The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a  notification  on 7th Jan 2021  to facilitate the issuance of International Driving Permit (IDP) for Indian citizens whose IDP has expired while they are abroad. 

There was no mechanism for its renewal while citizens were abroad and their IDP had expired.  Now, with this amendment, it is proposed that Indian citizens can apply for renewal through the Indian Embassies / Missions abroad, from where  these applications would  move to the VAHAN portal in India, to be considered by the respective RTOs. IDP would be couriered to the citizen at his/her address abroad by the respective RTOs.

This notification also  removes the conditions of a Medical Certificate and a valid visa at the time of making the request for the IDP in India. The idea is that a  citizen who has a valid driving licence should not have a requirement for another medical certificate. Further, there are  countries where the Visa is issued on arrival or Visa is issued at the last moment: in  such cases,  VISA is not available when applying for the IDP in India before travel. Hence ,   IDP application can be made with out VISA now.

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BN/MS/JK