It is not mandatory to change driving licenses to hard cards in 2020 in Vietnam

1. It is not “forced” to change driving license into driving license made of PET material in 2020

Specifically, according to Article 37 of the Circular No. 12/2017/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam on regulations on driver training, driving tests and issuance of driving licenses for road motor vehicles, driving license made of hard copy is encouraged to be changed into driving license made of PET material (hard card) before December 31, 2020.

Thus, people are "encouraged" to change their driving license to a hard card but not "forced" to change to a hard card. Therefore, a driving license made of hard copy is still valid for the duration of each type without necessarily changing to a hard card.

However, the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam encourages changing to a hard card because this is a card with high durability, long-term use, no blurring of information and creating favorable conditions for competent authorities in management and control.

2. Procedures for change of driving license into driving license made of PET material (hard card)

Step 1: Prepare application

According to Article 38 of the Circular No. 12/2017/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam, applicant shall send 01 set of application, including:

- Written request for renewal of driving license according to form prescribed in Appendix 19 enclosed herewith;

- The copy of driving licenses, people’s identity card, citizen’s identity card or unexpired passport for Vietnamese citizens or unexpired passport for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese.

Bước 2: Submit application

The applicant shall send the application in person to the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam or Department of Transport.

Note: The applicant shall be photographed when submitting the application for renewal and must present the original copy of aforesaid documents (except for sent original documents) for comparison.

Concurrently, the driver pays the fee for changing the driving license to a PET plastic card of VND 135,000 (according to Circular No. 188/2016/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam on collection, payment, management and use of fees and charges for driving tests; issue of driving licenses and certificates of operation of means of transport, registration and issue of specialized motorcycle license plate number).

Step 3: Receive result

No more than 05 working days since the receipt of applications as prescribed, the competent authority will process the application and issue a new PET driving license to the driver.

Note: According to Clause 8 Article 37 of the Circular No. 12/2017/TT-BGTVT amended by the Circular No. 38/2019/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam, upon renewal of driving license, the licensing agency shall cut corner of the old license and return it to the driver for preservation (except for foreign driving license).

Le Vy

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