Requirements for driving licenses of foreign citizens

Foreigners often turn to our company to rent a car, but we can not always give out a car, because national driver license does not meet specific requirements. In order not to experience difficulties with car rental services in Russia and in particular in the city of Volgograd, in this article we will examine which foreign driver's licenses are valid in the Russian Federation, as well as when an international driver's license or a notarized translation into Russian is necessary.

Determining the need to change or transfer a document (a driver's license) of a foreign sample to an international or national one should be based on the provisions of the 1968 Vienna Convention. Is your country on the list below?

List of countries that have joined the 1968 Vienna Convention (as of November 1, 2018):

Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Vatican, Great Britain, Hungary, Venezuela, Vietnam, Guyana, Ghana, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Israel, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Spain, Italy, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Liberia, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Morocco, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, UAE, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Port Galia, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Uruguay, Philippines, Finland, France , Croatia, Central African Republic, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden, Ecuador, Estonia, South Africa.

If your country is not on the list of the above countries, you need to check your driver's license for the requirements of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. If your driver's license meets the requirements, you can use it when driving in the territory of the Russian Federation.

If the state is not a contracting party to the Vienna Convention, the national driving license issued by it is also recognized as valid for driving on the territory of the Russian Federation. Such a driver's license must be presented along with the Russian translation certified in the prescribed manner (translation is not required if all the records in the driver's license are made or duplicated in letters that match the spelling with the letters of the Russian or Latin alphabet). You can use a foreign-style document for 60 days from the date of registration of entry into the country.

It is impossible to use in Russia the certificates of the states in which the Russian national driver's licenses are not recognized.

As for the citizens of the Russian Federation, it is forbidden to drive a car on foreign rights. In accordance with the PP "a". 6, Art. 41, para. Of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968, contracting countries are not obliged to recognize the validity of national rights granted to those drivers whose habitual residence was not in the territory where the certificate was issued, or was transferred after being issued to another territory.

We hope that we have helped you figure out which driver's license is valid on the territory of the Russian Federation. Use the car rental rent a car service and travel comfortably through the endless expanses of Russia.


If you have any questions, please contact us at volgocar@yandex.ru or WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram (+ 7-917-338-55-85 Vadim)