If your driving license expires even by 1 day, you must retake the theory test.

New regulations on expired driving licenses

The Ministry of Transport has just issued Circular No. 35/2024 regulating training, testing, and granting of driving licenses; granting and using international driving licenses; training, testing, and granting certificates of training in road traffic law knowledge. The Circular takes effect from January 1, 2025.

The notable new point of this Circular is that there are many changes compared to current regulations related to people with expired driving licenses.

Accordingly, people with driving licenses of classes B, C1, C, D1, D2, D, BE, C1E, CE, D1E, D2E, DE that have expired for less than 1 year from the date of expiration must take a theory test according to regulations. Driving licenses that have expired for 1 year or more from the date of expiration must take a theory test, a practical driving test in the form and on the road.

The new circular of the Ministry of Transport also stipulates: People whose driving licenses of the above categories are lost but have expired for less than 1 year must take a theoretical test. Those whose licenses have expired for 1 year or more from the date of expiration must take both theoretical and practical tests. The driving license in this case must be in the records of the Department of Transport and must not be confiscated or processed by competent authorities.

Explaining this issue, Mr. Luong Duyen Thong, Head of the Department of Vehicle and Driver Transport Management, Vietnam Road Administration, said that with the current regulations in Circular No. 04/2022 on training, testing, and granting of road motor vehicle driving licenses: People whose driving licenses have expired from 3 months to less than 1 year from the date of expiration must retake the theory test to reissue the driving license. From 1 year or more from the date of expiration, both theory and practice must be retaken.

According to the above regulations, when a driver's license expires, you will not be allowed to drive a vehicle, but if it has expired for less than 3 months, you can still change it to a new driver's license and do not have to retake the theory test.

However, the Law on Road Safety and Order recently passed by the National Assembly stipulates that: People with driving licenses can change or reissue their driving licenses before the expiration date stated on the driving license. This means that people with driving licenses that have expired even by 1 day will have to retake the test when they want to change to a new driving license.

Therefore, in Circular 35/2024 of the Ministry of Transport guiding the implementation of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, the Ministry of Transport stipulates: People whose driving license has expired for less than 1 year will have to retake the theory test. Those whose license has expired for more than 1 year will have to retake the practical test.

Lost driving license is reissued immediately

Regarding the re-issuance of driving licenses, in the new circular, the Ministry of Transport allows people whose driving licenses are lost and still valid to be considered for re-issuance immediately without having to wait for verification. The re-issuance of lost driving licenses is carried out according to the provisions of this circular.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport stipulates that driving licenses will not be reissued in the following cases: Driving licenses are not included in the driving license information system at the Vietnam Road Administration, the list of driving license issuance (management book); driving licenses will not be reissued to traffic safety violators who have not completed the request of the competent state agency to resolve and handle the violation case.

Mr. Luong Duyen Thong, Head of the Department of Vehicle and Driver Management, Vietnam Road Administration, said that previously, people who lost their driving licenses had to wait 2 months for the Department of Transport to check whether the driving license had been temporarily detained or revoked. In addition, the traffic police force needed time to compile the cases of temporary detention and revocation before updating the data and sending it to the transport sector.

This is possible because at present, technology has developed, the traffic police can immediately update the violation handling data for cases of temporary detention or revocation of driving licenses. The issuing agency will update the database to check and reissue driving licenses.

"According to the new regulation, people who lose their valid driving licenses will be reissued immediately without having to wait for verification. The regulation aims to ease the situation for cases where their driving licenses have actually been lost. The 2-month waiting period will affect the lives of many people, especially drivers in the transport business," said Mr. Thong.