Driving license and new points system

Hi aakayb,

I am here in Mauritius since Oct 2010 and I have a international driving licence, issued in Germany a few weeks before I left Germany.
Almost every 5th time of controlling by policemen I get the order to change my international driving licence into a Mauritian one.

But on the other side I heard that this is not really necessary.
They only want to have your money.

Do you have an international licence or only one a UK one?

Wawelgeist wrote:

Hi aakayb,

I am here in Mauritius since Oct 2010 and I have a international driving licence, issued in Germany a few weeks before I left Germany.

Almost every 5th time of controlling by policemen I get the order to change my international driving licence into a Mauritian one.

But on the other side I heard that this is not really necessary.
They only want to have your money.

Do you have an international licence or only one a UK one?

I only have a UK license at the moment. Have you been going to Port Louis to renew your international license or is it valid for a long period of time?

Hi,
I never was at any authority at Mauritius because of my licence.
My licence is valid for three years and will expire end of September this year.
So I will prolonge it in Germany in July when I'm back for holiday.

I have had the same issue, I have been driving on my Australian drivers licence in Mauritius for a number of years and have been told that I must get a Mauritian licence and that I can drive on any valid licence.  I went to the Police Barracks in Port Louis to ask how to obtain a Mauritian licence, they told me I did not need one that my Australian licence is fine to drive on.  They noted down the particulars of my licence in their ledger book and said it was now "registered" and all fine.  I have no idea if it is correct or not, it seems to depend whom you speak to and no one seems to know the 'real' rule if there is one.

If anyone has any official information it would be great to hear about it.

We drive on a UK license and have been doing so for years.
As Jude says it probably depends on how they are feeling at the time or who you speak to. Never had a problem  the many times we've been stopped with the UK license.
When I was researching what they meant by Morality Certificate for my residency I was told different things by different officials and the UK H/C had no idea what one was......I sorted it myself.So if anyone does have any definitive info on this we would all love to hear please?

Evening all,

I know this one, as I checked out the Government Police Traffic Branch webpage a few weeks back given all the news about the licence changes.

It appears from the webpage that you can only drive on a foreign driving licence or international driving licence for three years, unless renewed, as Wawelgeist is doing:

Any person holding a valid International Driving Permit or Driving Licence issued by a competent foreign authority shall not be required to pass a test.

Any such permit or licence shall entitle the holder thereof to drive within the State of Mauritius any vehicle of the types specified thereon. Provided that, when such permit or licence is valid for more than three years at the time of the registration thereof in the State of Mauritius, such permit or licence shall only be valid in the State of Mauritius for a period of three years.

Some Mauritian relatives suggested that I could apply for a Mauritian driving licence without taking a test, as I already have a UK licence. This seems to be bourne out by the above, and if correct could save money on international driving licence renewals?

David.

David are you saying we don't need to take a test in Mauritius and after 3 years driving constantly with UK license we need to apply for a Mauritian license?
Thanks!

Hi Daisymay,

Yes, my reading is that after three years on a UK (or other non-Mauritian) licence we must apply for one that is acceptable in Mauritius.

So either an international licence, which is definitely available to us without a test, or a Mauritian one, which appears not to need a test, though as the information is from a paragraph about international driving licences, we cannot be 100% on this.

I'd like to get a local one, so will apply in due course.

Thanks,

David.

Thanks David,
Bet theres a hefty fee haha.
And assume we have to go to Line Barracks in Port Louis to do this?
And Jude's experience seems to indicate we can register our UK license there and that will be for 3 years, and thereafter we have to have a Mauritian license or IP?
Also I heard that you have to surrender your UK license to get a Mauritian one?
What happens if you need to drive back in the UK?
Theres still confusion here.
The wording on the police site is not clear. It doesnt actually state you must get a Mauritian license after 3 years?
Thanks

Thanks David, the wording is still quite ambiguous. 

Personally I was told by the licencing department at the Barracks in Port Louis that I do not need a Mauritian licence as long as I have a valid drivers licence and there was no 3 year limit mentioned.  I am going to stick with that .  I can renew my Australian licence by mail and I want to keep it valid.  Of course I could easily have a police officer tell me different but I have never had any trouble when producing my Australian licence when stopped for a licence check.

Just had to check my spelling of licence with a 'c' LOL.

I have a German driving license and went to line barracks each year to get a small white paper that allowed me to drive with my German driving license in Mauritius. They told me after three years I could apply for a Mauritian one, but when I went there they told me I had to surrender my German driving license. Which I of course didn't do. So I just went on with the white paper and asked again the next year. Then they said I could apply without surrendering my German license, which I did, and I am having the German and the Mauritian driving license since then. I don't remember whether I paid something for it, but if there were any costs it hasn't been much.

If the point system really doesn't apply to foreign driving licenses I probably should start using my German one again :-)

It is true that rules and regulations are changing quickly and that each officer will tell you something different.

Wish you all good luck with your application!

LOL, it certainly does seem that it depends on the person you speak to.  No-one mentioned any "white paper" to me.

Seriously though it would be good to have a clear cut black and white rule on this and other matters in Mauritius.  All in good time I guess.

The wording on the police document doesnt actually state you have to have a Mauritian licence (and Jude it was me spelling it wrongly!)
If you do and have to surrender your foreign licence then count me out and probably a few others.
Just something about 3 yearly?
I think we are all more confused than ever with this.......

How could they make you surrender your foreign license?

Anyway, my experience is as follows:

1. There is no need to obtain a Mauritius license if you have an overseas (recognised) license. This was verified by both my wife and I separately at Line Barracks a couple of years ago (of course it may have changed since then). We were told we can use our UK license for as long as we are in Mauritius.
Recognised does not appear to be defined but I think as long as its in French or English, you are probably OK.

2. If you have an overseas license and wish to convert it, you can do so without having to sit any test. There is a cost, but it is not a lot (I forget how much but it certainly wasn't much - few hundred rupees maybe) and it does involve 2 or 3 trips to Line Barracks and certain paperwork to be in place, which I have again forgotten what is required, but you can ask at Line Barracks. I actually found them quite helpful, even if the bureaucracy is a bit annoying.

3. I obtained a Mauritian license this way, just in case my UK one is stolen (as happened previously and it was a long process when living overseas to get a new one and meant driving without a license for a while).

4. Whenever I am stopped, I show the UK license and speak english as I think it gives you safer passage.

Despite all this, I'm sure they are not stupid and imagine with the new points system now in place, they may decide to clamp down on overseas licenses, though as ever, the rules will probably remain ambiguous.

Finally, if you do have a Mauritius license, remember you need to go and get your counterpart driving license from your local Police Station over the next month or two. Dates for collection depend on your surname.

Sorry - surrender is probably the wrong word, but friends told me that to get a Mauritian licence you have to exchange your UK licence and thats been the case for the past 10 years?
They also said that this put a lot of people they know off doing that.
Markdc so you have a Mauritian and a UK licence and no problems, thats good to know.
UK licenses have a paper and a photo section so that should be OK for the points system as it is in the UK I would have thought.
Thanks!

From the French forum:

Two people have enquired;

For resident permit holders from 1 -3 yrs :  no need to get a Mauritian driver"s licence.
After 3 yrs  living on the island, you need to get a Mauritian one.
As to how they  know for how long you are on the island , well ???
May be some smart Alec will find a way to tag it with the renewal of said  residency permit just playing the devil advocate

External thanks for that.
To throw the spanner into the works a little more:
I am resident, husband a citizen.
But we dont stay on the island for more than 3 months at a time -we go back and forth to the UK, spending more time in the UK - say 7 months UK and 5 in Mauritius, but in 8 -10 weeks periods.
So wonder if this would affect us..
Oh dear what a mess!
Any chance of a link to this topic in the French forum please?

We are all correct with the spelling Daisy, Licence for UK, Australia, Mauritius and others including commonwealth countries.  License for the USA etc.

Some definitive ruling for expats will need to made at some point and hopefully we will be notified somehow

HeyJude wrote:

I have had the same issue, I have been driving on my Australian drivers licence in Mauritius for a number of years and have been told that I must get a Mauritian licence and that I can drive on any valid licence.  I went to the Police Barracks in Port Louis to ask how to obtain a Mauritian licence, they told me I did not need one that my Australian licence is fine to drive on.  They noted down the particulars of my licence in their ledger book and said it was now "registered" and all fine.  I have no idea if it is correct or not, it seems to depend whom you speak to and no one seems to know the 'real' rule if there is one.

If anyone has any official information it would be great to hear about it.

This is what I as told at the local police station to do - so long as my UK drivers Licence is valid then I will be entered into the  "Ledger" and become registered

I was also told although I don't know if it's correct but that I should be registered with P L Police if not then my Car Insurance is not valid:(

I am so so confused......

Someone on the French forum said they heard in a special radio broadcast on this subject that foreign residents are obliged to have a Mauritian licence after 3 years residence.
Not heard anything about the car insurance - I hope thats not true:(

There was an article in 'Le Mauricien' yesterday 23rd of January 2013 saying that the DLC does NOT apply to foreigner's holding a valid foreign driving license!

Regarding the insurance - first time I hear this. I am here nearly 14 years and unfortunately had recently an accident. The damage to my car and as well to the opponent was paid by my insurance without any problem like that.

There are a lot of rumors and nobody really knows how things are working. |For the DLC I asked as well 4 different policemen at 4 different Stations and got 5 different information!! One at least told me that he is not sure himself since they themselves got no proper information regarding this issue!

Hey there,

there are a lot of discussions about this going on, also on groups of Facebook as it seems that everybody gets a different answer when calling at the Traffic Branch.

Here what I understood so far:
You are allowed to use your foreign license even if staying here for longer. Nevertheless you should register it at the Line Barracks in Port Louis (this is what I did some years back).
The Driving License Counter Part (the new paper) is not yet applicable for these licenses, but it will be implemented soon as I was told I would find all the necessary information about that in the press in due time.

If you nevertheless want to have a Mauritian license (which seems to be optional) you can send an application to the Superintendant of the Police at the Line Barracks and ask for a conversion of your license. You need to send a copy of your license, copy of ID and copy of your residence permit and they will call you back.

Well, that seems to be the status so far, but please correct me if somebody has other information :-)

Pina

I went back to Line Barracks police station and spoke to the same officer again there.

This time he told me I have to change my British license within 3 years and I can do so by writing to the SP (as Pina says above).  It is then up to the S.P and he can accept or refuse the request.

So I will probably try this and see what happens.

akaayb -
If you change your UK licence then if you go back to the UK at any point how will you be able to drive there?
No thanks!

daisymay2 wrote:

akaayb -
If you change your UK licence then if you go back to the UK at any point how will you be able to drive there?
No thanks!

If I have to surrender the UK license I won't bother with the Mauritian one.  If it is simply a case of having both, I will go ahead and try and get it.

Oh my god, it sounds like such a huge mess!
I have never had any problems with my foreign driving license.
I did go to the Barracks in Port Louis once, where they noted my license number and told me it was fine!!
Why ask for trouble if I don't have any!

Anyone heard anything more yet?
Wonder if they will really try to enforce this..

The French forum has some interesting posts on this, with the last poster saying he went to Line Barracks and was told they were overwhelmed by people trying to exchange their French licenses for Mauritian ones (200 applications in a few days)
It seems that for a first traffic offence, if you are resident the Court/Magistrate will compute your points for the first offence.
The police themselves don't seem to know whats going off. The poster said he was told to continue using his French Licence.

Hi guys..

With the time limit for DLC expiring yesterday, I came across a news article on lexpress saying that drivers who can't furnish their DLC when asked to by the police could be fined upto 10000 Rs.

Well, I have been driving on my Indian licence for the last year or so and have been stopped for random checking a couple of times. The police didn't object to it then.

Do we have any confirmed news for expats, whether they have to change their licences?

No news but I've been stopped twice in two weeks by the police and they were fine as usual with my UK licence.

Hi dear, I have a friend who have a UK Driving licence and effectively you must convert it to a Mauritian one.. hope that it's clear for you... and please don't wait that much because Mauritian protocol s*cks...

Hi all,
Some friends and I went to Line Barrack Police in Port Louis last week between us we held, UK, South African driving licences.

We queued for a few hours and was told the following;

1. Expats do not need to have this new piece of paper with their driving licences the new legislation only applies to Mauritian driving licences.

2. We may apply for a Mauritian driving licence if we wish too and we will still keep our own Countries driving licence. However this is not a neccessity if your driving licence is in date. You do not need to have a Mauritian driving Licence if yours is still in date and has not expired.

3. You can be entered into their "Big Black Book" if you so wish, you take copies and the originals of your driving licence, passport, work permit and or residents persmit or spouse permit,
they then enter you into the book keep the copies, you sign and thats it.

When we asked if it was a legal requirement to sign this book and register he told us no but you can if you want too - however I have since been told that insurance companies want you to register in this book - is this true I don't know

Anyway was almost a wasted journey but then we had a nice lunch and did some shopping

I think Rosiewestie has it right. We came here from the UK in 2005 and at the time you had to take your UK driving license to Line Barracks where you were issued with a slip of paper allowing you to drive in Mauritius. This had to be done every year for 3 years at which time you were obliged to surrender your UK license for a Mauritian one. Fortunately, the law changed before our 3 years were up - probably 2007/8. You can now drive with a foreign license as long as it is valid. You can also, if you choose, apply for a Mauritian license - I've toyed with doing this but haven't bothered so far. As far as the DLC is concerned it is not required for those with foreign licenses - not sure how they are going to apply fines/suspensions to those who are penalised under traffic regulations - they probably haven't worked this out yet.

Thanks for that Jeremy - that clarifies things