Extended usage Foreign Driving License in Turkey
Due to the prevailing pandemic, it is quite difficult to travel internationally. This creates simple inconveniences for the semi-permanent foreign residents of Turkey. Such as using your foreign driver's license. How long are you allowed to drive around in Turkey with your foreign driver's license? And how is the usage period calculated? Are there any further obligations?
As a rule, a foreign driving license for the non-Turkish citizen is valid for an uninterrupted period of 6 months from the date of arrival in Turkey. For a Turkish citizen is this period 1 year. Besides, while you are driving you must also have a notarized Turkish translation of the foreign driving license with you.
If you have left Turkey within the legal period of 6 months / 1 year, a new usage period will start from the date of arrival. If you want to stay in the country for longer than the aforementioned period, you must exchange the foreign driving license for a Turkish (international) driving license. The application for the exchange of the foreign driving license into a Turkish driving license must be submitted to the local population registration service (Nüfus Müdürlüğü).
For Turkish citizens, the usage period of foreign driving licenses has been extended from 1 year to 2 years, since the 05th of June 2020.
Unfortunately, this change does not apply to the non-Turkish citizen. The rule that a foreign driving license is valid for an uninterrupted period of 6 months from date of arrival in Turkey is still applicable to them.
However, the options to obtain a separate Turkish driving license through a Turkish Driving School or renewing the date of arrival in Turkey duration through a cross-border travel is still possible.
If you have any questions regarding this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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