Kazakhstanis holding foreign driver's licenses are forced to retake exams at special service centers, and some are being sent to driving school. The police have clarified the situation, reports infohub.kz.
According to KTK TV channel, Kazakh citizens with foreign driver's licenses cannot exchange them for domestic licenses. Under current rules, they must pass an exam at a special service center. However, drivers say they are being sent to driving school instead.
The case of Alexander Gusev, who obtained his license while studying in St. Petersburg, is telling. He recently began facing problems: first he was denied insurance, and then he was refused a license exchange. "I submitted an application on eOtinish, and received a response that I needed to go through driving school again. Although my license, I repeat, is valid, not expired, and was issued in 2021," Gusev said.
According to the report's authors, Alexander is not the only one facing this problem: driving schools are reportedly receiving regular inquiries from motorists who were unable to exchange their licenses at special service centers. Moreover, they cannot take accelerated training.
"The student will study at a driving school: attend theory classes, pass an internal exam, and take practical lessons. And will receive a driver's certificate 073, which checks for registration in our dispensaries and color blindness," commented Yerasyl Amangeldiyev, deputy head of one of the driving schools.
Motorists do not want to spend time and money. Instead, they write appeals and complaints, but this process also takes months.
Almaty police agree with the drivers' arguments. They explain that the procedure for exchanging foreign licenses is clearly regulated, and neither driving school training nor a practical exam is required.
"If a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan has a Russian Federation driver's license, retraining at a driving school for its exchange is not required. To exchange, it is necessary to submit the documents provided by the rules and pass a theory exam," said Saltanat Azirbek, official representative of the Almaty Police Department.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs explained that such difficulties arise due to increasing cases of fraud. According to them, Kazakh citizens forge driver's licenses abroad, so applications must be reviewed in several stages.
"Currently, issues specifically with the exchange of foreign driver's licenses are being considered. At the moment, this issue is being finalized," added Nursultan Akmurzaev, head of the processing center of the Almaty city administrative police department.