How to renew a UAE driving licence

Check this first

Fees and procedures change without notice. Before you act on anything below, confirm it at the RTA, which is the authority that actually handles this.

The short version

• Where: Your emirate's transport authority or traffic department.
• Cost: About AED 300 to renew, AED 140 to 180 for the eye test, and about AED 20 for delivery.
• Takes: Same day online.
• If you are late: AED 10 a month after the grace period, capped at AED 500, and driving on an expired licence is fined separately.
• Valid for: 5 years for residents, 10 for citizens and GCC nationals.

The steps

1. Take an eye test at an approved optician. They upload the result directly, so you do not carry paperwork.
2. Clear any outstanding traffic fines.
3. Renew online through your emirate's portal, or at a service centre.
4. Choose delivery or collection.

The part people get wrong

Not noticing at all. A driving licence is valid for five years, which is long enough that almost nobody remembers when it expires, and it is not a document you look at often. People find out at a traffic stop or when a rental company refuses them.

Five years is also long enough that the phone you set a reminder on no longer exists.

Track it so you never read this page twice

Expyr photographs the document, reads the expiry date, and reminds you weeks ahead rather than the day before. It carries these same steps, the typical cost and the late fine, and opens the right portal for you. It is free for five items.