Is my foreign driving licence valid?
All countries
It's possible to rent a car on Getaround with a foreign licence, but you will have to meet the Getaround conditions and new conditions may be added depending on the country that issued your licence.
If you have a foreign licence, you will have to bring certain documents with you to the check in.
For cars registered in France
There are two cases:
1) You have a driving license from the EU or the Schengen space (EU + Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland): you can use your original licence without any additional document.
2) You have a driving license emitted outside the EU or Schengen space. There are 3 cases:
a) You have been in France for less than 90 days
You will need to bring with you:
- Your valid and original driving licence
- Your passport (with the page on which there is your date of entry on the territory). For certain countries (like Canada), you can travel to France without a stamp on the passport. In this case, you will need to bring a proof of residency to date your arrival.
b) You have been in France for more than 90 days but less than 1 year
You will need to bring with you:
- Your valid and original driving licence
- A visa allowing you to stay on French territory
c) You have been in France for more than 1 year
You will need to bring a French driving licence with you: your foreign licence is no longer valid, unless you have a student visa. In this case, your foreign licence is valid until the end of your studies and you should bring it to the rental along with your visa.
The French government website is the reference regarding the current legislation : in case of doubt, please visit the government website.
For cars registered in Spain:
There are two distinct cases:
1) The license has been issued by a EU or a Schengen space country (EU countries + Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland): your license is usable without any additional document.
2) The license has been issued out of the European Economic Area (Morocco, Mexico, Brazil...)**. Here there are 2 cases:
a) You have been in Spain for less than 6 months
You will need to bring with you:
- The valid and original driving licence
- The passport page on which there is your date of entry on the territory or your flight ticket to prove your date of entry.
b) You have been in Spain for more than 6 months
You will need to bring a valid Spanish driving licence: your foreign licence is no longer valid.
The Spanish government website is the reference regarding the current legislation, please visit the government website in case of doubt.
For cars registered in the UK:
If you have a full driving licence issued in the European Economic Area
You can hire a car on Getaround to drive in all the countries permitted by Getaround.
There is mutual recognition of driving licences issued by European countries.
You have the same right if you received a UK licence in exchange for a non-European licence.
Your driving licence must be valid. However, you may not hire a vehicle on Getaround using any temporary or provisional documents, including:
a provisional driving licence
a driving test certificate
a lost/stolen licence report.
Find out more: the UK government website is the main point of reference for current legislation. If you have any concerns, please refer to the government website.
If you have a driving licence issued outside the European Economic Area
Unfortunately, you're not allowed to use Getaround to hire a car registered in the UK.
- For cars registered in Belgium :
In French: Please refer to this page
In Flemish: Please refer to this page
- For cars registered in Germany :
Please refer to this page.
- For cars registered in Austria :
Please refer to this page.
All countries
All the secondary drivers must meet the same conditions and bring the same documents to the rental. The owner will need to check these documents and take pictures of them at check in.
NB: If your foreign licence is written in a different alphabet (Chinese for instance), you will need to bring the original licence AND an international licence or an official translation of the original licence.
NB2: If your foreign licence doesn't show the issue date, you will also need to bring a proof of history that shows the real date of issue for the driving licence.
