Georgia is a very popular for the ease of doing business, low cost of living, beautiful nature, caucasus mountains, and in this article you are going to figure out that it’s also easy to get a driving license in Georgia.
Georgia is a country to discover on road trips so If you don’t have a driving license from your national authorities and To do so, you are required to have a valid driver’s license issued by the Georgian authorities. In this article, we’ll introduce you all the necessary information you need to know about the legal requirements to obtain a Georgian driving license.
How to get Georgian driver's license for foreign citizens
According to the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, an alien or a stateless person, holding a driving license issued by a foreign country, shall have the right to:
- Drive the vehicle before expiration date of the validity of a driving license issued by a foreign country, but for no more than 1 year upon the last entry of Georgian border, after that they have to exchange the license.
- Exchange national driving license with the equivalent category and/or subcategory, without passing driving tests, this process should be taken before the expiration of the validity of an exchanged driving license.
- Georgian laws allow you to pass the exams as well and get the license here if you don’t have any.
How to exchange your national driving license with a Georgian one
To change a driving license issued by a foreign country, a foreign citizen must submit the following documents to any branch of the service agency personally (the service isn’t provided remotely) :
- Passport or residence permit;
- Valid existing driving license issued by a foreign country;
- Certificate of driving license (“certificate of driver’s license must be legalized or certified with an apostle in accordance with the law. It is also advisable to specify the category provided by the driving license” more one sda.gov.ge);
- Health certificate (Form IV-100 / a);
- Document confirming your address of living in Georgia; It could be a notarized rental agreement or You will have to get a person who is a Georgian citizen / Residence permit holder of Georgia, to go with you and testifying that you are living in his address of residence.
- Proof of payment of the fee.
The fee for changing the driving license is 15 GEL and you can get the new driving license in a few minutes.
How to get Georgian International driving license
International driving license is awarded by the authorities of Georgia to the foreign citizens and stateless persons based on the national licenses.
The documents you should bring for obtaining an international driving license are:
1. Identity card or passport.
2. National driving license.
3. Receipt confirming the payment of the fee.
The fee to this service is 109 Gel. The request for an international driving license is prepared and launched in a few minutes. The validity period of the document is 3 years and is active along with the home country driver license.
If the international driving license is issued by a different country, in case of being lost or stolen, even damaged by the Agency, its renewal is prohibited, No digital services are offered.
Georgian driving license exam
Driving license in Georgia is issued by the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
First of all, note that there are different categories of driving licenses. The most issuing categories are “B” for vehicles and “A” motorcycles.
Every interested person who has a lawful status in Georgia can issue for the driving license. The eligible age starts from 17 and goes up depending on the category issued. So citizenship isn’t the eligibility criteria.
The tests are provided in Georgian, Abkhazian, Ossetian, English, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian languages.
To qualify for the driving test, you are required to book a queue online for the exam.
Candidates shall apply the registration data online sufficiently and accurately.
The Agency ensures candidate’s reservation (Electronic Reservation) for the theory exam after subsequent completion of the data and payment of the service fee.The initial admission fee is 40 Gel and 15 Gel for those who have an active student status or are 17.
However, reservation of theory test doesn’t automatically mean that the candidate has direct access to the test. Only after submitting the required documentation to the relevant service center of the Agency:
- ID card;
- Health certificate (Form IV 100 / a);
- SMS notification authenticating the digital booking a theoretical exam queue.(showing time of the exam as well)
The driver’s candidate will be granted a unique number and registered in the electronic database, only after this procedure will he/she be admitted to the test.
Upon successful passing of the theoretical exam, the candidate is granted the right to take the practical driving test.
Only under conditions of passing both exams successfully, you are granted the driver’s license.The minimum score you should get to pass the exams are 61 out of 100 for the practical and 27 out of 30 for the theoretical part.
If you want to study and train yourself for the driving licence test visit: this website
Where to get the driving license in Georgia?
You can pass the exams at any branch of the Service Agency except for Tbilisi. The head office is located in Rustavi and the other branches are located in the big settlements of Georgia:Kutaisi, Gori, Mestia, Batumi, Akhaltsikhe, Akhalkalaki, Sachkhere, Ambrolauri, Ozurgeti, Zugdidi, Poti and Telavi.
The Tbilisi branch is considered as the registration center, not the examination.
After successfully passing the exams, you can indicate the desired branch to get the driver’ s license within 7 business days. You will receive SMS on your mobile after the document is ready.
The exams are held from Monday to Saturday. Note that on Saturdays you can take the exam from 09:30 to 12:30.
Even though the overall process of issuing for the license is digitized, the digital version of theoretical tests is not available. However, there is an app you can download to your smartphone for practices before the exam.
There are many learning centers in Tbilisi where you can take the practical classes on driving a car, as the exercising field there is a sample of the one at the examination center.
Conclusion
To sum up, Georgian legislation gives you the opportunity to maintain the driving license. The licensing process itself is in accordance with international standards and gives the interested party the freedom of choice. In case of international residents in the country the laws are quite soft. Georgian driving license is recognized worldwide which gives you privileges such as access to the international travelling roads. If you need an instructor for the theoretical exam contact us and we will help for free.
