Many long term guests want to drive in the Dominican Republic. Officially you can use your home driver’s license for up to 3 months, but if you plan to stay longer, it’s not a bad idea to obtain a Dominican Driver’s license. Here are the 3 easy steps for Canadians. For Americans and other countries, you’ll have to check with your local embassy to see if they can validate your home license.
You will need a Cedula, Recency Card, Canadian Driver’s license and about $3500 RD.
Step 1. Visit the Canadian Embassy with a copy of your passport and provincial driver’s license. The Embassy will validate your license. The wait time is 3 days at a cost of RD $1800.00.
The Canadian Embassy address:
Canadian Consulate Santo Domingo
Av. Winston Churchill 1099
Torre Citigroup en Acropólis Center, piso 18
Ensanche Piantini, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
809-262-3100
sdmgo@international.gc.ca
Step 2. Take the validated document to be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Next door to the Ministry is the Banco Reservas. You can save time by prepaying the cost RD$620.00. Be sure to tell them what it’s for first. You can avoid a second trip by paying for your license as well, another RD$950.00. Once you have the receipts, go to the Ministry and get in line to deposit your documents.
Cancilleria
Av. Independencia No. 752
Estancia San Gerónimo
Santo Domingo Distrito Nacional
República Dominicana.
Step 3. Proceed to the Secretary of State of Public Works. Make 3 photocopies at the front desk of your license, cedula, residency card, documents and receipts. Take this to the Juridico DGTT and then the Sub-direccion DGTT offices. From there the process gets a bit quicker. The steps are numbered and you need only to do step 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8. Register, eye exam, blood type, document check, and the last step is getting your address and photo. It is only a five minute wait from there to get your card.
SEOPC
Av. San Cristóbal Esq.
Av. Tiradentes
Santo Domingo
Rep. Dom.
565-2811 Ext 3111
Now all you need to do is figure out how to drive here in the DR!
