'Requirements to get Drivers license in Uruguay?' Expat

Requirements to get Drivers license in Uruguay?

• FAQs: International Driving Permit

Best advice I'd give John is to call the agency he's planning to rent a car from (assuming he's renting and assuming John is a he). Even if he's not renting, a call to a major agency here like Budget will tell you with certainty what is needed.

Neither my wife nor myself have ever bothered to get an Inter anything driver's license. We have always relied on our Ontario (Canada) licenses.

2 or 3 years ago my wife was involved in an accident with a motorcycle. She showed the police her driver's license from home and they didn't seem to mind a bit.

Now that we live here, our insurer, Royal Sun Alliance, has insured both of us without any problem. In fact, the only time they ever asked us anything special was when we bought a dune-buggy this year. They asked me if I was licensed to drive a motorcycle (they classify dune buggies as motorcycles here.. dunno why). I said I had an M (motorcycle) rating on my Canadian license and they said ok.

In my experience, car rental companies are happy with visitors who show them a foreign drivers licence.

My Jefe de Policia reckons that you should have an ROU licence if you remain here for 6 continuous months or more but being the ROU there is a complication because here in Colonia (I don't know about other Indendencias) you have to produce your cedula when you apply for your ROU licence(s) and cedulas often take more than 6 months to obtain :-)

I got by on an UK licence for 18 months and on the two occasions I had to show it to the traffic police, they were understanding about my cedula being "en tramite."

Each departmento has different policies about issuing ROU licences (note the plural) on the strength of the driver having a foreign licence.

Here in Colonia people under the age of 60 have to take the written test, have a rapid medical check at the testing center and have to produce their foreign licence and cedula together with a letter from the police saying that they live in Colonia (this is achieved by taking a cake to the police station and swapping it for a letter.) The over 60s have to do a little driving to show they aren't totally gaga (like reversing between some traffic cones) and anyone who wants a licence to ride a motorbike of more than 200cc capacity has to do a more serious medical test. Unlike elsewhere, you get a different licence for each class of vehicle you want to drive. I have 4 ROU licences for cars, small bikes, large bikes and track-laying vehicles.

I'm told that MVD doesn't require the written test but insists on a more thorough medical exam which has to be done elsewhere before you apply.

Every departmento does licences differently so it all depends on where you apply for it. The upside is that you can have your licence confiscated 18 times and still have an unused departmento in which to get another one :-)

I only have a small conventional tractor with wheels. I applied for all the categories on my UK licence as long ago in my youth I passed a test for driving Challenger tanks and used to have a Komatsu long-armed digger back in the UK :-)

I've yet to see a track-laying tractor in these parts but you never know what the future will bring.

Thanks for info on more permanent driving arrangements. I hadn't thought about the necessitation to present a cedula first.

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