Dubai Travel Forum

Hi,
I was unable to get my IDL before I got to Dubai and was wondering if there is anyway a visitor can get one in Dubai? I have my local licence with me (which is in English)
Thanks
Kim

By law I believe IDL should be there, but sometimes I have seen some car rentals agree to have the Original Driver's licence if it is from some european or North America. Try to call some of them:

Abdulla Al Zaabi Rent A Car 4894 2719461 2719904
Access Rent A Car 50378 2289922 2288440

American Rent A Car 7974 344888 3367765

Avis Rent-A-Car 6891 2957121 2956807
Aviation Rent-A-Car 56130 2672212 2673393
Awan Car Rentals 4816 2235588 2225123

Budget Rent-A-Car 8323 2823030 2823574

Delta Rent A Car 4499 2660696 2694731

East Cost Rent A Car 24632 3964666 3965520

Eurodollar Rent A Car 10990 2666923 2695525
Europcar - Dubai Rent A Car 2533 3394433 3394403
Express Rent A Car 50004 3711002 3722439
Fast Rent A Car 32011 3328988 3328742

Check my transport pages tip for more info on the following URL:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/6c112/1c5710/9/

Drive Safely :-)

I recently looked this up for a US citizen currently in Europe, and the rule was that if you have a US driver's license, you have to have the IDL issued by an authorized company in the US, which is AAA and one other (I forget the name). However, for people already overseas, the AAA did provide a mailing address by which you could send them the paperwork by post and get the IDL by return mail.

In your case, I would look on the Internet to see who is authorized to issue IDLs in your home country (like the local automobile club) and then see if they have a way to do the IDLs by mail ...or if they have different rules altogether ;-)

Bill

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately the country in which I am resident refuses to give me an IDL because my work permit expires shortly - hence I am looking for other options.

I recently rented a car in Dubai. Renting from Avis, I specifically asked if I had to show my IDL (since it was in my bag, I did not want to dig it out). The agent said it was not necessary.

If you are merely hoping to get one in Dubai for future travel, I will revert to prior posts.

Re above post : Although it is possible to rent a car in Dubai with only a national driving licence, the car then may not be taken outisde of the Emirate of Dubai (i.e. not to places like Abu Dhabi or even Sharjah) !
There is a clause in the fine print of the rental contracts that voids the insurance if this rule is broken, i.e. if you have an accident outside of Dubai then you're going to incur massive costs.

George

The agent who I rented from said I only needed additional insurance coverage when I crossed to Oman.

It is not a matter of buying additional insurance. It is a matter of driving without a valid driving licence, which invalidates the insurance, as the law sof all emirates except for Dubai states that only an international licence is valid.

Again, if you look through the contract carefully it will state that the car "may not be driven outside the Emirate of Dubai"

thanks for clarifying

Hi all,
Kim you managed to rent a car?? Your answer would be valuable to those who have the same situation :-)
Let us know.