INTERNATIONAL DRIVING LICENSE & AGE LIMIT FOR CAR HIRE IN DOHA

It is essential first of all to know the requirements to be met to drive safely and legally in a country that is not yours.

What is an international driving license?

An International Driver's License (IDP) is an additional travel document required in some countries as a supplement to your national driver's license. Carrying an IDP when driving in any foreign country is highly recommended. They may not ask for it, but if they ask for it and you don't have it, they may not give you a previously rented car, complicate your life if the police stop you at some traffic control or even worse, make things very difficult if, unfortunately, if you are involved in a traffic accident or are fined for a violation. Basically it is a translation of your license, which confirms your rights to drive cars of the same category in the country in question.

How do I get an international driver's license?

Obtaining the international driving license is usually a very simple procedure. Each country has an entity that grants it and does not require a driving test. 

Validity of the international driving license

• It is very important to know that it alone has no value. It must always be accompanied by your national driving license.
• The validity is only for tourist purposes, never to carry out any work that requires driving vehicles. In that case it will be worthless and, of course, a permit must be obtained in accordance with local laws and we already enter into a completely different issue that we will not discuss in this post.
• Its validity is one year from the date of issuance or until the expiration of the National Driver's License. For this last case, we should study the dates of our trip to renew the national driving license, if necessary, and thus take advantage of the entire year of validity of the international permit.
• The same document is valid in all countries. This is due to the fact that this permit is part of a treaty signed by the UN and the OAS where the creation of a single document for driving abroad was established.

AGE REQUIRED TO BE ABLE TO RENT A CAR

• Each country establishes the minimum age to rent cars and, therefore, drive them. It may or may not be adjusted to the minimum age for the driving license of our country. In some countries the minimum age to rent is 18 and in others, 21.
• Something that must be taken into account beyond the minimum age is that those who are up to 25 years of age must pay extra insurance, because the car hire Doha companies qualify as a "young driver" .
• According to that qualification, there may be restrictions on the product. Many times large or sport vehicles are out of the offer for these cases.
• In addition, it may happen that for the category of young drivers they also require all risk insurance and do not allow the possibility of renting with basic insurance. Each company acts in a particular way and will have to find out as appropriate.
• They may also require that the client have obtained their first national driver's license more than a year ago. In some countries they can request up to 2 years old.
• The maximum age to rent a car is 70 years. However, in some companies rent is allowed to people over 70 paying extra insurance.