You cannot drive on UAE roads (most roads in the world for that matter!) without a valid driving license. Besides valid international driving licenses, local licenses of only select countries are accepted for driving on UAE streets. Therefore, getting a license locally becomes a must. Below, we share the steps for that.
Learning to Drive
If you already know how to drive, you can skip this step. But if you don’t, there are plenty of quality driving schools across the UAE where you can easily learn how to drive, professionally and comfortably at reasonable costs. Some schools we especially recommend:
- Emirates Driving Institute
- Galadari
Paperwork
The paperwork to take with you to the RTA is fairly basic and straightforward, which include:
- A copy of your passport
- An NOC from your sponsor
- 8 Passport sized photographs
- Results of an eye test
Lectures and RTA Test
There are theoretical classes to attend as a part of the learning process. In all there are 8 lectures each of which have 2 classes. The RTA handbook will keep track of your progress. The lectures are imparted in common languages of expats including Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali, among others so don’t let linguistic barriers concern you. Practice tests will help you for the final exam which typically has multiple choice questions.
Driving Test
The driving test is the most important part of the process of obtaining a valid driving license to drive in the UAE, so you must ensure that you perform well in this test. Some tips that will help you do so include:
- Arrive in time; you don’t want to be late for this test!
- There will be batches of other students with you during the test, make sure to buckle up when your turn to drive comes!
- Drive normally, the way you usually would.
- Ensure that you maintain adequate gap with other vehicles while driving.
- Examiners will purposely test your driving skills in various ways. For instance, they may ask you to turn when you clearly should not. Be wary of these tricky situations examiners will try to put you into.
Conclusion
There is a wrongful notion that it is very difficult to get a driving license in the UAE. As long as you follow the steps involved and remain diligent in the process, it is actually very easy to get a driving license in the UAE.
Armed with your driving license, feel free to hire any vehicle of your choice with us here at Speedy Drive!