Features of legislation
When entering the territory of the Russian Federation while driving their own car, any foreign motorist must rely not only on the country’s internal traffic regulations, but also on the requirements of the Vienna Convention. In accordance with this document, residents of Europe and other countries that are parties to an international treaty have the right to free movement on the roads of neighboring countries, using only a domestic identity card.
Since Ukraine is also included in the list of the Vienna Agreement, no one prohibits its residents from driving on the roads of the Russian Federation, from the point of view of the law. But in practice, traffic police officers do not want to recognize the driving records of Ukrainians, since this form has many shortcomings and is very difficult to check against the database.
Are Soviet-style driver's licenses valid in Ukraine? | Kherson
The State Traffic Inspectorate clarified questions that citizens have about foreign driver's licenses
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April 13, 2015
The State Traffic Inspectorate clarified questions that citizens have about foreign driver's licenses
The Main Directorate for Road Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia receives numerous requests from citizens with questions about the validity for driving on the territory of the Russian Federation of driver's licenses received in other states, and about the possibility of exchanging these driver's licenses for Russian national driver's licenses. In this regard, we clarify the following.
**On the issue of the validity of foreign national driver's licenses for driving vehicles**
Currently, all persons (both citizens of the Russian Federation and foreign citizens and stateless persons), permanently or temporarily residing or temporarily staying on the territory of the Russian Federation, are allowed to drive vehicles on the basis of Russian national driver’s licenses, and in the absence of such - on the basis of foreign national or international driver's licenses.
An exception to this rule is the restrictions introduced from June 1, 2015 - from this date, 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 will not be allowed.
It is necessary to take into account that foreign national driver's licenses that comply with the requirements of international treaties of the Russian Federation, on the basis of which citizens are allowed to drive vehicles, taking into account the provisions of Articles 41 and 43 of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968, include:
— foreign national driving licenses issued in accordance with the new edition of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention;
- foreign national driver's licenses issued before March 28, 2011 (inclusive) in accordance with the previous version of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention, including driver's licenses with the distinctive sign SU (USSR), issued in the republics of the former USSR since January 1, 1992 ;
— foreign national driving licenses issued before March 28, 2011 (inclusive) in accordance with subparagraph “a” of paragraph 2 of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention as amended (drawn up in Russian or accompanied by a duly certified translation into Russian).
It is important to note that in accordance with the new version of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention and the previous version of Annex 6 thereto, the above-mentioned foreign national driver's licenses, the validity period of which is not specified, are also considered to comply with the requirements of international treaties of the Russian Federation.
If the state is not a contracting party to the Vienna Convention, the national driver's license issued by it is also recognized as valid for driving vehicles on the territory of the Russian Federation. Such a driver's license must be presented together with a duly certified translation into Russian (translation is not required if all entries in the driver's license are made or duplicated in letters that coincide in spelling with the letters of the Russian or Latin alphabet).
The exception is national driver's licenses issued by states that do not recognize Russian driver's licenses.
**On the issue of exchanging foreign national driving licenses for Russian driving licenses**
National and international driver's licenses that do not comply with the requirements of international treaties of the Russian Federation cannot be exchanged for Russian national and international driver's licenses.
Thus, only foreign national driver’s licenses that meet the requirements of the Vienna Convention can be exchanged for Russian national driver’s licenses, namely:
— foreign national driving licenses issued in accordance with the new edition of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention;
- foreign national driver's licenses issued before March 28, 2011 (inclusive) in accordance with the previous version of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention, including driver's licenses with the distinctive sign SU (USSR), issued in the republics of the former USSR since January 1, 1992 ;
— foreign national driving licenses issued before March 28, 2011 (inclusive) in accordance with subparagraph “a” of paragraph 2 of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention as amended (drawn up in Russian or accompanied by a duly certified translation into Russian).
In accordance with the new version of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention and the previous version of Appendix 6 thereto, the above-mentioned foreign national driver's licenses, the validity period of which is not specified, are also considered to comply with the requirements of international treaties of the Russian Federation and are subject to exchange.
The exchange of the above foreign national driver's licenses for Russian national driver's licenses is carried out in the manner established by the provisions of the Rules for conducting examinations for the right to drive vehicles and issuing driver's licenses, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 24, 2014 No. 1097 “On admission to driving vehicles.”
Additionally, it should be noted that the exchange of a foreign national driver's license for a Russian national driver's license can be carried out based on the results of passing exams for the right to drive any of the categories or subcategories available in the foreign driver's license (if there are permitting marks in the foreign driver's license submitted for exchange confirming the presence of the right driving vehicles of several categories and (or) subcategories). In this case, after successfully passing the prescribed examinations for the right to drive vehicles, marks confirming the presence of the right to drive vehicles of this category or subcategory and the lowest of the categories and subcategories of vehicles available in the foreign driver's license are transferred to the Russian national driver's license.
As for the exchange of a foreign national driver's license that does not comply with the new version of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention with a permit, it is carried out based on the results of examinations for the right to drive a combination of vehicles, the tractor of which belongs to the highest category of vehicle available in the foreign driver's license.
So, for example, if a foreign national driver’s license contains authorization marks confirming the right to drive vehicles of categories “B”, “C”, “D” and “E”, after successfully passing the exam for the right to drive vehicles of category “DE” in The Russian driver's license contains marks confirming the right to drive vehicles of category “DE”, subcategory “D1 E”, category “CE”, subcategory “C 1 E” and category “BE”.
At the same time, in accordance with the application of a person who has a foreign national driver's license that does not comply with the new edition of Annex 6 to the Vienna Convention, with permission to exchange the specified foreign driver's license may be carried out based on the results of examinations for the right to drive a combination of vehicles in which the tractor belongs to any of the vehicle categories contained in the foreign driver’s license (if the foreign driver’s license presented for exchange contains permitting marks confirming the presence of the right to drive vehicles of several categories). In this case, the exchange of a foreign national driver's license is carried out in a manner similar to that described above.
So, for example, if a foreign national driver’s license contains authorization marks confirming the right to drive vehicles of categories “B”, “C”, “D” and “E”, after successfully passing the exam for the right to drive vehicles of category “CE” in The Russian driver's license carries the marks confirming the right to drive vehicles of category "CE", subcategory "C 1 E" and category "BE.
Validity of Ukrainian driving license in Russia
The international convention states that Ukrainian rights on the territory of Russia are considered valid as long as the foreigner himself stays abroad legally. According to the regulations of the Migration Service of the Russian Federation, this period reaches 90 days, after which the citizen will need to re-cross the border in both directions.
Moreover, if a person has received Russian citizenship and changed his permanent place of residence, then for him the period of validity of an indefinite temporary residence permit will be reduced to 60 days (counting begins from the moment of official registration). During this time, the driver must have time to exchange his old license for a Russian Federation license of a new format, or he will face appropriate fines.
What should a citizen of the Russian Federation do with a Ukrainian driver’s license?
There are often situations when a citizen of the Russian Federation has a foreign driving document. For example, he completed training and received a driving license while living in Ukraine, or simply has two citizenships at the same time. In other situations, a Ukrainian with a valid vehicle driving license remains in Russia for permanent residence and receives citizenship.
Let us recall that until November 4, 2014, a citizen of the Russian Federation had the right to use a foreign document to drive a vehicle for only 60 days. After this date, this requirement became invalid, since the rules for passing qualifying exams and issuing a driving license became invalid (Government Decree #1097 “On admission to driving a vehicle” dated October 24, 2014). Thus, foreign licenses to drive a vehicle can be used until then until the new legislation comes into force.
However, Russian roads are still not without misunderstandings when meeting with law enforcement officials. What should you do if your car has been towed to a parking lot? We adhere to the following steps:
Federal Law #92, which came into force on June 1, 2017, does not apply to citizens of the Russian Federation, since Russian is the officially recognized state language (Article 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). Therefore, there is no need to replace a foreign ID with a Russian one. It is also allowed to conduct commercial activities using your own vehicle.
Work in Russia with Ukrainian rights
We have already learned whether a Ukrainian driver’s license is valid in Russia. Now let's look at another frequently asked question: is it possible to work with such a crust on cars of any category in the Russian Federation? And it is reasonable to take the answer to it from the Federal Law, which stipulates the following provisions:
- Art. 20 part 1 – individual entrepreneurs whose activities are related to transport services are prohibited from hiring as a driver a person with a foreign driving license confirming his right to drive a vehicle of a certain category (immigrants from Kyrgyzstan and indigenous Crimeans are considered an exception;
- Art. 20 Part 2 – when moving along the roads of Russia in a personal car, a person is prohibited from working for himself (in a taxi or delivery service), possessing only a foreign ID. In addition, Russian citizens do not have the right to force such a person to drive or encourage her to engage in such illegal actions.
Attention! Based on this, it follows that the legality of Ukrainian rights in Russia applies only to those people who travel by personal transport for their own purposes. To work as a driver, citizens with a foreign license will need to find out how to replace a Ukrainian license with a Russian one. Otherwise, they will face hefty fines.
What does a Ukrainian university look like?
As in other countries, the type of driver's license in Ukraine has changed several times. The old-style licenses were made in the form of a laminated form. On the front there was information about the driver, his photo and details of the authority that issued the license. On the reverse side all categories of vehicles that can be driven by this driver are indicated.
In addition to this version of the license, there are also Soviet licenses in the form of a paper booklet and modern ones in the form of a plastic card. The latter option almost completely coincides with Russian rights of this type.
Rights with translation into Russian
Despite the fact that the Vienna Convention allows residents of Ukraine to move freely in a personal car within the territory of the Russian Federation, some restrictions still exist for such guests. According to Regulation No. 15 “On Road Safety”, any foreign driving license where there is no duplication of basic information in Latin must be presented together with a notarized translation. And the Ukrainian crust definitely falls into this category.
Thus, it turns out that even for a valid license that meets the international format, a motorist can receive a fine of 5 to 15 thousand rubles. To avoid such troubles, it is necessary to translate the document in advance, before crossing the border. The price for this service is no more than 1000 rubles.
Do Ukrainian drivers need to change their license?
He stated that, in accordance with the requirements of the above-mentioned International Convention on Road Traffic, drivers with old “licenses” without an expiration date will not be allowed abroad from March 29, 2011. Accordingly, such certificates must be urgently changed. However, Mogilev's statement quickly turned out to be a primitive lie.
As mentioned above, at the latest from March 29, 2011, all states party to the convention had to begin issuing driver’s licenses with the admin term indicated on them - and not changing the existing ones. In the end, then the Ministry of Internal Affairs recognized the disinformation. By the way, at the same time, officially confirming: with a laminated license without an expiration date, you can continue to travel abroad. The current Ministry of Internal Affairs denies this, although nothing has changed in the convention since then.
The next attempt at “divorce” was made in 2015.
International rights
For those citizens who do not want to change their Ukrainian license to a Russian driving license, and the allotted period of 90 days for driving on the roads of the Russian Federation is not enough for them, there is a good alternative - an international standard. Of course, such a document will cost the motorist a considerable sum. But for the money spent, he will receive the following benefits:
- In case of a serious violation of traffic rules, which provides for the deprivation of rights, the driver will have his national ID card, with the help of which he will be able to calmly move further across Russian territory without changing his plans;
- The duration of an international certificate reaches 3 years, while a Ukrainian driving license is valid in Russia only for 90 days (after this period, the citizen will need to exchange his old license for a new Russian document or cross the border in two directions).
Advice! If both options do not suit you, or you are planning to change your current place of residence in the future, then replacing your Ukrainian driver’s license with a Russian one will be the right choice.
Employment for drivers with a Ukrainian license
The main restriction on the use of foreign rights in Russia is determined by clause 13 of Art. 25 of the Law. It says that working in a car as a professional driver or carrying out business activities (transportation) is prohibited for holders of a Ukrainian driving license.
If a citizen of this country decides to work in the Russian Federation illegally, this is an offense and entails legal consequences not only for the guilty person, but also for the organization that provided the place. Thus, working in Russia for Ukrainians using national rights is illegal. For this purpose, you will have to issue a Russian ID.
The procedure for replacing Ukrainian licenses with Russian ones
Depending on whether a Ukrainian has received Russian citizenship or not, he needs to contact either the traffic police department at the place of temporary registration, or any department of the MREO. The procedure for replacing Ukrainian rights with Russian ones will take place in the same way, in three main stages:
- Government employees check the foreigner for debts on loans, alimony, fines and housing and communal services (a person can view this information independently on the State Services website);
- If the driver does not have the above debts, the traffic police will give him permission to exchange the driving license. And only after this can you begin to collect a package of documents to replace the certificate (copy of passport, application, medical certificate, old paper and a check for payment of the fee) and bring it for review;
- After 3-5 days from the date of application, the motorist will receive a response where the traffic police officers will indicate whether they changed his license or not (most often the reason for refusal is a banal lack of certificates and documents that need to be restored in a separate order).
We learned how to exchange Ukrainian licenses for Russian ones and what can be done as an alternative. In conclusion, it is worth adding that you should not exchange DP unless absolutely necessary, since the reverse procedure will take place in another country (in our case, Ukraine) and according to a completely different algorithm. And this will create some inconvenience for you.
