The validity of driver's licenses in the Russian Federation has been extended again

The next approved changes will affect those certificates that expire in 2024 and 2025.

In Russia, the validity of a driver's license is limited to ten years: after the specified period, the license must be renewed. Motorists are not required to confirm either theoretical knowledge or practical skills. To renew your license, you need to pay a state fee and obtain a recent medical certificate confirming that the driver has no medical contraindications to driving, and then contact the traffic police department or the MFC.

Last year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation extended the validity of those driver’s licenses that were expiring in 2022 and 2023 — drivers were given a deferment for three years. Now the department has prepared another extension of the validity period of rights, this time for those documents that expire in 2024 and 2025. The time period is the same — an additional three years.

The corresponding government decree was published on the official portal of legal information and has already entered into force, said Irina Volk, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. It is known that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Economic Development, acted as initiators. According to the department's explanation, this decision will help “reduce the administrative burden for citizens and businesses.”

Irina Volk added that the innovation will affect both those drivers who drive vehicles for personal purposes, and those who need it for work and business activities. The extension of the license period for another three years will happen automatically, drivers will not have to do anything for this.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation noted that the issuance of driver’s licenses, due to their expiration, accounts for the majority of issued licenses. According to the department's calculations, the measure taken will allow more than 5 million drivers to continue to drive vehicles unhindered over the next three years.

Recall that now drivers in the Russian Federation can present their license to traffic police officers for inspection in the form of a QR code, which is generated by the Gosuslugi.Avto mobile application. True, at the same time they are required to carry with them a regular identification card and also present it at the request of the inspector. By the way, recently it became known about an initiative proposing to abolish the penalty for leaving a license and registration certificate at home.

However, this proposal will most likely not find approval in the near future. Earlier, Kolesa.ru reported that electronic driver’s licenses in the Russian Federation may be considered unsafe: for example, the Federation Council believes that this digital document will create risks for storing personal data of citizens. Also during the discussion, the issue of motorists using fake QR codes was raised.