Non-eu drivers licence and car rental

LiranT

Hey everyone,

I have family coming over for a weekend and I'd like to take them on a tour in Ireland.

My drivers license is non-eu and I have it for over 5 years, but I can see that the rules indicate that if I'm a resident here for over a year I must have a drivers license to drive, does that include renting a car temporarily?

I'll appreciate some insight so I can plan & prepare accordingly!

Thank you!

biko

You can hire a car using any valid licence. Yes, you should not use a foreign licence if you are resident here, but how are they to know how long you have lived here...

Doltanian

biko wrote: »

You can hire a car using any valid licence. Yes, you should not use a foreign licence if you are resident here, but how are they to know how long you have lived here...

There is actually several different nationalities which cannot rent a car in Ireland using their own countries native driving license.

Jude13

I've used an Omani and UAE license in Ireland renting with no worries.

seamus

biko wrote: »

You can hire a car using any valid licence. Yes, you should not use a foreign licence if you are resident here, but how are they to know how long you have lived here...

You should be less worried about the hire car company and more worried about the Gardai.

It's most likely the case that if you've been resident here more than a year, then you are for all intents and purposes unlicenced.

This has a knock-on effect; while you may be able to convince the hire company to give you a car, in the event of an accident all cover may be withdrawn on the basis that you deliberately misled the company (and by extension the insurer).

So if stopped by the Gardai, you would likely find yourself looking at a court appearance, with the possibility of a driving ban and a hefty fine hanging over you.

Apply to swap out your driving licence today. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll get your Irish licence.

kerten

seamus wrote: »

Apply to swap out your driving licence today. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll get your Irish licence.

Sooner means around 1 year which is the reason for accepting non-eu driving licenses first year. Of course you still need a learner permit to buy and insure a car yourself like a 18 years old starting to drive

State needs to create a fair process for non-eu full driving license holders instead of treating them as learner drivers at their 30s. But that would mean less hassle for ordinary people so it won't happen until Non-EU relative of a politician makes enough noise

/rant over

coylemj

seamus wrote: »

So if stopped by the Gardai, you would likely find yourself looking at a court appearance, with the possibility of a driving ban and a hefty fine hanging over you.

How would a Garda at a checkpoint know that the person driving the rented car isn't a tourist who just flew in on a holiday? In any country, you just show your foreign driving licence and the car rental documents and the cops will wave you on. Flashing your passport at the same time also helps as it's the natural thing for a lot of people when they're away from their home country and they encounter police.

Cops everywhere know that you need a valid driving licence to hire a car so when they stop someone and the driver waves car rental document at them, there really isn't any reason to take it further since by definition you have a valid licence and are covered by the rental company's insurance.

ohnonotgmail

kerten wrote: »

Sooner means around 1 year which is the reason for accepting non-eu driving licenses first year. Of course you still need a learner permit to buy and insure a car yourself like a 18 years old starting to drive

State needs to create a fair process for non-eu full driving license holders instead of treating them as learner drivers at their 30s. But that would mean less hassle for ordinary people so it won't happen until Non-EU relative of a politician makes enough noise

/rant over

how do you propose they do that? One of the guys where i work has an indian driving licence. a full one. he openly admits to never actually taking the test. he paid somebody else to do it for him. Or driving licences from US states where the test involves driving around a few cones in a car park.

colm_c

kerten wrote: »

Sooner means around 1 year which is the reason for accepting non-eu driving licenses first year. Of course you still need a learner permit to buy and insure a car yourself like a 18 years old starting to drive

State needs to create a fair process for non-eu full driving license holders instead of treating them as learner drivers at their 30s. But that would mean less hassle for ordinary people so it won't happen until Non-EU relative of a politician makes enough noise

/rant over

I don't think it's up to the 'state'.

This is the same issue in many countries around the world, who have the same process, do your driving test again.

If you as an adult of 30 years of age are not able to sit your driving test here and pass, well then you shouldn't be on the road.

Del2005

kerten wrote: »

Sooner means around 1 year which is the reason for accepting non-eu driving licenses first year. Of course you still need a learner permit to buy and insure a car yourself like a 18 years old starting to drive

State needs to create a fair process for non-eu full driving license holders instead of treating them as learner drivers at their 30s. But that would mean less hassle for ordinary people so it won't happen until Non-EU relative of a politician makes enough noise

/rant over

Licence exchange is done on a reciprocal agreement. So if the other issuing authority doesn't want to swap them we can't. Some US States and Canadian provinces allow swapping while others do not, yet you can drive all across North America on any states/provinces licence.

Then there are the countries with tests worse than ours, I did the driving test in Oregon which was a spin around the block in an automatic with a max speed of 25mph, and that's better than a lot of other places.

GM228

coylemj wrote: »

Cops everywhere know that you need a valid driving licence to hire a car so when they stop someone and the driver waves car rental document at them, there really isn't any reason to take it further since by definition you have a valid licence and are covered by the rental company's insurance.

Problem here is the hire rental companies idea of a valid licence does not always equate with the laws position on what is a valid driving licence in this state.

Plenty of people driving rental or otherwise with a valid licence, just not a licence in itself which is valid here.

kerten

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

how do you propose they do that? One of the guys where i work has an indian driving licence. a full one. he openly admits to never actually taking the test. he paid somebody else to do it for him. Or driving licences from US states where the test involves driving around a few cones in a car park.

colm_c wrote: »

I don't think it's up to the 'state'.

This is the same issue in many countries around the world, who have the same process, do your driving test again.

If you as an adult of 30 years of age are not able to sit your driving test here and pass, well then you shouldn't be on the road.

By fair process, I didn't mean to swap all non-EU full license with a Irish full license. And there are countries in EU which actually swaps those per agreements go figure.

There is always argument of their driving license test is not as through as ours so deal with it. I agree with that and it perfectly makes sense if you can sit in a driving test quickly to demonstrate how capable you are or not and deal with it.

It actually takes 6+2/3 months(waiting time) in Ireland to sit in a driving test for Non-EU license holders.

When you move to a new country with your family, rushing to apply for a theory test is not first thing you do. Many people moving doesn't expect such a slow process. I warned everyone in this situation to start the process immediately.

Of course you can try to create proof that you are full license holder with driving history (Non-EU driving license itself is not enough) to bypass 6 months waiting time or ask your employe to write letters stating that you need your license quick for work etc. for less waiting time.

or

fix the system for those who can actually drive and need to drive for family/lack of public transport reasons

So what happens actually, we have many non-EU full license/Irish learner permit owner drivers on the road illegally(driving without accompanying full license holders) waiting for their test if they didn't start the process immediately for any reason.

ohnonotgmail

kerten wrote: »

By fair process, I didn't mean to swap all non-EU full license with a Irish full license. And there are countries in EU which actually swaps those per agreements go figure.

There is always argument of their driving license test is not as through as ours so deal with it. I agree with that and it perfectly makes sense if you can sit in a driving test quickly to demonstrate how capable you are or not and deal with it.

It actually takes 6+2/3 months(waiting time) in Ireland to sit in a driving test for Non-EU license holders.

When you move to a new country with your family, rushing to apply for a theory test is not first thing you do. Many people moving doesn't expect such a slow process. I warned everyone in this situation to start the process immediately.

Of course you can try to create proof that you are full license holder with driving history (Non-EU driving license itself is not enough) to bypass 6 months waiting time or ask your employe to write letters stating that you need your license quick for work etc. for less waiting time.

or

fix the system for those who can actually drive and need to drive for family/lack of public transport reasons

So what happens actually, we have many non-EU full license/Irish learner permit owner drivers on the road illegally(driving without accompanying full license holders) waiting for their test if they didn't start the process immediately for any reason.

they have a year to get an irish licence. what is the problem?

kerten

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

they have a year to get an irish licence. what is the problem?

1) When you move to Ireland with kids, you generally need a car quickly due to lack of public transport or crazy rents on public transport routes. So until you go through the process and get the full license. you will be loaded insurance wise as a learner permit owner and won't be able to insure a large car if you need space for kids etc.

2) If you didn't start the process in first three months, you are out of 1 year window and start driving illegally. Believe me driving test process is not on top of list when you need to
- Apply PPS, Revenue, Garda, Visa office, Bank(yes, it is quite painful to open an bank account in first days with a job, valid work permit, etc. )
- Find accommodation
- Find schools/childcare for kids
- Make sure you perform at work in your first days

It shouldn't be that hard to eliminate the requirement of 6 months initial waiting time if you can provide some sort of full driving license from any country in the world.

It is hard to explain this for someone local but I believe there are many Irish people who went through such process abroad.

I wonder how long it took to complete the process in other countries for them?

coylemj

GM228 wrote: »

Problem here is the hire rental companies idea of a valid licence does not always equate with the laws position on what is a valid driving licence in this state.

Plenty of people driving rental or otherwise with a valid licence, just not a licence in itself which is valid here.

That's really neither here nor there when it comes to tourists and car rental.

If a rental company accepts a particular licence and gives the person a car to drive around Ireland, the cops don't really care whether the licence is technically valid here or not, all they care about is whether the car is insured.

There's no power of arrest for driving without a licence so there's bugger all they can do with a tourist, even if they think his licence doesn't meet the RTA requirements in this country.

ohnonotgmail

kerten wrote: »

1) When you move to Ireland with kids, you generally need a car quickly due to lack of public transport or crazy rents on public transport routes. So until you go through the process and get the full license. you will be loaded insurance wise as a learner permit owner and won't be able to insure a large car if you need space for kids etc.

2) If you didn't start the process in first three months, you are out of 1 year window and start driving illegally. Believe me driving test process is not on top of list when you need to
- Apply PPS, Revenue, Garda, Visa office, Bank(yes, it is quite painful to open an bank account in first days with a job, valid work permit, etc. )
- Find accommodation
- Find schools/childcare for kids
- Make sure you perform at work in your first days

It shouldn't be that hard to eliminate the requirement of 6 months initial waiting time if you can provide some sort of full driving license from any country in the world.

It is hard to explain this for someone local but I believe there are many Irish people who went through such process abroad.

I wonder how long it took to complete the process in other countries for them?

they can drive on their foreign licence for 12 months. the 6 month waiting time is also waived. i'm still not seeing the issue.

kerten

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

they can drive on their foreign licence for 12 months. the 6 month waiting time is also waived. i'm still not seeing the issue.

Not as straight forward as it sounds.

- Try to get a insurance quote with Non-EU license in Ireland to drive with your 12 month valid Non-EU license(which validity most likely going to expire before policy ends). Insurers don't want those. Response is get a learner permit and come back. It will be cheaper this way. ( goes up to 3 grand for 1.4 lt econobox)

- Waiving 6 month waiting time requires person to produce additional proof(in english) from the authority (at home country)which issued the license. And that is not for swapping licenses, it is just to be able to sit same driving test earlier:D

A holder of a current full driving licence from another country (jurisdiction) for more than six months is exempt from this requirement, provided you forward a current original driving licence and a letter of entitlement from the relevant licensing authority in that country to office

So Non-EU license valid for first 12 months only saves person to be fined by Garda for no valid driving license and allows person to drive rentals legally.

In practice, you need a learner permit to be able to buy insurance for your own car unless you drive rentals till you get full irish driving license in 9-10 months time

IMHO, 9-10 months long waiting time for sitting in a driving test is ridiculous in this age for anyone including 18 years olds. Either you can pass the test or not.

Saying that your license is valid for first 12 months doesn't mean anything if you can't use the license to drive anything other than rentals legally.