Getting My UAE License

The "good"view from Living Room Balcony

The "good" view from Master Bedroom balcony!!

Yeah, sounds like I am not going to have much to say here...right?? Wrong!! This is an excruciatingly painful process for which there are no correct procedures listed. The web site tells you one thing, a teacher who has been here for a year tells you something else, someone else tells you something else, and then some know-it-all's "imaginary friend" is said to have followed a totally different path. Let's start it off by stating very clearly, "There are no addresses in the UAE". Websites tell you the general area but not streets and cross streets. Nada. You are shooting blind. I could not even locate any of the multiple offices I had to visit on my GPS or Mapquest. Welcome to my "new" world!!

This process started out by having to get my U.S. license translated into Arabic. I did this back in early August when I had the time. This involved getting into a taxi and asking the driver to take us to the Hamden Center. While sitting in traffic en route, I spotted a translation center with an empty office!! We were able to get 4 licenses, all from different states, translated in about 90 minutes at a cost of 65 dirhams each. This was relatively painless except for the fact that it was still Ramadan and we couldn't walk around carrying bottles of water in the 118 degree noon sun.

At that point it became a waiting game. Nothing further could be done without my Passport and Residence Visa. The problem is that once I have my Residence Visa has been processed, my NJ license is no longer valid for driving in the UAE. I was advised that mine was in on September 15 but could not deal with the other steps until September 21 so I ignored the emails and figured I would play dumb if I got pulled over.

I picked up my Passport and Residence Visa on September 20 and at that point had to visit a Typing Center to complete my application for an Emirates Identification Card. This involved 370 dirhams and a walking tour of my neighborhood. Remember I have no sense of direction, and though I could see the Typing Center from my 19th floor balcony.....yeah...I thought my apartment faced a totally different direction than it does. Michele and I got our exercise for the week. The good news is that all of that walking alleviated some of the "pain of unknown origin" in my left shin!! An hour later we had met up with Melissa and Bernadette and we all had our completed applications (in Arabic) and our receipts. According to the website, I have to wait to get a text message giving us the time and date of my appointment. This is NOT true!!

The next morning, Michele had managed to get off for the day but both Melissa and I had to switch around classes with other teachers. I left East Camel Funk at 12:15 and she left The Mangroves at 1:15. Michele already had her UAE license in hand by this point BUT had taken a taxi and had no more information on intersections than we had the night before. Since the ID office is only open Sunday-Thursday from 7:30-2:30 I did not have the time to get lost, as usual, I hailed a taxi and trusted him to get me there. Of course there are several offices in the city but none of the taxi drivers knows the location of any but the one furthest from the city (24 dirhams). Once I was there, it was a piece of cake. I groaned at first when I saw the LONG line....but I am a woman in a Middle Eastern country. I got to create my own line and I was the only person in my line. After getting fingerprinted and photographed, I was on my merry way. The ID will be sent to my non-existent at this point Post Office Box. I am told that the main post office will have boxes of thousands of ID envelopes for those without PO Boxes...InshAllah.

I hop into another taxi (26 dirhams) and go to the Traffic and Licensing Department. After trudging up stairs I swear are modeled after the Philadelphia Art Museum steps, I get my number and have a seat. After not too long a wait, I get processed, pay my 200 dirhams and have yet another BAD picture taken. I hop into yet another taxi and pay another 6 dirhams to get home to my apartment. Yes, I am officially a UAE driver!!

My UAE license!! And yes, that is a GRANITE counter!! Yeah me!!