To exchange your driving licence for an Irish driving licence, you must complete an application form for a driving licence (form D401). You can obtain a copy of application form D.401 from your local Motor Taxation Office, library or Garda station. You can request this form online here and it will be posted to you.

You will also be required to complete an Exchange of Drivers Licence Declaration (form D900). A copy of form D900 is available from your local Motor Taxation Office.

Your completed application form should be returned to your local Motor Taxation Office and must include the following:

• Form D900: Exchange Of Driving Licence - Declaration of validity of recognised driving licence
• Two identical passport-type photographs, with the reverse of both signed by you.
• Your current or most recently issued driving licence (if you hold or held one in the previous 10 years) and your current or most recently issued learner driving permit (if you hold or held one in the previous five years). If you have lost your driving licence or it has expired, you will require a letter of entitlement from the licencing authority in the state that issued the licence.
• A medical report may be required. A medical report is compulsory if:
  • you are applying for Categories C, C1, D, D1, EC, EC1, ED or ED1 unless you previously provided a medical report which is still applicable
  • you will be 70 years of age or more on the first day of the period for which the licence is being issued
  • you have any of certain disabilities or diseases
  • you suffer from epilepsy or alcoholism
  • you regularly take drugs or medication that would be likely to impair your ability to drive safely.

Download a medical report form (D.501) (must be printed back to back on one page). This form is available from your Motor Taxation Office or you can also request form D.501 by post through CitizensInformation.ie. A registered medical practitioner should carry out your medical examination and then complete the form. You must sign the declaration on the medical report form in the presence of the registered medical practitioner.

• A Certificate of Competency (if you have recently passed a driving test).
• The appropriate fee. If you are applying for your licence by post, pay the fee by cheque, bank draft or postal order, made payable to your local authority. If you are applying for your driving licence in person, you may pay the fee in cash.

Where to apply the application

• An application for an exchange of driving licence should be made directly to your local Motor Taxation office.
• The Road Safety Authority provides information on driving licences.

Application forms

• Form D900: http://www.rsa.ie/PageFiles/795/Exchange_Driving_Licence_D900.pdf
• Form D501: http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Licensed%20Drivers/Medical_Report_D_501_Form.pdf

• Form D900: Exchange Of Driving Licence - Declaration of validity of recognised driving licence
• Two identical passport-type photographs, with the reverse of both signed by you.
• Your current or most recently issued driving licence (if you hold or held one in the previous 10 years) and your current or most recently issued learner driving permit (if you hold or held one in the previous five years). If you have lost your driving licence or it has expired, you will require a letter of entitlement from the licencing authority in the state that issued the licence.
• A medical report may be required. A medical report is compulsory if:
  • you are applying for Categories C, C1, D, D1, EC, EC1, ED or ED1 unless you previously provided a medical report which is still applicable
  • you will be 70 years of age or more on the first day of the period for which the licence is being issued
  • you have any of certain disabilities or diseases
  • you suffer from epilepsy or alcoholism
  • you regularly take drugs or medication that would be likely to impair your ability to drive safely.

Local Motor Taxation office http://findaddress.citizensinformation.ie/service_finder/

Road Safety Authority

Moy Business Park

Primrose Hill

Ballina

Mayo

Ireland

Tel: (096) 25000 Locall: 1890 506 080 Fax: (096) 25252 Homepage: http://www.rsa.ie Email: info@rsa.ie

Provide eligibility criteria's for going through this procedure.

Fees for exchanging a full driving permit issued by a recognised country for an Irish driving licence are:

• Driving licence for 1 year: 5
• Driving licence for 3 years: 15
• Driving licence for 10 years: 25

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Please attach documents which can be used by people who would like to follow this procedure.    

Please attach sample completed documents which would help other people who would like to follow this procedure.    

Please explain processing time taken in obtaining the document/certificate.

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
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Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://

Holders of licences issued by an EU/EEA member stateEdit

If you have a driving licence issued by an EU/EEA member state you can drive in Ireland as long as your existing licence is valid. If you wish to exchange your driving licence for an equivalent Irish driving licence, you must do so within 10 years of your driving licence expiring.

Holders of licences issued by recognised statesEdit

Ireland has agreements with certain other countries/states that designates them as recognised states for the purposes of driving licence exchange. These are:

• Australia
• Gibraltar
• Guernsey
• Isle of Man
• Japan
• Jersey
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Switzerland
• New Zealand^
• Taiwan^

^Under the Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences - New Zealand and Taiwan) Order 2010 (SI 402/2010) New Zealand and Taiwan were added to the list of recognised states but with certain qualifications.

If you are a holder of a licence issued by one of the above states you can drive in Ireland when visiting, providing your licence is valid. If you become normally resident in Ireland, you can drive for up to 12 months from the date of becoming resident, as long as your licence has not expired. You are considered to be normally resident in Ireland if, because of personal and occupational ties, you usually live here for at least 185 days in each calendar year.

If you wish to exchange your driving licence for an equivalent Irish driving licence, you must do so within one year of your driving licence expiring.

Holders of driving licences from other countriesEdit

If you are not from any of the above countries, (for example, if you are from Canada or the United States), and you hold a national driving licence or an international driving permit from your own country, you may drive in Ireland for the duration of your temporary visit (up to 12 months).

If your stay in Ireland will be more than 12 months you can apply for an Irish driving licence but you will need to go through the full driver licensing procedure. You must first complete a driver theory test, apply for a learner driving permit and complete your driving test in Ireland. If you pass your driving test, you will be issued with a full Irish driving licence.

Categories of vehiclesEdit

Motor vehicles in Ireland are divided into different categories for driver licensing purposes. This is a standard practice throughout the EU. Ireland has 14 categories in total, ranging from motorcycles to agricultural vehicles. You can find more information in document on categories of vehicles and minimum ages of drivers.

Driving offences committed in other jurisdictionsEdit

Penalty points and endorsements on driving licences acquired in other states (including EU/EEA member states) are not recognised in Ireland. This is because these penalties have been issued by courts in other jurisdictions. In practice, this means that if you acquired penalty points or an endorsement on a driving licence before coming to Ireland, these penalty points or endorsements do not transfer over to an Irish driving licence. If, however, you have been banned from driving in another jurisdiction (for example, for drink driving) it may not be possible for you to exchange your existing licence for an Irish driving licence.

If you are driving on a foreign driving licence in Ireland and acquire penalty points here, you will receive the normal statutory fine but the penalty points will not be added to your foreign driving licence. If you subsequently exchange your foreign driving licence for an Irish driving licence, your Irish penalty points will then be activated on your new Irish driving licence.

• First name
• Date of Birth
• PPS number if any
• Date of Expiry
• Residential Address

It is possible to exchange a driving licence issued by an EU member state or an EEA member state (Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) for a Irish driving licence. It is also possible to exchange a driving licence issued by certain recognised states for an Irish driving licence.

If you are the holder of a driving licences issued by a country that is not recognised for driving licence exchange, you cannot exchange your licence for an Irish licence. You will only get an Irish driving licence after you have gone through the full driver licensing procedure, starting with the driver theory test.

Enter other informations which might help.

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

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More information which might help people.