Foreigners with a residence permit and Russian citizenship are required to replace their driver’s licenses by April 1, 2025
Foreign citizens who received a residence permit or Russian citizenship before April 1, 2024, must exchange their driver’s licenses for Russian ones by April 1, 2025. Otherwise, they face a fine for driving a car with a foreign license. It is noteworthy that the replacement will affect not only migrants.
These measures are part of large-scale changes for motorists, which began to be introduced in 2025. Since the beginning of the year, Russia has tightened penalties for dangerous driving, traffic violations, lack of compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance, and drunk driving.
Thousands of drivers are forced to replace their licenses
Previously, it was possible to drive a car even with an expired license. In 2022, the Russian authorities automatically extended the validity of driver’s licenses in order to support citizens and reduce the burden on the economy. After the decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, many Russians could legally drive a car with an expired license. At the end of 2023, the government extended this opportunity again: national licenses that were due to expire in the next two years were automatically extended for three years.
This benefit has now been cancelled.
From 2025, previously extended licenses will become invalid. Under the article “Driving a vehicle”, driving without a valid license will entail a fine of 5 to 15 thousand rubles and the towing of the car to a penalty parking lot.
Note to foreigners
From April 1, 2025, driving licenses of foreigners who received citizenship or a residence permit in Russia more than a year ago will be considered invalid. To obtain a Russian license, they will need to pass a theoretical exam. The exception is citizens of Belarus: their licenses remain valid.
In addition to avoiding fines, replacing a license also provides other benefits. For example, it automatically opens the subcategory «B1» , which allows you to drive ATVs, tricycles and snowmobiles without additional exams.
How to replace a license?
Required documents:
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A valid medical certificate in the form No. 003-B/u.
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If the license is lost or damaged, a certificate is not required if the validity period of the certificate has not expired.
Cost and terms:
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Medical examination takes from one working day, cost of the certificate — 2.5–6 thousand rubles.
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State duty for replacement — 2 thousand rubles.
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Term for issuing new rights — from several days to 10 working days (depending on the method of filing the application: State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, “Gosuslugi”).
Innovations in driving test
The changes are currently only being discussed.
According to media reports, a new format of theoretical exam for driver candidates is being developed in Russia. A source for AvtoVzglyad reports that a working group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is creating a unique methodology for testing knowledge that has no analogues. However, there are no official documents yet.
According to the working group led by Dmitry Mitroshin, Head of the Scientific Center for Road Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the new approach should assess actual knowledge of traffic rules, and not the ability to memorize answers. At the same time, according to the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, only 40% of candidates pass the theory test on the first try, which calls into question the effectiveness of the current system.
“The exam will use questions with changing images — a “picture carousel”. This will eliminate the possibility of memorizing answers, but may turn the exam into a “guessing game,” experts note.
It was also revealed that 157 questions in the tickets contain errors. So far, the initiative has not been formalized, which creates risks of corruption and ambiguous changes.
Restrictions for driver candidates
From April 1, 2024 persons convicted of drunk driving or refusing a medical examination will be allowed to take exams only one year after the end of the administrative penalty.
New fines for motorists
From January 1, 2025 fines for traffic violations have been increased in Russia.
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Speeding:
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At 20–40 km/h — up to 750 rubles.
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More than 80 km/h — 7.5 thousand rubles.
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Drunk driving — up to 45 thousand rubles. (the same — for refusal to examination).
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Dangerous driving:
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Driving into oncoming traffic — up to 7.5 thousand rubles.
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Driving through a red light — up to 1.5 thousand rubles.
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Illegal parking — up to 2,250 rub.
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Violations resulting in minor bodily harm — 3,750–7,500 rubles.
Discounts on fines have been reduced
From 2025, the discount for paying a fine in the first 30 days has been reduced from 50% to 25%.
Changes to OSAGO
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Since 1 January 2025 the MTPL policy is mandatory in LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. The fine for absence is 800 rubles.
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Settlement of losses under MTPL is now completely online (via “Gosuslugi”, the insurance company’s website or the financial platform). The decision is made within 20 days.
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From January 27, 2025 the Bank of Russia updated the MTPL rates for motorcycles, trucks and public transport.
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From March 1, 2025 a policy is not required to register a car.
