My son was stopped at a police check last Christmas and he said that they glanced at his Michigan license and that's it. Yeh if on a long driving trip why not get one but for folks to spout such rubbish as not having one may invalid one's insurance is yes rubbish - based on nothing apparently - mysterious why someone would just say that without one iota of proof!

I didn't show an EU format -- I showed the WORLD format for modern licences.

Attachment 440 Attachment 441 Attachment 442

Some places seem to have a problem getting in step with the modern world and are therefore punishing themselves.

In any case, there is no distinction between automatic or manual transmission on any driver's licence. The distinction is the authority to drive things like motorcycles, trucks or buses.

I don't doubt what you're saying, but you must have additional information about how many people were fined in your rural community for not having a valid IDP. We need the really specific information that you seem to possess. Names and places and dates. We are not fans of fake news..

If course, it can also be mentioned that the "gendarmes" exist specifically for rural communities. The "police" are for the cities.

Palenq, if people who try to rent cars in France are turned away because they don't have an IDP, as several people reported from personal experience on that TripAdvisor link I posted, it doesn't matter whether they wanted to rent a car for one day or for two weeks.

I'm sure the trend is in the direction of a world format license, which I think was first designed by the EU, then surely an IDP is a thing of the past. But for now, considering the potential cost of not having one, and the minimal cost of acquiring one, I certainly wouldn't advise anyone not to get it.

About the expiration: When I moved to Italy, my husband inquired of his friend, a marshall of the carabinieri, about my being able to drive in Italy. He told me I needed an IDP, so I got one before leaving the US. Getting an Italian driver's license was not a speedy procedure, so my IDP expired a month before my scheduled driving test. I asked the carabinieri friend if I couldn't continue to drive with the expired IDP and my still-valid New Jersey driver's license, since the translation was still valid, and he said I couldn't legally do so. At that point, I couldn't get a new IDP because they're only issued out of country, and getting the official translation would have taken far longer than a month. I had already once had to show my IDP at a random document check, and, since I was applying for Italian citizenship, I didn't want any blemishes on my record. So I just didn't drive for a month. This is another silly requirement; obviously the IDP should expire when the license it's based on expires. But I always evaluate the cost/benefit ratios. Someone who's rented a villa in the boondocks and arrives at CDG planning to rent a car to get there and finds that no rental agency will give him a car (viz. reponse number 3 to the topic on TA) because he didn't get an IDP will be in a pickle.

I still haven't found anything in the France "rules" saying that an IDP is required. Just a translation. IMO, that kinda makes the 1 year expiration of the IDP irrelevant.

Also, bvlenci provided a Tripadvisor link that contained a comment from someone saying that they tried to rent a car in Montpellier in 2013, but they couldn't because they did not have an IDP. We rented a car in Montpellier through AutoEurope in 2015, and had no problems. A possible explanation might be the AutoEurope channel. Since January in 2013, we've rented 6 cars in France with no problems & no IDP asked for. We were randomly stopped by the police in the Pays Basque in 2012 and they asked for our driver's license and proof of insurance. We showed them our California license and indicated that the car was a Europcar rental. No problem, no IDP asked for. Maybe no translation "rule" at that time, however.

Stu Dudley

>>Someone who's rented a villa in the boondocks and arrives at CDG planning to rent a car to get there and finds that no rental agency will give him a car (viz. reponse number 3 to the topic on TA) because he didn't get an IDP will be in a pickle.<<

I read the first 30 responses in the post & I only found 1 response (#3) that indicated the rental agency would not give them a car. And I have some "doubts" about that response, because I did the same thing and got my car at the same location with no IDP. Another respondent claimed that the rental agent in France asked for their IDP, and ASSUMED that he would not have received the car if he did not have an IDP.

Again - I have an expired IDP. But nobody so far has provided any link to a French site that says an unexpired IDP is required. If someone knows of such a link or if there is a link on this thread that I've missed - please let me know & I'll drive 3 miles to my local AAA, pay the $10 or so, get a picture taken, and be on my way to France. As I recall, getting the IDP at AAA was a PITA - but such is life sometimes.

Stu Dudley

Here are the "rules." There are dozens of other websites showing exactly the same thing:

https://www.permisapoints.fr/permis-...ermis-etranger

Interesting. Auto Europe says you don't need one for France. (But that you do for Spain and Italy.) Maybe their info is out of date.

>>Not driving legally in France sans IDP - what nonsense - your state's driver's license is valid to drive in France - IDP has nothing to do with insurance - where do folks come up with this nonsense passed off as fact.<<

Not nonsense. An IDP or official translation is a legal requirement for driving. If one is not driving legally, an insurance company has every right to deny coverage. Not that they would in every case, but they would be on firm footing to stick you with the bill for any damage. And insurance companies are not known for bending over backwards to be generous.

Any link about French law that does not end with the domain name "gouv.fr" or "service-public.fr" is absolutely not official.

For example, the link that St Cirq gave is a commercial site selling driving lessons for getting one's points back on a French licence. In fact if you click on their tag "qui sommes-nous?" ("who are we?") they don't even try to hide that they are a company: https://www.permisapoints.fr/notre-agence-de-paris

St Cirq's link says:
"A foreigner from outside the EU can drive in France with his driver's permit if it (the permit) is accompanied by an international driver's permit or a translation."

It does not say that the IDP must be current (not expired). There is no expiration date mentioned for the translation document. It seems to me that my expired IDP will satisfy both of these document requirements - one of which must accompany my California drivers license.

Stu Dudley

Of course it has to be current. Who would think otherwise?

Anyway, have at it:

​​​​​​​https://www.service-public.fr/partic...osdroits/F1459

Sans doubt - get either one. End of discussion?

I wish they’d translate the part about them needing a translation.

OK - StCirq's latest link is better. The word "official translation" is defined (and costly & time consuming/cumbersome, I assume). Seem like an expired IDP is not "official" either. And since the expired IDP is expired - it's no good either.

Off to AAA.

Stu Dudley

some members of this forum may have a short memory . An old thread.
French embassy in Aus. One is required
French embassy in USA. A notarized translation in French
So how much would an American pay to obtain a notarized copy of their DL?

Okay, you want an official translation? Just translate your information to the codes on the international format.

1. Last name
2. First name
3. birth date
4a. date of issue
4b. expiration date
4c. issuing authority
4d. national identification number
5. licence number
6. photograph
7. signature
8. address
9. licence categories

etc.... Does anybody feel incapable of "translating" their licence for authorities?

Jeez. I will only charge you $20 for a 2 minute Google search. You won't have to go to the AAA.

'official translation' means what if not in France? Ipresume there are 'official translators' in U.S. who would sign the document and stamp it with their notarized stamp and any cop in France would accept it? Plenty of 'certified translators' Googling but most charge about $25 page but if good forever with any driving license may be a good deal.

I already answered that, ribeirasacra. And old threads are just that - the driving scene in France has changed a lot in the past 2 years. In France you'd need an official translator (there is a government-approved list of them to choose from). You would normally pay 60€ per page (no matter how many words, so that would be 60€ for your official translation, apostillé, of your driver's license). You would have to locate an official translator willing to perform this silly service for you (amid many other more important things that he/she is doing), send him copies of your license (American license, passport pictures, and IDP if you have one, even if expired) by registered mail (lettre recommendée avec recusé de réception), get the receipt for it, and show it to anyone who stops you. It could easily take a month or more and would be the stupid way to approach this, when you can pop into your local AA and get an IDP, which is valid for one year only (and the French police know this). But if that's a pain for you, take your chances.

If you don't care about any of this it's none of my business and I'm not concerned for you, either. I do have to care about them because I live here now, and it's pretty obvious that the French police (and gendarmes, and yes, I'm fully aware of the difference) seem to be getting way more strict about these rules in the past year. As of July 1, for example, the speed limit on French N roads will be limited to 80 kph, down from 90kph. And they are installing speed cameras at unprecedented rates - 30,000 of them expected to be installed in the next year or two. I wonder how many American drivers are going to find themselves fined or worse as a result of these recent crackdowns (all of which have been amply documented in Le Sudouest, Le Local, and other regional papers, BTW.)

You can be as cavalier as you want about it - be my guest. People like Pal wo haven't driven in France in recent years and just have some vague idea of what's going on are perhaps not the most reliable sources. You can also probably easily get away with driving without an IDP in France for a few days. But is the tiny inconvenience to protect yourself such a bother?

French law also says you can't hunt or fish without a license. Would you take to the hills and snag a wild boar or go to the Vézère and bring back a pail full of sturgeon to your gîte?