How to change a Moldovan driver's license to a Russian one

Procedure for replacing a foreign driver's license with a Russian one

In this article we will tell you how to change a driver’s license that was obtained in another country to a Russian driver’s license. It also provides information on the situation in which you need to study at a driving school to obtain a driver’s license and what qualifying exams you need to take at traffic police departments.

Documents for exchanging a driver's license

To exchange you will need the following documents:

• Application in written or printed form;
• passport or other identification document;
• health certificate;
• foreign driver's license (if previously issued);
• receipt for payment of the examination procedure. It is not necessary to submit it, but we recommend taking it.

What foreign driving licenses can be exchanged?

Point 41 in the rules for issuing a certificate reads:

If the driver's license meets all the requirements of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, you can exchange it for a Russian one.

Otherwise, the ID will not be exchanged.

Exchange of rights acquired in the USSR

To exchange driver's licenses obtained in the Soviet Union before 01/01/92, you must go through the same procedure as for any other foreign driver's license. To make an exchange, you need the documents specified at the beginning of our explanatory article.

In addition, you must pass exams at the traffic police. We will provide a list of exams below.

How to exchange a foreign driver's license for a Russian one?

Here is the procedure for exchanging a foreign driver's license for a Russian one:

1. It is necessary to make sure that the existing certificate complies with all the requirements of international treaties of Russia. For this purpose, it is necessary to study Annex No. 6 to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. If all the requirements are met, you can safely change your ID. Otherwise, you will have to take driving courses and only after them get a driver’s license;
2. Collect a set of documents for replacing your license, given at the beginning of the article and contact the traffic police department to take exams to confirm your qualifications;
3. In case of successful passing of the exams, the driver is issued a Russian driver's license, and the foreign driver's license is returned to him.

Exams to replace foreign driving licenses with Russian ones

To replace a foreign driver's license with a Russian one, you must pass qualifying exams. Such exams include:

• Knowledge of theory (traffic tickets);
• Driving on a race track;
• Driving within the city.

Good to know: when replacing a foreign driver's license with a Russian one, open categories are taken into account. If several categories are open in a foreign document, exams are taken only for the highest of them.

For this purpose, the following sequence in categories is adopted:

That is, if categories A, B and C are open, to replace the license with a Russian one, exams in category C are taken. If the exams are successfully passed, the driver is issued a Russian driver's license.

I hope that we have provided answers to questions about exchanging foreign driving licenses for Russian ones and now you will not have any problems with exchanging documents!

Call +7 (499) 455-12-39 (MSK and MO), +7 (812) 426-14-93 (SPb and LO) and 8 (800) 500-27-29 ext.697 (general) and our auto lawyer will answer all your questions for FREE.

Replacing a foreign driver's license with a Russian one in 2019 2020

In recent years, the number of foreign citizens who have arrived in Russia has increased significantly. At the same time, the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship has already been started by most of them. In parallel with this, it is necessary to exchange a foreign driver’s license for a Russian (national) one. The same exchange awaits citizens of the Russian Federation who received their driver’s licenses outside of Russia.

And then we will analyze in detail the process of replacing foreign licenses with national ones, as well as the issue of the possibility of carrying out entrepreneurial and other labor activities in Russia if a person only has a foreign driver’s license (hereinafter referred to as the driver’s license).

Exams for the exchange of foreign driving licenses

If earlier (before November 5, 2014), in order to replace foreign rights with Russian ones, it was necessary to pass only the theory, but now the procedure has been complicated.

Now the process of exchanging a foreign driving license will require the driver to pass all stages of qualification exams. So, to obtain, for example, category “B” you should pass:

• Traffic rules (exam tickets);
• Skills in driving a vehicle (vehicle), both in the city and on the racetrack.

At the same time, as before, you will not need to take a driving course when replacing a foreign driver’s license with a Russian one.

How to replace a driver's license with multiple categories

We invite you to familiarize yourself with clause 38 (as amended on February 16, 2016):

If the driver’s license issued abroad has several categories/subcategories open at once, then he will only have to take exams for one of them (at the driver’s choice). In this case, in our human rights, all categories will be open, in relation to which the chosen one is the highest.

Please note that the categories are in this order:

• M;
• A;
• B;
• BE;
• C;
• CE;
• D;
• D.E.

As an example, let’s look at the option when a driver has open categories “M”, “B”, “C” on his foreign license. In this case, he needs to take an exam for category “C” and categories “M”, “B”, “C” will be open to him in his national license. It is possible (at the driver’s request) to pass the exam for category “B” and receive open categories “B” and “M” on a Russian license.

Until February 16, 2016, a separate exam for the right to drive vehicle combinations was required (the hierarchy of categories remained similar). As an example: if the categories “BE”, “CE”, “D1E” were open in foreign licenses, then it was necessary to take exams only for category “D1E”. Now it will be enough to pass only 1 exam.

List of documents for replacing foreign rights

To replace a foreign license with a national license, you will need the following package of documents:

• Statement;
• Passport;
• Medical certificate of the established form;
• Foreign university.

It is important to remember that the documents required to replace foreign rights are almost the same as for replacing national rights. The only difference is that you will need to attach a foreign ID.

How to exchange a foreign car license for a Russian one?

There is the following procedure for exchanging a foreign driver's license for a Russian one:

1. Step #1. Initially, you should check whether the license you have on hand satisfies the requirements of Russian international treaties (Appendix No. 6 to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic will help with this). If the requirements set out there are met, then the license can be changed, but if not, then you will need to take a training course at a driving school, and then receive a Russian driving license.
2. Step #2. Prepare documents to replace the driver's license (see the list above), and contact the traffic police with them, where you will need to pass exams to confirm your qualifications.
3. Step No. 3. When the exams are successfully passed, the driver is issued a Russian driving license, and his foreign driving license is also returned.

What foreign driving licenses can be exchanged?

Foreign car licenses that do not meet the requirements of Russian international treaties cannot be exchanged for a Russian driving license.

If the driver’s license meets the requirements set out in Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention, then you can safely exchange your foreign license for a Russian driving license.

Return of foreign rights when exchanging for Russian ones

After the driver is issued a Russian license, the foreign driving license must be returned to its owner.

Permanent residence in the Russian Federation

For foreigners who have moved to Russia permanently (for permanent residence), there is a rule that their national residence permit on the territory of the Russian Federation will be valid for 60 days from the moment:

• entry into the Russian Federation occurred, and a permanent residence permit was obtained in advance from the consulate;
• The Department of Internal Affairs received a document permitting permanent residence in the Russian Federation.

It is quite clear that the procedure for obtaining national rights of the Russian Federation instead of existing ones (foreign model) must be completed before their expiration. If you do not do this, then the driver will face a large administrative fine for driving without a license (Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, Article 12.7, Part 1).

Please note that it is important for foreigners who plan to permanently reside/work in Russia to comply with the requirements of Russian legislation regarding car licenses.
Persons who reside in the Russian Federation from CIS countries should take this issue seriously and replace their license within the specified period.

Entrepreneurial activity with a foreign driver's license

Starting from 06/01/2017, clause 13 of article 25 of Federal Law No. 196 of 12/10/1995 will be in force. “On Road Safety”, which says:

It follows from this that, starting from 06/01/2017, you cannot work as a driver without having a Russian national driving license in your hands.

Summarizing the above, it is worth noting that now replacing a foreign driver’s license with a Russian one has become somewhat more complicated, since it requires passing exams at the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. At the same time, it will now be prohibited to carry out labor/entrepreneurial activities in the Russian Federation with only a residence permit issued abroad (without a Russian one).

To protect yourself from possible troubles along the way, you should apply for a national car license on time. This will help not only to move freely along the country’s roads, but (if necessary) to find a job and engage in entrepreneurial activity in an area where having a driver’s license is a prerequisite.

Replacement of foreign driver's licenses with Russian ones

For example, you come from abroad and intend to drive a vehicle in Russia. Foreigners arriving from the CIS must exchange their national license for a Russian license. As a rule, residents of the CIS have licenses with the “SU” sign, which were usually issued persons living in the republics of the former USSR. These citizens, in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 15, 1999 No. 1396, can count on obtaining rights at the traffic police department of the Russian Federation.

Who can apply to replace their driver's license with a Russian one:

• citizens of the Russian Federation (in case of returning to their homeland from abroad)
• persons permanently residing and temporarily staying in the territory of the Russian Federation.

(In addition, persons who are not citizens of the Russian Federation can obtain Russian licenses in the general manner with citizens of the Russian Federation. They will need to undergo training at a driving school and pass exams. Accordingly, the difference between exchanging a foreign driving license for a Russian driving license is different from the procedure In order to obtain a Russian driving license, the general procedure is that when exchanging there is no need to undergo training and provide a document to the traffic police that confirms this fact.)

When to apply for an exchange of a foreign driving license:

• If you have Russian citizenship or a residence permit in the Russian Federation (in any traffic police department)
• In all other cases (in the traffic police department where you temporarily reside or stay).

There is also an important restriction on the use of foreign rights, effective from June 1, 2017:

“It is not allowed to drive vehicles on the basis of foreign national or international driver’s licenses when carrying out business and labor activities directly related to driving vehicles.”

That is, it is impossible to work as a car driver without a Russian national driver’s license from June 1, 2017.

List of documents required to change a driver's license.

• Application handwritten or typed
• Passport or other identification document
• Medical certificate
• Foreign driver's license (if available)
• Receipt of payment for exams (this is not a mandatory document, but recommended)

Attention! According to clause 43 of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 24, 2014 No. 1097, you are required to return your foreign driver’s license.

Also, do not forget that only foreign and international driver’s licenses that meet the requirements of international treaties in the Russian Federation can be exchanged for a Russian driver’s license. In particular, the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of November 8, 1986. Before applying for an exchange of a driver’s license, please read with Annex 6 and 7 of this convention.

To exchange foreign rights for Russian ones, you also need to pass exams: practice and theory.

I would like to note that when replacing a foreign driver’s license with a Russian one, you need to take into account an important feature. If several categories are open in a foreign certificate, then you only need to take the exams for the highest category.

The following sequence of categories is used:

If you have categories A, B and C open, then to replace your certificate with a Russian one you will need to pass exams for category C.

At the traffic inspection, a foreign citizen will have to undergo computer testing, which is aimed at determining the level of his knowledge of traffic rules. Then you will go to the race track. At the site you will need to complete several practical exercises.

After performing the maneuvers, the candidate for a Russian driver's license undergoes a driving test within the framework of a city route, the direction of which is developed by officials of the registration authority.

Here the focus will be on the applicant's knowledge of the rules for complying with road signs and markings, as well as his ability to navigate the road in real conditions.
In what cases can you be refused:

1. -You have not provided a complete set of documents (see List of documents required to change your driver’s license)

- the validity period of the provided documents has expired

- presence of marks, putty or lack of necessary information, signatures, seals.

1. -you have not reached the legal age

- there is information about deprivation of your right to drive a vehicle

- provision of documents that do not comply with the legislation of the Russian Federation or contain false information

-providing false or stolen documents

1. -you are wanted

-foreign citizens with medical contraindications

Permanent residence in the Russian Federation

Foreigners who have moved to the Russian Federation for permanent residence must remember that their national driver’s license will be valid in Russia for 60 days from the date of:

• obtaining a permanent residence permit from the Department of Internal Affairs;
• entry into the territory of Russia if a permanent residence permit was previously obtained at the consulate.

That is why such citizens must take measures to replace their national rights with Russian ones. This operation should be carried out before the expiration of the existing license in order to avoid a large administrative fine for driving without a license. This punishment is prescribed in Part 1 of Art. 12.7 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Thus, foreigners planning to work or reside permanently in the Russian Federation should take care to comply with all legal requirements regarding driver’s licenses. Persons arriving from the CIS countries should take the issue of replacing their driver's license very seriously.

Issuance of rights

A Russian license is issued to a foreign citizen who has successfully passed all examination tests. The period for issuing a driver's license should not exceed 7 days from the date of passing the exam.

How to change Moldovan license to Russian one

How to change your driver's license after obtaining Russian citizenship in 2019

To exchange a foreign license for a Russian one, a citizen will need to confirm his knowledge of the rules through theoretical testing and practical exams at the State Traffic Inspectorate, without attending a driving course. If a citizen has received a license in a country with which the Russian Federation does not have international agreements in the field of road safety, the issuance of a driver’s license to such persons is carried out on a general basis - after studying at a driving school and passing all qualifying exams. The question often arises as to whether it is necessary Is it possible for citizens of CIS countries to change their driver’s license when obtaining Russian citizenship, and there are some simplifications here. As a rule, citizens who received a driver’s license before January 1, 1992, and subsequently exchanged them, have the SU (USSR) mark on their license: for this category of persons, a driver’s license is replaced without

The procedure for replacing foreign rights with Russian ones

Therefore, we need to figure out who needs to change documents and what is needed. Can a foreigner obtain a driving license in the Russian Federation? First, it’s worth finding out whether a foreign citizen can get a driver’s license in Russia.

It should be noted that foreign citizenship itself is not considered a barrier.

But here everything is based on the following nuances:

1. If the rights were granted in another state.
2. Do these documents comply with international standards that Russia adheres to?
3. Does the person have a residence permit in Russia?

Thus, the civil rights of people who came to Russia for a long time and received a residence permit are equal to those of ordinary Russians. This also applies to the possibility of obtaining driving documents.

Replacement of foreign driver's licenses with Russian ones

Accordingly, the difference between the exchange of foreign foreign currency

1. In all other cases (in the traffic police department where you temporarily reside or stay).
2. If you have Russian citizenship or a residence permit in the Russian Federation (in any traffic police department)

There is also an important restriction on the use of foreign licenses, effective from June 1, 2017: “Driving vehicles on the basis of foreign national or international driver’s licenses when carrying out business and labor activities directly related to driving vehicles is not allowed.”

How to change the rights of a foreign citizen to Russian ones 2017

You only give a copy of your foreign driver's license; your license remains with you.

You can change your license at the MREO STSI (Interdistrict Registration and Examination Department) or MOTOTRER (Interdistrict Department of Technical Inspection of Transport and Registration and Examination Work).

Replacing a foreign driver's license with a Russian one in 2019

So, to obtain, for example, category “B” you should pass:

1. Traffic rules (exam tickets);
2. Skills in driving a vehicle (vehicle), both in the city and on the racetrack.

At the same time, as before, you will not need to take a driving course when replacing a foreign driver’s license with a Russian one. We invite you to familiarize yourself with clause 38 (as amended on February 16, 2016):

If the driver’s license issued abroad has several categories/subcategories open at once, then he will only have to take exams for one of them (at the driver’s choice).

In this case, in our human rights, all categories will be open, in relation to which the chosen one is the highest.

Please note that the categories are in this order:

Replacing a PMR driver's license with a Russian one

Persons who are not citizens of the Russian Federation are allowed to drive vehicles on the territory of the Russian Federation on the basis of an international driver's license, provided that it is presented together with a national driver's license. 15. A national driver’s license issued in a foreign state that is not, together with the Russian Federation, a party to international treaties in the field of road safety, is recognized as valid for driving vehicles on the territory of the Russian Federation on the basis of reciprocity, provided that it is presented together with a certified in accordance with the established procedure, translation into Russian, except for cases where in this driver’s license all entries are made or duplicated in letters that coincide in spelling with the letters of the Russian or Latin alphabet. 16.

How to change a Moldovan driver's license to a Russian one

This can be done in any region of the state, regardless of where the citizen is registered or received a residence permit.

The exception is persons who have issued a temporary residence permit. In this case, you can exchange your license only at the territorial State Traffic Inspectorate.

e. residence permit). Here's who really should change their foreign license:

• Those who have moved to the Russian Federation forever (upon changing citizenship). In this case, the law requires the procedure to be completed within two months. Calculation begins from the date of receipt of the residence permit or from the day of entry into the country (if you already have the document). The same rule applies: the exchange of foreign rights for new Russian ones is carried out as long as the foreign license has not yet expired.

All about Moldovan driver's licenses: Why change them, how to work in another country, is it possible to have two licenses at once?

In turn, the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova sends documents to the Ministry of Information Technologies of the Republic of Moldova.

For this reason, when returning to Moldova, some drivers who find themselves in such circumstances declare the loss of their driving license and apply for a new license. MYTH 3 - Deprivation of a driving license by foreign authorities is not valid in Moldova A decision to deprive a driver of a vehicle by foreign authorities has no legal force in Moldova because Moldova is not a party to the European Convention on Penalties for Road Traffic Offences.

Replacement of foreign driver's licenses in 2019

And now, in order. Foreigners can drive a car with the national license of their countries, as it was before, within the period established by the permit/visa. The provision regarding the prohibition of labor activity does not apply to citizens of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, as well as other countries whose legislation defines Russian as the official language.

In particular, the Council of Ministers of the Union State of the Russian Federation and Belarus, by Resolution No. 29 of June 16, 2017, equalized the Belarusian and Russian VU. In other words, Belarusians also do not need to change their rights when finding employment in Russia.

As you know, since June 1, 2017, a new Federal Law No. 92-FZ has been in force (that is, changes have been made), according to which a foreign driver cannot work in Russia with a license obtained in his home country. Now migrants do not have the right to engage in business or labor activities related to the management of vehicles.

Exchange of foreign driving licenses in 2019 and 2020

Good afternoon, dear reader.

In the final article of the series “New rules for conducting examinations for the right to drive vehicles and issuing driver’s licenses,” we will talk about the features of the exchange of foreign driver’s licenses from November 5, 2014. The article has also been updated to reflect changes made on February 16, 2016.

I would like to note right away that according to the new rules, the exchange of foreign licenses is carried out according to the same scheme, regardless of whether the driver is a citizen of the Russian Federation.

Today we will talk about what exams need to be passed when replacing a foreign license, what documents are needed for exchange, and in what cases the certificate cannot be exchanged for a Russian one. Let's get started.

Exams for the exchange of foreign driving licenses

38. The exchange of a foreign national driver's license is carried out based on the results of the examinations provided for in paragraph 9 of these Rules, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Russian Federation.

To exchange a foreign driver's license, you must pass all stages of the qualification exams . For example, for category B you need to pass exam tickets, race track and city. Let me remind you that previously, in order to replace foreign licenses with Russian ones, it was only necessary to pass the theory. From November 5, 2014, the procedure becomes somewhat more complicated.

As before, when replacing a foreign driver’s license with a Russian one, you do not need to undergo training at a driving school.

Replacement of a driver's license with several categories

Clause 38 is presented as amended on February 16, 2016:

If a foreign national driver's license contains permitting marks confirming the right to drive vehicles of several categories and (or) subcategories, the foreign national driver's license is exchanged based on the results of examinations for the right to drive the highest category or subcategory available in the foreign national driver's license, or any of the categories or subcategories available on a foreign driver’s license in accordance with the application of the holder of the foreign national driver’s license.
For the purposes of this paragraph, the categories and subcategories of vehicles included in them are superior to the following categories and subcategories of vehicles included in them:

• category “B” is higher than category “A”;
• category “C” is the highest in relation to categories “A”, “B” and “BE”;
• category "D" is the highest in relation to categories "A", "B", "C", "BE" and "CE".

Any of the vehicle categories or subcategories is higher than the “M” category.

The category of a vehicle composition is the highest in relation to the category of a vehicle that is a tractor in a vehicle composition.

If a foreign driver’s license has several categories or subcategories open at the same time, then the exam will have to be taken for only one of them, at the driver’s choice. At the same time, all categories in relation to which the selected one is the highest will be open in the Russian certificate.

The categories are arranged in the following order:

For example, if you have open categories M, B and C, then you can take exams only for category C. At the same time, categories M, B and C will be open in Russian licenses. If you wish, you can take the exam for category B, then in Russian Your license will be opened to categories M and B.

Until February 16, 2016, the exam for driving combinations of vehicles was taken separately. The hierarchy of categories in this case was the same. For example, if you have open categories BE, CE and D1E, then you only had to pass the exams for category D1E. Currently, it is enough to pass only one exam.

Documents for replacing foreign rights

39. To exchange a foreign national driver's license, the following documents are submitted:

a) statement;
b) passport or other identity document;
c) medical report;
d) foreign national driver's license.

To replace a foreign driver's license with a Russian one you will need:

The documents are almost the same as for replacing Russian rights. The only difference is a foreign driver's license.

What foreign rights cannot be exchanged?

41. Foreign national and international 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.

Driver's licenses that do not comply with the requirements of international treaties in Russia cannot be exchanged for a Russian license.

If your license meets the requirements of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, you can easily exchange it for a Russian one.

If your ID does not comply with the requirements of international treaties, then you will not be able to exchange it. To obtain a Russian license, you will have to undergo training at a driving school, and only then take exams.

Return of a foreign ID when exchanging for a Russian one

43. The foreign national driver's license, on the basis of which the Russian national driver's license was issued, is returned to its owner.

After the Russian driver's license is issued, the foreign license is returned to its owner.

• Replacing foreign rights has become somewhat more difficult, because from November 5, 2014, it is required to pass all 3 stages of the exam: theory, circuit and city.
• If a driver has several categories open at the same time, he will have to take the exams only once (for the highest category).
• Documents for replacing foreign rights: passport, medical certificate, application.
• Foreign rights that do not comply with the requirements of international treaties of the Russian Federation cannot be exchanged for Russian ones.

This concludes the series of articles “New rules for conducting examinations for the right to drive vehicles and issuing driver’s licenses.” Once again, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the new rules differ significantly from the old ones. If you missed any articles in the series, I recommend reading them: