Regarding the driving license when visiting another country

If you are driving overseas or if you wish to hire a car there, one or both of these documents—a national driver's license (international model license) or an international driver's license—may be necessary. Certain the differences are and which certificates might be required under what circumstances.

If you are driving overseas or if you wish to hire a car there, one or both of these documents—a national driver's license (international model license) or an international driver's license—may be necessary. Certain the differences are and which certificates might be required under what circumstances

International driving permits, or IDPs, are not usually necessary, but they are indispensable when traveling, for instance, to the USA. The Vienna and Geneva Road Traffic Conventions govern this topic internationally.

Without the need for additional international licenses, nations who are signatories to the Vienna Road Traffic Convention (including Ukraine) accept each other's national driver's licenses. However, they may want either an international driver's license or a conventional national driver's license if you need to rent a vehicle.

In the member nations of the Geneva Convention, free travel and car rentals are both subject to the possession of an international driver's license. No international driving permit is necessary. However, it should be remembered that a valid foreign driver's license can only exist in the context of national rights.

The international model or international driver's license was previously a topic of discussion.

– last name;

– name and patronymic;

- date and place of birth;

- residence;

- the body that issued the certificate;

- date and place of issue;

– expiration date;

– number;

– signature and/or stamp or seal of the body that issued the certificate;

- signature of the owner;

- photo of the owner;

– category/categories or subcategories of vehicles, indicating the date of issuance of the license and the date of expiration for each of these categories.

Driver's licenses issued after 2011, when this information under Ukrainian national regulations started to be filled in, are recognized in all of the Vienna Convention's signatory nations. It should be mentioned that the CMU passed a resolution on September 16, 2020, allowing documents to be brought into compliance with European standards. Currently, the trilingual (Ukrainian, English, and part in French) sample form of a national driver's license on a plastic card is acceptable throughout Europe and in many other nations. The blood type (Rhes factor) and agreement to posthumous donation are now listed on the certificate, but only with the applicant's previous written authorization.

You can lawfully drive a car overseas in any nations that are signatories to the Vienna Convention if you hold a national license in the manner of Europe. If you currently hold an outdated booklet-style driver's license and plan to drive a car overseas, you must apply for an international driver's license.

This special document, which has received approval from the international community, essentially translates national rights into four languages—English, French, Spanish, and Russian—and has a three-year term that isn't longer than the time for which the national rights were originally granted.

The general requirements for the IDP (International Driving Permit) form are listed in Annex No. 7 to this Convention. The international driving license is described in this annex as an A6 (148 x 105 mm) book with a gray cover and white interior pages. The front and inner sides of the initial cover sheet are the same, and they are printed in the state's official language, or at least one of its official languages. The inner pages' last two pages are printed in French, and the inner pages before them repeat the beginning of these two pages in a variety of languages, with English, Spanish, and Russian being required.

The certificate contains entries that can be typed or handwritten in the Latin alphabet.

It should be noted that without a national driver's license, an international driver's license is not valid.