To:
From: Frank V. Rotondo, GACP Executive Director
Re: Foreign Driver’s License
Date: October 15, 2009

Recently, I was contacted by Charles “Chuck” Olson with the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia (PAC) regarding complaints that he has received from several of the foreign consulates in Atlanta that law enforcement officers have issued citations to their citizens for driving without a license because they didn’t have their passport with them when they were stopped for a traffic violation. Please read the following message from PAC regarding this issue. The information below should provide clarity to this issue and guidance for training to your officers.
Should you have questions or need additional information, you may contact Mr. Olson at 404.969.4001 or via email at colson@pacga.org

SPECIAL MESSAGE:

Visitors to Georgia from foreign countries are allowed to drive in Georgia for up to one year if they have a valid driver’s license issued by the driver’s licensing agency in their home country and they are lawfully admitted to the United States. Rocha v. State, 250 Ga. App. 209, 211-212 (2001), Schofield v. Hertz Corp., 201 Ga. App. 830, 832 (1991).

This Summer, there have been complaints from several of the foreign consulates in Atlanta that law enforcement officers have issued citations to their citizens for driving without a license because they didn’t have their passport with them when they were stopped for a traffic violation. According to the Office of the Legal Counsel of the United States Department of State, there is no Federal law or regulation that requires foreign visitors to the United States to have their passport on their person at all times. There also is no Georgia law that would require foreign drivers to keep their passport on their person at all times.

In 2008, the legislature, in an attempt to make it easier for police officers to recognize valid foreign driver’s licenses, amended O.C.G.A. § 40-5-21 to add a requirement that if the foreign driver’s license is a language other than English, the driver must also have in his or her possession an International Driver’s Permit (IDP) in addition to their home country license. This amendment became effective on January 1, 2009.

The IDP is a translation of the foreign license which generally must be obtained in the driver’s home country before departing for the United States. It is valid for one year from the date of issuance. Driver’s from English speaking countries, such as Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Great Britain, Guyana, Fiji, Ireland, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Nigeria or Uganda, do not have to carry an IDP.

However, if during that time, a foreign national becomes a legal resident of Georgia, they must obtain a Georgia driver’s license within 30 days of becoming a resident. O.C.G.A. § 40-5-20. However, they no longer have to surrender their foreign driver’s license. O.C.G.A. § 40-5-20(c)(2).

Charles. C. Olson
General Counsel
Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia
Suite 400
104 Marietta St.
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-969-4001
Fax: 404-969-0020
email: colson@
URL: http://www.pacga.org/