Popular Tips

Car Registration Charges In Delhi: RTO Delhi Road Tax Fees & Registration

How To Apply For An International Driving Licence In India

by IndianAuto Team | 04/02/2019

An international driving licence is a powerful official document that allows you to drive to most places in the world, and the process of obtaining one is not particularly complicated or difficult.

More Indians now travel and work abroad than ever, and to make life more convenient and possibly more fun, many choose to own and drive a car on their own. While driving your own car is more thrilling and may allow you to experience the local better, you cannot do it with your regular driving licence as it is valid only inside India. To drive to anywhere that is outside of India, international driving licence is the documentation that you need.

An international driving licence, which is also known as an international driving permit, is an official document that allows the holder to drive a private motor vehicle in any country or jurisdiction that recognises it. Two things you need to keep in mind about this kind of licence are:

An international driving permit is more or less a translated copy of your permanent driving licence issued by the authority in India
Not ALL countries allow the use of an international driving licence, so before applying for one, you should look up whether the country you are living in or plan to stay at recognises international driving licence.

Another reason that should make you think carefully before getting an international driving licence is that it is valid for one year since the date of issue or until the Indian driving licence expires (whichever comes sooner), so unless you are going to drive on a regular basis in the period of one year, there is not much of an advantage in getting this type of licence. Also, an international driving permit issued in India can only be applied for, not renewed, which creates another potential hassle. With that being said, below is the process of applying for an international driving licence.

1. Required documents for international driving licence application

The requirements and eligibility for an international driving licence are pretty much the same in all countries in which the licence is recognised. In India, there are a few distinct requirements in the documentation. Nonetheless, all the papers that you need to prepare are as follows:

Valid Indian driving licence
Copies of valid driving licence
Certified proof of Indian citizenship
Attested copy of address proof
Attested copy of birth certificate
Valid Indian passport (validity of more than 1 year)
Copies of passport
Visa
Copies of visa
Copy of air tickets
An application for international driving licence in Form 4A
Medical certificate in Form 1 - Self Declaration of Physical Fitness
Medical certificate in Form 1A signed by the doctor
4 passport size photos

The application form 4A can be downloaded and printed from the local RTO’s website or fetched at the nearest RTO. You should do your best and fill in all the necessary boxes in the application form, or otherwise, the verification of your documents will be put on hold or delayed.

A lot of documents are required for the international driving licence application

2. Applying for an international driving licence in India

In some states, the application is now able to be completed online. You should check the official Sarathi website of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (sarathi.nic.in or parivahan.gov.in) or your local RTO’s website to see whether it is possible to apply online in your area. If online application is permitted where you live, it is recommended that you complete the process online as it will save you a considerable amount of time and effort. The online international driving licence application is as follows:

Go to the official Sarathi website of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (sarathi.nic.in or parivahan.gov.in) or your local RTO website.
Check whether your state allows online driving licence renewal.
If it is possible, you will be taken to a webpage where there is a column that has “Driving Licence” on the left side of the webpage.
Click on “Apply Online”.
From the drop-down menu, click on “Services on Driving Licence (Renewal/Duplicate/Aedl/Others)”. You can apply for an international driving permit in this section.
Next, the site lists out the stages and gives a brief introduction about application submission. Read it carefully.
After that, the website gives you a step-by-step guide to apply for the international driving licence. Read carefully and follow the instructions.

If you apply for your international driving licence at the RTO office, you have to go to the nearest RTO and bring all the necessary documents along with the application fee of 1000 rupees. Please note that you also have to pay the 1000-rupee fee when you apply online too.

The verification and processing take no more than 7 business days, and it will be delivered to you.

Note: there are a lot of independent and unverified websites that offer online international driving licence application. You should only submit your papers and pay your fee on the official websites as these unverified websites may be fraudulent.