How to exchange a domestic driver’s license for an international driver’s license

Many countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand accept foreigners to directly use foreign driver’s licenses to drive on their soil, with a translation if necessary. What is required in the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic is a Certified Translation (see Article 41, paragraph 2a, of the 1968 Convention). This means that a qualified individual or translation company will issue a translation for you and confirm the content of the translation, that is, declare his or her translation qualifications at the end of the translation, swear that the translation content is accurate, and write State their address, signature and seal. This fully complies with the requirements of the Convention and can be officially accepted by all contracting states.

Required materials:

1. "Motor Vehicle Driving License Application Form". 2. If the applicant’s identity certificate (original and copy) is not in Chinese, the original and copy of the Chinese translation must be issued.

Identity proof refers to:

a. Chinese residents should submit the "Resident Identity Card" or "Temporary Resident Identity Card"; in the place of temporary residence, they should also submit to the public security Residence and temporary residence certificate issued by the government agency.

b. Foreigners should submit the passport or other travel documents they hold when entering the country, a valid visa with a stay (stay) period of more than three months or a residence permit in Hangzhou, and Accommodation registration certificate issued by the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau.

c. Personnel of foreign embassies and consulates in China and representatives of international organizations in China should submit valid identity documents issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

d. Overseas Chinese should submit a "Passport of the People's Republic of China" and a certificate of residence and temporary residence issued by the local public security agency.

e. Residents of Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions should submit the "Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents" or the "Return Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Compatriots", and the "Resident Identity Card" of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions.

f. Residents of Taiwan area should submit the "Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents" issued by the public security authority or the "Travel Permit of the People's Republic of China and the People's Republic of China" issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is valid for more than three months.

3. "Certificate of Physical Conditions of Motor Vehicle Drivers" issued by a medical institution at or above the county level or military regiment level. If the applicant is a staff member of a foreign embassy or consulate in China or a representative office of an international organization in China, the "Certificate of Physical Conditions" will not be reviewed.

4. The motor vehicle driving license you hold (must be within the validity period), which should be an overseas driving license, not an international driving license. If it is expressed in a language other than Chinese, a Chinese translation (original and copy) should also be issued.

5. Six 1-inch color frontal photos of the driver without a hat on a white background.

In order to facilitate motorists traveling by car in other signatory countries, the 1968 Vienna Convention on International Road Traffic stipulates that each contracting party allows drivers holding driver's licenses issued by other countries to drive within their territory. In order to solve the language barrier, a method has also been developed, that is, the governments of each contracting party authorize their traffic management departments to issue a certification document to the holders of their own driving licenses traveling abroad in accordance with the format stipulated in the convention to provide traffic management services in other countries. The agency certifies that the driver has a valid driving license issued by the country.

This certification document is called the International Driving Document, or IDD, in the convention, which is translated into "International Driving License" or "International Driving License" in Chinese.