- pass other exams (autodrome, city) (when required according to clause 9 of the Rules for a certain category);
- obtain a Russian license if there are grounds for extradition (clause 134 of the Regulations).
Exchange of foreign driving licenses for the Russian Federation (procedure for replacing foreign rights)
The procedure for exchanging a foreign driver's license for a Russian one is established by the Government of the Russian Federation, namely by Resolution No. 1097 dated October 24, 2014 (as amended on February 4, 2016) “On admission to driving vehicles.”
The exchange is made based on the results of the exams. Those wishing to obtain a Russian license must pass:
- theoretical exam;
- exam on initial driving skills;
- driving test in traffic conditions.
Thus, if your driver’s license meets the international requirements enshrined in the Vienna Convention, you can exchange it for a Russian one without going to a driving school.
To exchange a foreign national driver's license, the following documents are submitted:
- statement;
- passport or other identity document;
- medical report (certificate in form 003-B/u, approved by order of the Ministry of Health of Russia dated June 15, 2015 N 344n);
- foreign driver's license.
IMPORTANT: Foreign driver's licenses that do not comply with the requirements of international treaties of the Russian Federation in the field of road safety cannot be exchanged for Russian national and international driver's licenses. In this case, it is necessary to obtain a Russian-style driver’s license in the general manner along with studying at a driving school.
The foreign driver's license is returned to its owner simultaneously with the issuance of the Russian license. Notes on existing experience must be displayed in paragraph 14 of the received driver’s license:
Cost of the procedure and is an exam required?
To obtain a new license, you must pay a state fee of 2,000 rubles.
An international certificate will cost a little less - 1,600 rubles. But these are not all the costs of a foreigner. To undergo a medical examination you will need to pay from 1000 to 5000 rubles, depending on the region of the country. In some traffic police departments you can use the service of receiving a ready-made application for changing your license. The fee is 50-200 rubles. But these costs can be reduced. If you submit documents to change your license through the State Services portal, the amount of the state fee is reduced by 30%.
If a citizen does not have time to prepare documents, it is better to immediately seek help from intermediaries. They will not only collect all the papers, but will also be able to advise you on passing the traffic police exam.
When replacing your driver's license when changing citizenship, you must not only obtain a new document, but also successfully pass the exam at the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. And there will be no concessions.
The exam consists of three stages:
- take a theory test;
- demonstrate driving technique on the race track;
- driving a car within the city.
But if the driver already has experience, then there should be no problems passing the exam. If you are not sure of the result, then you should seek help from an instructor and take several lessons from him.
Citizens whose licenses were issued before January 1, 1992 do not need to take exams. The same privilege is available to employees of consulates, diplomatic missions and other international organizations. They additionally attach documents confirming their special status to the list of requested papers.
When replacing a certificate with several categories, the owner of foreign documents was lucky. He will not need to take an exam in each individual category. It is enough to successfully pass the test at the highest of them.
For example, a citizen can drive both a motorcycle and a car. In this case, he needs to pass the exam in category “B”, since it is higher.
Which national rights correspond to the Vienna Convention
The International Convention on Road Traffic defines the features that a driver’s license of states that have acceded to this treaty must have, namely:
- The driver's license must be a document.
- the certificate is printed in the language or languages determined by the competent authority that issues the document; however, it bears the title "permis de conduire" in French, which may or may not be accompanied by the title "Driving License" in other languages, and the name and/or distinguishing sign of the country in which the license is issued.
- Entries made on the certificate are made either only in letters of the Latin alphabet or in words, or are repeated in the same way.
- The certificate must contain the following information; this information is numbered from 1 to 11: last name
- First and middle name
- Date and place of birth
- location
- authority that issued the certificate
- date and place of issue of the certificate
- expiration date of the certificate
- ID number
- signature and/or stamp or seal of the authority that issued the certificate
- owner's signature
- category or categories, or subcategories of vehicles to which this certificate applies, indicating the date of issue of the certificate and expiration dates for each of these categories.
Thus, you can exchange a foreign license for a Russian one without undergoing training at a driving school, passing the necessary exams, provided that the foreign driving license complies with the Vienna Convention and the above requirements.
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Taking exams to obtain a driver's license as a foreigner
Citizens of other countries with temporary registration will have to take the final exam at a special traffic police department for foreigners. Often this can be organized by a driving school, informing students of the date and time of the exam. You are given three attempts to pass the test. If you fail, you must take the course again. The type of car for the exam is determined individually.
Do you want to make it as easy as possible for foreigners to obtain a license? We invite you to the best educational institution in Moscow - “Driving School 177”. The school has several branches - choose the most convenient one. Students have a huge car park and specially equipped driving areas at their disposal. We will help you pass the medical examination for your license and provide you with a car suitable for the exams.
