Hi, I was reading online that you have to surrender your current DL from another country in order to get an AB License. Is there any way I can keep my current license and get the Alberta License as well ?
Getting DL in Alberta Without Surrendering Previous License
- Thread starter andygill11
- Start date
It's illegal. The only way to do it is to lie when you apply for the Alberta license and say that you hold no other license.
Note that if do lie and you ever cause an accident that results in major payouts, you can bet that the insurance company will investigate and probably find out about the previous license. That would make your Alberta licence void, thereby making your insurance null and void; you would be personally on the hook for all payouts.
Is this true for an Indian DL as well because Canada has no reciprocal arrangement with India?
Alberta law does not allow a person to hold more than one licence. Doesn't matter where the other one is from.
It would be a provincial rule, because DL are issued by the provinces, not the federal government
It's true for pretty much all of Canada. If you got your license back in Ontario, it was by mistake.
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90h08#BK68
35 (1) No person shall,
(e) apply for, secure or retain in his or her possession more than one driver’s licence;
This is 1 weird rule in Alberta/Canada. They could just verify the original license and give it back.
Anyways, any idea what should I do when I visit my country. I mean how do I drive there then? Seems like will have to take an international driving permit every time to visit their own country of origin.
It will be more inconvenient for people who visit frequently.
1 major impact. I will also lose my 2 wheeler license which is on Indian license . I don't intend to apply for 2 wheeler license in Alberta as I don't think it is that easy to get that one and also I have no plans of buying a motorcycle here and none of my friends have so that I can practice and give a riding test on it.
I am not sure if I will ride a 2 wheeler in India but it surely comes in handy in heavy traffic, 2 wheeler is better that 4 wheeler in that case. Plus almost every house has a 2 wheeler there which can be used.
Moreover, driving license is an important document for address or ID proof in India, surrendering the original license here in Alberta will strip us off that Indian address and ID proof.
If anyone has a good suggestion of how to go about it then please post, esp with the same case of Indian license with 2 and 4 wheeler driving license.
Anyways, any idea what should I do when I visit my country. I mean how do I drive there then? Seems like will have to take an international driving permit every time to visit their own country of origin.
It will be more inconvenient for people who visit frequently.
1 major impact. I will also lose my 2 wheeler license which is on Indian license . I don't intend to apply for 2 wheeler license in Alberta as I don't think it is that easy to get that one and also I have no plans of buying a motorcycle here and none of my friends have so that I can practice and give a riding test on it.
I am not sure if I will ride a 2 wheeler in India but it surely comes in handy in heavy traffic, 2 wheeler is better that 4 wheeler in that case. Plus almost every house has a 2 wheeler there which can be used.
Moreover, driving license is an important document for address or ID proof in India, surrendering the original license here in Alberta will strip us off that Indian address and ID proof.
If anyone has a good suggestion of how to go about it then please post, esp with the same case of Indian license with 2 and 4 wheeler driving license.
As above not unique to Alberta.
Guess you could always report the India licence as lost and apply for a replacement even though the legality of doing so is questionable so your decision given assume you are PR in Canada so Canada rules apply.
I had thought of the same thing and had the same question of legality.. plus people go to their home country only for a few days, also need to consider the time needed for applying for a duplicate and the processing time of that. More importantly, I think we need to file an FIR with the police if the license is lost or missing then only can apply for a duplicate one. It's complicated. I think better option will be to get an international driving permit for few days from Alberta. That is available I guess. Worse case scenario drive without license with a copy of the license in India.. again need to check the legality of that, if it is possible.
Not sure about use of the Canadian DL in India, but US / Canadian DL works fine in Europe. No issues with car rental or interaction with police.
For Indians,
I guess you do not need an FIR to file for a duplicate license and I guess it depends, the RTO officer may ask for it:
https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/en/content/duplicate-licence
Also, it might not be legal to do that. Need to get that info.
In Faqs, it says
Can an NRI or foreigner drive a vehicle in India on the basis of European license or driving license issued by any foreign country?
He can not. However if he has obtained an International Driving Permit (IDP) from his own country and his country is a signatory to the 1949 Geneva Convention he can drive in India the specified category of vehicle till the IDP is valid. Please refer to the procedure of obtaining an India Driving Licence.
https://www.india.gov.in/people-groups/community/non-resident-indians/frequently-asked-questions-faqs#q23
I have provided the links from the government websites.
This is utter nonsense. We can drive with Indian license (normal, not international permit) for 3 months in most of the countries after landing there (including US, Canada, Europe I guess), and to drive in India you need an international driving permit from day 1? This is a joke. Ideally it should be the other way round. It is high time they learn something from the other countries rather than being a pain in the *** for others. Also considering that a large population of the county is NRI.
Frankly speaking, if planning to visit India for a short time like 2-3 weeks. At your own risk, the option is to just drive by carrying a photo copy of your license and tell that your original is at home or somewhere else, or lost and I was planning to apply for a duplicate one. There is a low chance that you are asked for your license, until you do something wrong or break any rule or driving at night through area with pubs. crossing state borders will be out of question in this case
worse case just pay the fine for not carrying original license. but ya, this is just what came to my mind. I would not recommend anyone to do this, I myself won't.
The only good and legal option seems to get an International driving permit while going to India, if that is feasible.
I guess you do not need an FIR to file for a duplicate license and I guess it depends, the RTO officer may ask for it:
https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/en/content/duplicate-licence
Also, it might not be legal to do that. Need to get that info.
In Faqs, it says
Can an NRI or foreigner drive a vehicle in India on the basis of European license or driving license issued by any foreign country?
He can not. However if he has obtained an International Driving Permit (IDP) from his own country and his country is a signatory to the 1949 Geneva Convention he can drive in India the specified category of vehicle till the IDP is valid. Please refer to the procedure of obtaining an India Driving Licence.
https://www.india.gov.in/people-groups/community/non-resident-indians/frequently-asked-questions-faqs#q23
I have provided the links from the government websites.
This is utter nonsense. We can drive with Indian license (normal, not international permit) for 3 months in most of the countries after landing there (including US, Canada, Europe I guess), and to drive in India you need an international driving permit from day 1? This is a joke. Ideally it should be the other way round. It is high time they learn something from the other countries rather than being a pain in the *** for others. Also considering that a large population of the county is NRI.
Frankly speaking, if planning to visit India for a short time like 2-3 weeks. At your own risk, the option is to just drive by carrying a photo copy of your license and tell that your original is at home or somewhere else, or lost and I was planning to apply for a duplicate one. There is a low chance that you are asked for your license, until you do something wrong or break any rule or driving at night through area with pubs. crossing state borders will be out of question in this case
worse case just pay the fine for not carrying original license. but ya, this is just what came to my mind. I would not recommend anyone to do this, I myself won't.
The only good and legal option seems to get an International driving permit while going to India, if that is feasible.