Driving licence

Be very careful because your British driver's licence DOES NOT permit you to drive here in Brazil, neither does Brazil recognize the International Driver's Permit (IDP) since Brazil was not one of the signatory countries.

In order for you to drive legally here you need to take your valid British licence, which must first be translated into Portuguese by a legal translator (Tradutor Juramentado), to DETRAN. You will be required to pay a fee and you will be issued permission to drive. I do not know how much the fee is, nor do I know how long the process takes. You can find out more information on DETRAN's website.

Just so you know the risk you are taking. Should you be involved in a motor vehicle accident here, British licence or not, you are driving without a licence here. This means that you will be automatically liable for ALL damages and injuries involved whether you were the one who caused or was responsible for the accident or not. If I were you I'd lock my car away in the garage and leave it there until you have your permission to drive through DETRAN.

The only other way to go is to apply for a Brazilian Driver's Licence which is expensive and time consuming.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog

Hi again, just realized from your other posting you aren't here in Brazil yet. Anyway the info doesn't change you can't drive here until you've got permission from DETRAN. The translation should be done by a translator here in Brazil OR by the Brazilian Consulate in your home country (probably cheaper here). Those are the only acceptable translations for any official purposes here in Brazil.

Hi  wjwoodward

I am in Brazil now, and moving from Brasilia to Rio very soon. Our understanding was that my UK licence allows me 6 months before I must apply to DETRAN for a Brazilian licence...this is the info the Brazilian consulate are giving out in London U.K.

DETRAN require a fee (of course) and some "simple" exams to be passed(but apparently not an actual driving exam), including a very basic Portuguese language test and some sort of test to determine basic mental health...this is what we heard from an expat in Rio...but they did not go further into detail.

Seems we will have to get onto DETRAN in Rio straight away to get the definitive answer.

Thanks anyway wjwoodard

You seem to have either misunderstood the information that the Consulate gave you, or they gave you incorrect information.

Yes, your British Driver's Licence allows you to drive in Brazil for 6 month.... but only once you have taken it to DETRAN, along with your translation, other required documents, etc., and paid the appropriate fee. You cannot simply drive with your British licence "AS IS". If you remain in Brazil for longer than 180 days then you are required to obtain a Brazilian licence.

Should you apply for a Brazilian licence at some point in the future you will have to go through the exact same procedure as Brazilian do, driving school, written test and driving test, medical and psychological exams, etc. Once issued your licence is probationary for a period of one year. Any infractions during that year will result in losing permission to drive.

Hope this clears things up for you. If you still have any doubts you can access the specific page of DETRAN-RJ website by clicking on the link below. If you understand Portuguese well then you will see the correct procedure. If you are not quite fluent yet you can copy the text and paste it into Google translator, it won't be perfect, but it should give you the general idea.

http://www.detran.rj.gov.br/_documento.asp?cod=136#doc

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog

Ok, I am really confused. Whenever I rent a car in Brazil they ask for my US drivers license. They never ask for my IADP, but I have it because it is required and do not want problems.

That said, they never ask for anything from DETRAN. This has been the case as a tourist and not as a tourist. Do they really expect people to leave to airport, find a sworn translator, locate DETRAN, pay a fee and deal with bureaucracy all to rent a car? If they do, every car rental company in Brazil is violating the law. At least the three large companies - Hertz, AVIS, Thrifty.

Hi Matt,

The translation is only necessary if you don't have an IDP or IADP and you choose to go through the hassle of applying directly to DETRAN for "Pemissão para Dirigir". The IDP and IADP route is much easier.

Also, I understand that you can apply to DETRAN for a full Brazilian licence if you have a valid foreign licence. That too requires a notarized translation.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Thanks, James.