The procedure for obtaining a duplicate driver’s license
A driver’s license is a document that allows a person to operate a vehicle of the corresponding category. According to Russian law, the absence of a license is considered a serious offense, which entails liability under Article 12. 3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is strongly recommended not to leave it at home, and if lost, you should immediately get a duplicate driver’s license to avoid hefty fines.
Contents of the article:
When a license must be replaced
Every driver’s license, regardless of the date of issue, has a specific validity period. After this period, the citizen is required to register with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate (STSI) to replace the document with a new one. However, there are situations when a duplicate license is issued before the state’s expiration date. Reasons for this may include:
- Changes in the driver’s health (both for the better and for the worse). If a citizen has problems with reaction time, point of view, or mental health, the license must indicate suitability for driving. If a person initially had these problems but has overcome them over time, their special category of license is revoked;
- Mechanical or physical damage to the document, making it impossible to identify the person from a photo, license, or personal information;
- Loss of a driver’s license. Theft from a driver’s license also falls into this category. However, to obtain a duplicate of a stolen driver’s license, the victim must submit a corresponding application to the nearest traffic police department.
In other cases, a copy of the document can only be obtained for a fee on the spot, which may be severely punishable by law.
Procedure for obtaining a duplicate
If you need a copy of your driver’s license due to loss or damage of the old one, there is only one procedure for obtaining a duplicate. The main thing is to be patient and complete all the steps in order.
Where to apply
If a citizen discovers that their license has disappeared or decides to replace it due to natural wear and tear, they can contact several government agencies at once:
- Local (or closest to the territorial location) office of the Interregional Regulatory Authority (State Traffic Safety Inspectorate);
- Multifunctional Center of the Russian Federation (MFC);
- Official website of government services.
The first option implies a significant advantage in the duration of the procedure, for example, in the fact that all necessary forms and papers are filled out by a local resident according to a generally accepted standard under the supervision of police officers.
As a result, the likelihood of errors is reduced to literally zero. In addition, if all the submitted papers match the real driver’s license, the applicant will receive a certified duplicate the very next day. But due to the huge queues, the whole procedure can drag on for a week, which, in fact, is the downside of your own visit to the MREO.
At the MFC, a snapshot of your license is issued virtually according to the same procedure as when visiting the traffic police department, with the only difference being that the queues at the function center are often longer. Among the positive differences in the provided structure, one can note the notification of the applicant about the unavailability of the territorial reference of the departments, due to which residents with temporary registration have every opportunity to submit a form for the issuance of a duplicate of the VU.
The last option with early registration of a driver’s license through the government services website is more suitable for those who value their own methods. For example, since the entire procedure is carried out online, no one will be able to charge you for the assistance offered. However, in this case, you will have to wait much longer for the identification of this package of documents (from 7 to 15 business days). As a result, people use the information from the manual extremely rarely.
List of documents
Regardless of the structure by which the gentleman decides to obtain a duplicate driver’s license, the collection of documents for such a procedure will contain a probable list of papers only once:
- Intra-civil personal passport of the Russian Federation (in some cases it is replaced by a birth certificate or temporary identity card);
- Application for replacement of old licenses due to wear, loss or theft;
- Two photographs in a 3×4 ratio (standard image size for VU is 21×30 mm);
- Receipt for payment of the only state fee (to save time, you can pay the fee in advance through the government services website and provide only a copy of the receipt to the traffic police).
In this regard, in order to get a duplicate, a person does not need to retake the oral exams and abstract driving, which is a big plus. Since such a standard is paid separately, it is literally impossible to pass it the first time.
Reasons for refusal
There may be a number of reasons for refusal to issue a duplicate of a licence. But the following are legal:
- Absence of one of the documents included in the integral list;
- A prerequisite for issuing an order to issue a duplicate is the removal of the crust;
- The identification document is damaged or invalid (full name, contact phone number or registration cannot be read);
- The submitted papers do not have the required signatures (of the notary, the applicant or the person authorized to issue the form);
- The rights are listed in the database as lost (such errors happen extremely rarely, but usually last a very long time).
An unpaid mortgage or an expired insurance policy is not considered a reason to deny a copy of the owner’s title. But such prerequisites have every chance of being voiced in order to receive a bribe. As a result, the aristocracy has its own rights; it is simply necessary to contact the traffic police.
Can a duplicate driver’s license be purchased
People who have been unable to obtain a duplicate driver’s license through legal means often wonder if it is possible to simply obtain such a document. The answer will be specific – perhaps. But this procedure is not cheap.
- An old-fashioned device costs around 15 thousand rubles. (for a sample with a stamp you will have to pay about 2-3 thousand extra);
- Biometric ID card – from 17 to 20 thousand rubles.
In addition, scammers will charge you an additional fee, for example, for so-called donor information (compared to the listed tariffs, the service provided is relatively inexpensive – 1. 5-2 thousand rubles). But in reality, no one will make any promises that you will not be interested in issuing false documents. Therefore, you can contact these authorities only under personal fear and fear.
Penalty for acquiring a counterfeit license
According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the acquisition of a fake duplicate driver’s license is fraud, for which the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for severe punishment (Article 327). Depending on the events, these could be:
- Forced labor for a period of 1. 5-2 years (the most common measure applied to the recipient of a counterfeit);
- Fine in the amount of 40-80 thousand rubles. (option for persons who deliberately use the purchased tertiary license for their own purposes);
- Probation period for 2-3 years (an alternative for violators who are unable to pay the fine);
- Imprisonment for up to 2 years (this penalty applies to those who produce counterfeit driver’s licenses and to notary witnesses involved in this fraud).
Therefore, duplicate driver’s licenses, like all other types, are usually created by municipal authorities.
After all, you can only protect yourself from serious consequences, which, as a rule, do not take long to come. Furthermore, losing such documents is not considered a crime, and there will be no difficulty in reissuing them.
