MUSCAT -- From now on, expatriates who have a valid driving licence back home can get Omani driving licence irrespective of the nature of their jobs or level of their academic qualifications. The recent announcement by the Directorate-General of Traffic Services to simplify expatriate driving licence procedures is a reason to heave a sigh of relief as neither drum test nor slope test is applicable to those who have a valid driving licence from their country. "This is applicable to those who have light motor vehicle driving licence from their native countries", Ali Khamis al Jahdami, Supervisor, Licence Issuance Section at the Qurum Traffic office, told the Observer.
"What all they have to do is to get their licence attested from their embassies and to get it counter-attested from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qurum", he clarified. The applicants can then approach the licence section with the attested licence, two passport-size photos and get a file opened in their name after paying the stipulated fee. Later, they can proceed with the vision test and signal test which usually take less than a day and finally to the driving test (road test).
Until recently, the conventional procedures for an expatriate employee to apply for an Omani driving licence were to submit a consent letter from the sponsor and to undergo all the procedures including drum and slope tests. But recently, the department has eliminated the requirement of a letter from the sponsor as it was found the applicants were swindled for want of letter by their sponsors. Instead, just a copy of his/her valid resident card along with a couple of passport size photographs would suffice the need.
"What the person has to do is to submit these documents (copy of valid resident card and two passport-size photos) and pay the normal fee prescribed for opening a file with the licence issuing authority", Ali Khamis said. "If we are convinced of the validity of these documents and his/her eligibility to drive in this country, we'll be in a position to open a file on the applicant's name and proceed with other formalities", he explained. Those who are on a visit to the Sultanate can also drive if he holds a valid licence from home country, provided they keep their passports in the vehicle in case it is warranted by a traffic officer on the road.
By Kabeer Yousuf
© Oman Daily Observer 2010
