Foreigners who obtained a residence permit (RP) or Russian citizenship before April 1, 2024, are required to replace their foreign driver's licenses with Russian ones. This was stated by Alexander Khaminsky, a lawyer and head of the Center for Law and Order in Moscow and the Moscow Region.
In accordance with the amendments made to the federal law on road safety in 2023, from April 1, 2024, foreign driver's licenses will no longer be valid for driving vehicles on the territory of Russia. The validity of foreign licenses will expire on April 1, 2025.
Thus, the deadline for replacing licenses in a simplified manner expires on April 1, 2025. Starting from this date, driving vehicles with foreign licenses will be considered an administrative offense, the responsibility for which is established by part 1 of Article 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses ("Driving without a license"), and the fine will be from 5 to 15 thousand rubles.
The lawyer emphasized that from April 1, the simplified procedure for replacing driver's licenses without passing an exam will no longer be valid.
To replace a license, it will be necessary to pass exams. At the same time, to replace licenses in categories A and B, it will be enough to pass only the theory.
However, in order to replace licenses of categories C and D, it will be necessary to undergo training at a driving school, successfully passing both the theoretical exam and the practical one.
Earlier, President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law that provides for increased fines for certain traffic violations (Traffic Laws). These changes came into force on January 1, 2025.
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