Lost your driving licence? The clock is running. The executive regulations of the traffic law oblige the holder to apply to the General Traffic Department for a replacement within ten days — not whenever it suits them.
The text as the department gives it
The General Traffic Department’s page, resting on article 104 of the executive regulations of the traffic law, says that anyone whose licence is lost or damaged must apply within ten days for a replacement, and that a licence is issued in place of the lost or damaged one after verification and payment of the prescribed fees.
The page adds two conditions many people overlook: the damaged licence is surrendered to the traffic department, and so is the lost one if it is later found. So the old licence does not stay in a drawer at home once the replacement has been issued.
The documents
- Passport or civil ID, plus copies.
- Payment of the fees.
- A copy of the replacement report from the police station.
- Attestation of the sponsor’s signature on the application, for foreigners.
In the case of loss specifically, a report letter from the police station is required. Which means the first step is not traffic but the station: the report first, then the transaction.
Why the number ten matters
Because the window is stated in the regulations, not in an officer’s advice. Anyone who exceeds it falls outside what the article provides, and is driving without a licence at the same time. It is easier to open the report on the first day rather than the tenth, particularly as the station report itself takes time.
Before you report it lost
Look properly. The report opens a path with no way back: if the licence turns up after the replacement is issued, you are obliged to surrender it. Ten minutes of searching is easier than two transactions.
Source: the General Traffic Department, Ministry of Interior, page on issuing a replacement for a damaged or lost driving licence.
Photo: Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah Road in Kuwait. By Ahmad Salem, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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