Driver's License Translation

<p>A foreign driver's license is a dense document. Most of what matters on it - which vehicle categories you may drive, since when, and under what restrictions - is expressed in codes and small print rather than sentences, and a translation that renders only the name and dates misses the part a licensing agency actually reads.</p>

When a translation is actually needed

Four situations account for almost every request:

• Exchanging a foreign license at a state agency. Several states have agreements with particular countries that let a licensed driver skip some or all testing. The foreign license is then the evidence of your driving record, so the agency has to be able to read it.
• Insurance. Insurers price on driving history. A translated license showing when each category was first issued can be the difference between being rated as an experienced driver and a new one.
• Traffic court. If you are stopped while driving on a foreign license, the court needs to see what it authorises.
• Car rental and employment. Rental companies and employers with driving roles set their own rules.

An International Driving Permit is not the same thing

An International Driving Permit is issued in your home country by the body your government designates, and it has to be obtained there - it cannot be issued in the United States for a foreign license. It is a standardised booklet that describes your license categories in several languages, and it is valid only alongside the license itself.

A certified translation is a full translation of your actual license with a signed certificate of accuracy. Which of the two a particular body accepts varies. Some agencies accept a certified translation, some want an International Driving Permit, and some require a translation or verification issued by your country's consulate - several states do this for Taiwanese and South Korean licenses, for example. The state pages below say what each agency asks for.

What the translation has to include

Every category and the date each was first granted. A license held for fifteen years for cars but only two for motorcycles says two different things, and the first-issue date per category is often printed on the reverse.

Restriction and endorsement codes. Licenses issued in the European Union use harmonised numeric codes - 01 for sight correction, 78 for automatic transmission only - and a translation should give each code and what it means rather than dropping it as unreadable.

The issuing authority, the license number and the validity dates, exactly as printed, because they are how the license is verified.

A translation does not make a license valid

Whether you may drive on a foreign license, and for how long after becoming a resident, is set by state law. A translation makes the license readable; it does not extend it. Deadlines for new residents range from days to months depending on the state.