When a foreigner wants to drive a car or motorcycle in the Philippines, a drivers license is needed. This can be the original (foreign) drivers license in the first 90 days of his or her stay in the Philippines.
An Expat in the Philippines, who mostly lives here permanently has to take care for a Filipino Drivers License before the 90th day of his / her stay, because foreign drivers licenses are not accepted after the 90st day of arrival in the Philippines. The problem is how to get one.
Fact is, it is easy to get one !!
LTO, the Philippine department for issuing drivers licenses, has a lot of offices in the country. When I got mine I was told at a local renewal office that I had to go to a larger office where new driver licenses are issued. I went to the main office of LTO in East Avenue, Quezon City.
Once there I received an application form and was ordered to have a medical examination and a drug test. After that I should return to the same window.
The general requirements are the following:
- A valid foreign drivers license, and if not stated in English, a translation in English. (your local embassy can take care for that, so contact them first)
- A copy of the original birth certificate of the holder (also in English, ask your local embassy for assistance)
- A copy of the passport and a copy of the visa to stay in the Philippines
- A document that is stating your home address in the Philippines (can be issued at the Barangay where the applicant is living)
- The results of the medical examination and the drug test
- The application form (issued at LTO)
Note: A foreign driver’s license is not acceptable for conversion into Philippine driver’s license if:
- The foreign license is not written in the English language; or
- The country of origin of the driver’s license has no embassy in the Philippines
The LTO website , click on the ‘service’ tab at the left. (link to LTO removed because the website is too often un-reachable)
(links to government sites in the Philippines are often broken, why? They have more traffic than the hosting company allows !!)
On the other side of East avenue in Quezon City are several small test labs. After inquiring they all ask the same prices, so it’s not important where to go, as long as they are “LTO accredited”.
Every new applicant has to undergo such tests. The ‘drug test’ is nothing more than giving some fresh urine in a little bottle and filling out a form. The physical examination is just a simple eyesight test, blood pressure measuring, weight measuring and answering a few questions about previous illnesses. Those two tests costs around 400 pesos.
After those tests I went back to LTO and gave the officer all the requested papers and documents.
Some time later I was called and a digital picture was taken of me and I should sign my signature digitally. Then I was sent to the cashier to pay the dues and taxes: 618 pesos.
After 10 minutes waiting, the new Filipino drivers license was issued to me. All together it took me about 1 to 2 hour to have this drivers license.
A few TIPS:
- It might be wise to call first if a specific LTO office near your place is able to issue a drivers license to foreigner drivers license holders
- Take care for a translation of your drivers license if it is not completely in English, your Embassy might be able to help you
- If you are in the Philippines already, and you don?t have a birth certificate yet, try to get one at your Embassy or ask family in your home country to take care for it
- Be patient at all time, waiting at offices is a part of living in the Philippines.
For the latest requirements and fees check LTO website.
(links to government sites in the Philippines are often broken, why? They have more traffic than the hosting company allows !!)
I have removed all links to LTO because they never work properly. Use a search engine for the right links.
Dec 21, 2011 @ 02:43:06
If your driver’s license is not written in English, get International Driver’s Permit (IDP) from your country BEFORE you come to the Philippines!
Save the hassle. There is Catch 22 in the LTO requirements.
I came from French part of Canada, my driver’s license is completely written in French. The LTO requirement is: Translation from Embassy/Consular Office.
After traveling 10 hours to Manila and spending one and a half hour in Canadian Embassy in Manila, I didn’t get the translation simply because it is not their job. And they are right.
Embassies are not translation offices. With more than 80 embassies and hundreds of consular offices and high commissions around the world, Canadian Embassy has very strict rules of what services they provide and what not.
There are only 3 things they provide: Afidavit/declaration, Certified true copy, and Authenticating a seal or signature.
After verifying this with Foreign Affairs Canada, it become clear that Embassy is not a translation service and cannot confirm the seal of Alliance Francaise Manila, who translated the drivers license. Alliance Francaise is not an officially authorized translator.
It seems out of logic, Driver’s license has 10 words to translate and both French and English are official languages in Canada.
It might as well be true for all other non English speaking country embassies – translation to English is not part of their consular services.
Years ago I remember converting my foreign license into Canadian license. Canadian Ministry of Transportation did not send me to some local Embassy for translation. They sent me to an authorized translator. I was done in one day.
In short, save the hassle. Get International Driver’s Permit (IDP) from your country BEFORE you come to the Philippines!
Dec 21, 2011 @ 10:26:39
hi Novig,
Embassies are not translation offices, that’s true. But what they could have done is stating that your drivers license was a genuine one. That’s what the Dutch Embassy did and it was accepted by LTO.
Dec 21, 2011 @ 22:02:27
I assume the statement you got from Dutch Embassy was in English, not in Dutch. If so, that statement is equal to translation, it included license number, name and dates.
Kudos for the Dutch Embassy who had human approach in your case. They could have easily refused you, but they spend their time in writing a document in a language which is not official in Holland.
I also expected human approach from Canadian Embassy. How difficult is it to put a stamp on already translated license when you are fluent in both English and French. It takes 5 minutes.
Instead, the attitude was to try to get rid of me, sending me to different rooms. I spent one and a half hour of my and their time, way more than it will take to put a stamp. I was not rude or arrogant, we had a nice one hour talk, but with no result. They only do: declaration, copy, signature.
LTO requirement leaves you at embassy’s will. Instead of sending you to authorised translator, they send you to the embassy.
Get the International Driver’s Permit before comming to Philippines. It could save you a lot of time and energy.