The EU has special rules for the use of Ukrainian driving licenses for refugees

The European Union has changed the rules regarding Ukrainian driver’s licenses, but only for refugees.

The updated regulation concerns persons from Ukraine who enjoy temporary protection in member states EUwrites “European Truth”. The document introduces special rules regarding expired, lost or stolen Ukrainian driver’s licenses, which came into force at the end of July in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Kip, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Finland, France, Croatia, Sweden, Czech Republic. In these countries, Ukrainian refugees are now allowed to:

• use a Ukrainian driver’s license without the need to exchange it for the entire period of stay under protection, and not just for 6 months;
• use an old-style Ukrainian driver’s license, which is issued only in Cyrillic and does not have an expiration date, without the need to have an additionally certified translation or an international driver’s license;
• use a Ukrainian driver’s license even if it expires in 2022 (this is relevant for licenses issued for the first time, with a validity period of 2 years);
• to obtain a temporary EU-type driver’s license (for the period of stay under protection) in case of loss or theft of a Ukrainian driver’s license without passing exams – it is enough for the EU country to verify the validity of the right to drive obtained in Ukraine, as well as to check compliance with the standards of physical and mental fitness for driving.

That is, in the case, for example, when a person went to Greece during the war, received temporary protection there, and his driver’s license expired for the first time, such a license is valid for two years, and then subject to exchange.

During martial law in Ukraine, such expired driving licenses are considered valid. Now they are also considered valid on the territory of the EU member states. Refugees do not have to spend time obtaining a Greek or Polish driver’s license, or traveling to Ukraine for an exchange.

But there is an important exception: if a driver’s license issued in Ukraine has expired by the beginning of 2022, then it will still have to be exchanged. And this is quite logical – before the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, a person had the opportunity to take care of the proper status of his documents.

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