The Process for Obtaining a Drivers Licence

Learner’s Permit

This is the first step to be undertaken by anyone wanting to obtain a driver licence. You cannot begin to learn how to drive unless you have been issued a learner’s permit by the LTA. In order to get a Learner’s Permit you must do the following:

1. Buy a Road Code Book from any LTA office and study it. It costs $10.00.
2. When you feel you know the road code you can now apply for a learner’s permit test, pay $10 and produce an original birth certificate or certified copy, or passport and two passport size photographs.
3. If you pass, that is you have answered 26 of the thirty questions correctly, you will then have to take the test score sheet with your application form, and pay $7 for the issue of your Learner’s Permit.
4. You will then be issued a Learner’s Permit. You must be 16 and a-half years old to be eligible to apply for a learner’s permit. You can only apply for a road test when you are 17 years old.
5. Your learner’s permit is valid for one year and enables you to be road tested twice. If you have not been road tested in that one year you can apply in writing to the Authority for an extension of your learner’s permit. You will have to pay $7 for the reissue of a new permit.

Provisional Driver Licence

The Provisional Driver Licence is given to anyone, with a Learner’s Permit who has passed the official road test. In order for anyone to be road tested you need to do the following:

1. Make a booking for a day for your road test and pay $11.00. Remember that if you do not make it on time you may lose the $11,
2. You will be orally tested on the road code again before taking to the road,
3. You will have to provide a motor vehicle for your own test. Please ensure that the vehicle is registered and fully able to run on the road. You will also have to provide your own “L” plate,
4. When you pass the road test you will be expected to pay $40 for the issue of your Provision licence. The $40 is broken into the following components:
   • a. $5 Driving Licence application,
   • b. $29 for the 2 year Provisional Licence, and
   • e. $6 for the “P” label, which will be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle to be driven by the applicant.
5. Your Provisional Licence is for 2 years and the Authority will follow that to the letter. The LTA will not entertain any application for reduction of that two years.
6. If you want to be road tested in a motor vehicle with automatic transmission then your licence will be valid only for those type of vehicles. If you are tested on a vehicle with manual transmission then your licence allows you to drive both types of motor vehicle.

PSV Licence

An applicant for a PSV driver licence must first of all apply for Police Vetting through the LTA. The applicant will also have to undergo a Defensive Driving Course, which is a one day classroom activity being run by the National Road Safety Council. The Authority will reply in writing to you. If approval is given, from your Police vetting, you are expected to make arrangements for your road test to be carried out 12 months from the date of approval. You must notify the Authority if you are still unable to do your road test in that time.

Driving Licence versus Vehicle Compatibility

1. Class 2 - Private and Rental Vehicles,
2. Class 3 - Taxi and Hire vehicles,
3. Class 4 - Minibus and Carriers,
4. Class 5 - Omnibus,
5. Class 6 - Heavy Goods Vehicles
6. Class 7 - Articulated Vehicles
7. Class 8 - Farm Machinery and Motorized
   Wheel Chairs
8. Class 9 - Specialized Motorised
   Equipments – Cranes, Forklift, Graders, Diggers etc.

Changing the Venue for your Road Test

It is possible to be tested at another LTA office, different from the one from which you had booked your driving test. You will just have to fill in the Change of Venue form at Valelevu, pay $9 and your test venue will be changed. This is for those who have received approval to undergo PSV driving tests. Those testing for Provision licence will have to convince the Authority that the change in venue is necessary.

Renewals

Licence renewals must be done on or within one month, before the date of expiry of the licence. Non PSV licences (Groups 2, 6-9) can still be renewed if it has not been renewed for up to three years. The applicant will still have to pay the three-year arrears and `1, 3 or 6 years ahead. If the licence has not been renewed for over three years the applicant has to write to the Authority and explain why the licence was not renewed and an undertaking to pay all arrears before the renewal is made. The Authority may request that they take a road test before re-issue of the new licence.
PSV licence cannot be automatically renewed if the licence has not been renewed for over one year. If such is the case they will also need to write to the Authority and explain why the licence was not renewed.

Requirements for renewals for:

• Class 6, 7, 9 – valid medical certificate (5 years),
• Class 3, 4, 5 – above plus DDC

Lost Driver Licence

A driver licence is an official document and must therefore be treated as such. If a driver licence is lost the owner must report the loss to the nearest Police Station and get a Police report, to the effect that his licence was lost and the circumstances surrounding it. The owner must also get a Statutory Declaration to state that was a holder of a driver licence, which has been lost. These must be tendered to the Authority for the re-issue of a new driver licence. The Authority will only issue a licence if its database has information about the applicant confirming the fact that they are a driver licence holder. Lost, expired, licence will need a Statutory Declaration for renewal.

70-year old Drivers

Drivers 70 years or older will need to be road tested every year when they come in for licence renewals. The applicant may request for exemption from road test by writing to the Authority who will then make a decision based on information supplied by the applicant.

Age and License that can be held

1. 16 years 6 months - Learner’s Permit
2. 17 years - Provisional Licence
3. 19 years - Full License Class 2
4. 21 years - PSV Class 3, 4, 5
5. 21 years - 6, 7, 9.

Once a Provisional Permit has been issued it will take a full two years before any change can be made to that classification. After two years the applicant is automatically given a Class 2 or full licence. A year after obtaining that the applicant can then apply for a PSV license in either Class 3 or 4.