In Russia, from April, they will begin to fine drivers with foreign rights
Foreigners who received a residence permit or citizenship until April 1, 2024 had a week to change the driver’s licenses for Russian ones. From April 1, 2025, foreign rights cannot be used, the fine will be 5-15 thousand rubles. The obligation to receive the Russian certificate applies to Russians with foreign rights entering Russia until April 1, 2024. According to Kommersant, Russian certificates have already received more than 400 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation and foreigners. How many drivers are at risk is unknown.
Foreigners and Russians who control their personal cars (working not for hiring), recall, today they can use foreign driver’s licenses (WU). But the traffic police cannot check whether the document is for a fake, whether the driver was trained in a driving school, etc. To strengthen control over such drivers in 2023, at the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the relevant law was adopted (FZ-313), it has already entered into force, part of its norms have an excessive validity period.
The essence of the document boils down to the fact that users of foreign vu will sooner or later receive Russian documents.
Foreigners who received a residence permit (or Russian citizenship) until April 1, 2024, as well as the Russians who entered the Russian Federation until April 1, 2024, are required to do this until April 1, 2025. Starting from this date, driving with foreign rights will be considered a violation with prosecution under Part 1 of Art. 12.7 Code of Administrative Offenses (driving without rights, a fine of 5-15 thousand rubles). This was confirmed by Kommersant in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responding to a request for the application of the law. The ban with Belarusian rights does not apply to the citizens of Belarus and Russians.
If the foreigner received a residence permit (or citizenship) after April 1, 2024 (for example, September 1), then he has the right to use the national WU during the year from the moment of the change of status (in our example – until September 1, 2025). A similar rule is valid for Russians with a foreign WU, but the reference point is the date of entry into Russia. In other words, if a citizen of the Russian Federation entered the country on October 15, 2024, you can use a foreign WU until October 15, 2025.
For those who decided to get Russian rights in advance, a simplified order was introduced without exams, it acted all last year and ends on April 1, 2025. But not everyone could use it, but only foreigners who received a residence permit (citizenship) until April 1, 2024, or Russians who entered the Russian Federation until April 1, 2024. This option, according to Kommersant, took advantage of more than 400 thousand motorists. After April 1, the “simplification” ends, for the exchange it will be necessary to take exams. If categories M, A and B (mopeds, motorcycles and cars) are open in foreign rights, it will be enough to pass only theory, you do not need to study at a driving school if categories C and D (truck or bus), then you need to undergo training in a driving school, passing the theory and the “city”.
A number of citizens took advantage of a simplified scheme for the exchange of rights in order to get Russian Wu from scratch, Kommersant said Alexander Shumsky, head of the Probok.net expert center.
Some Russians, he said, specially went to other countries (in particular, to Georgia), where the surrender process is much easier than in Russia: it is not necessary to study at a driving school, it is allowed to re -retake many times, etc. “Kommersant” found a number of specialized channels in Telegram, which posted instructions for a trip to Georgia for Wu. According to Alexander Shumsky, a trip to this country, along with tickets and receiving, can do cheaper than training in the Russian Federation. The expert recalls that in 2024 the rules for retorting exams in the traffic police became more complicated in Russia – between the third and fourth attempts of the exam “in the city” should pass from six to nine months. Tighten, Mr. Shumsky believes, increased the popularity of « rights to rights. »
Recall also that drivers who have received Russian rights in 2012 will need to change them to new ones. At the proposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Government, the validity of certificates was extended by three years to “reduce the administrative burden” on citizens. Certificates, the validity of which expired from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, will have to be changed this year. In 2026, respectively, WHOs are subject to replacement, the validity of which expired in 2023.
