UAE Travellers urged to get Genuine International Driving Licences

Travellers preparing to leave the UAE on overseas summer holidays have been warned not to be duped into buying forged driving documents.

The warning was delivered by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE, as a national awareness campaign to counter the sale of forged International Driving Permits was launched.

Legitimate International Driving Permits, issued exclusively in the Emirates by the ATCUAE, are now on sale at all 82 Emirates Post outlets across the country.

They are also available from the ATCUAE offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and from 20 ATCUAE sub agents. The newly-designed permits, with dark blue covers, are stamped at point of sale with a silver ATCUAE hologram, making them more difficult to forge.

Sulayem emphasised that no other driving centres or outlets in the Emirates are authorised to sell legitimate International Driving Permits. “We’ll take action against anybody who continues to issue forged driving permits,” he said. “For now, we’re urging people travelling overseas, who wouldn’t travel on a forged passport, or carry forged medical insurance, to be just as careful about their driving documents.”

“Anyone who has an International Driving Permit, and didn’t buy it from the ATCUAE, from one of our agents, or from an Emirates Post office, could run into trouble, and that’s the last thing you want when you’re on your summer holidays.”

He added, “After an accident, anyone showing the police a forged permit may find their insurance is invalid. A legitimate International Driving Permit is recognised in 170 countries.”

Sulayem’s face is being carried on posters displayed at Emirates Post offices and on roadside advertisements across the UAE as part of the awareness campaign.

International Driving Permits are printed in ten languages, including Arabic. They can help overcome language barriers between drivers and police, and are a useful form of identification if a passport goes missing.

At Emirates Post offices they are on sale for a special rate of AED140. Customers need only to produce a valid UAE driving licence, a copy of their passport and residence visa, and two passport size photographs, with their completed application form.

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