Wüstenschiff

Hi,

We want to travel overland from the Netherlands to South Africa and intend to travel through the U.A.E. I have read that you need a local driver's license (an international driver's license is not suffiecient). How does that work when you appear at the border in your own car?

Thanks in advance. Feel free to answer in German.

Regards,

Jan van Bekkum

Hi Jan,

welcome in our community

As of 2008 there is no need anymore to apply for a local driver licence. You can rent and drive a car with your EU driver lincence. At least this applies for Germans. I assume the same rules apply for most of the EU countries.
However, in order to make sure you are getting the right information also for Dutch visitors I would suggest to contact AVIS in the UEA

Dubai
P. O. Box: 6891
Sheikh Rashid Building
Al Maktoum Street
Near Deira Clock Tower
Deira, Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 4 2959899
Fax: +971 4 2958908

Abu Dhabi
P. O. Box: 3237
Ystiqlal Street
Near British Embassy
Abu Dhabi
Tel: +971 2 6215400
Fax: +971 2 6330734

Call Centre
Toll free: 800 AVIS (800 2847)
Tel: +971 4 3307272
callcentre@avisuae.ae
customerservice@avisuae.ae

Cheers
Alexander

Hi Alexander,

Thanks a lot for your quick reply and the recommendation. My information was that you do not need a local driver's license for rental cars, but that you do for a privately owned car.

Regards,

Jan van Bekkum

Jan - I will ask a friend of mine who is living in the UAE about that subject.

Far i know is the international driving licence required

http://www.tcs.ch/de/reisen-camping/rei ... mirate.php

I did some desert 4x4 trips in UAE - and dont had my international licence with me: therefore i only could drive in the desert - for the roads i had a driver...

Surfy

Hi Jan,

I was in the UAE 2006 and 2007 with my own motorbike shipped via Dubai. At that time my information was, only the international driving licence would be necessary. But it wasn't controlled at the customs in the harbor or at the border (UAE-Oman and back). I showed only my german driving licence and it was enough.

Ciao, Carlo

Jan; my colleague in the UAE informet me that you can drive a private car with your national drivers license under the condition that the owner of the car has a third party liability insurance. However - he has never experienced this situation...

Hi Jan,

I am not an expert on the situation in the UAE but I could imagine that it is similar as in Jordan. There, you do need a local driver's licence if you want to drive a local Jordanian number plate car. For rental cars or even expat cars this was not necessary, nor was it for overlanders. I am pretty sure the same or similar rules apply in the UAE. I do not remember that I ever read about the case you mentioned. Emil and Liliana Schmid, the world record holders in longtime traveling, have just left the UAE and did not report any such regulation. Link to their English site of World Record Tour

Best wishes and safe travels
Achim

Hi Jan,

as a matter of fact you can only get a local driving license in the UAE if you have a residence visa; this license is issued in English and Arabic and is valid all over the GCC states (Gulf Cooperation Council). When I swapped my UAE driving license for an Omani one after moving here, nobody was interested to see my original European driving license, the UAE one was better!

Many years ago there was a thing called "temporary local driving license" in the UAE, you needed this to drive a rental car; it was just another money making scheme and this nonsense was eventually abandoned, if I remember correctly around the same time when they introduced visa on arrival to boost tourism.

As a tourist you only need your original driving license, as a precautionary measure get an international one - Arabs love to change rules over night without any prior announcement. If your vehicle insurance does not cover the UAE, you can get a temporary insurance at the border easily.

Cheers, Jochen

Thanks a lot for all your helpful answers!

With kind regards,

Jan van Bekkum