Driving in Macau

So here you are… Just off the boat or airplane, you’ve successfully cleared the immigration and now have only one thought on your mind: “I need some wheels!” Well, not so fast… You need a license first! That’s if you want to drive legally of course…

First thing you have to consider is how long you are actually staying in Macau. If you are planning on staying for 1 year or less, you can skip that post as you will be able to get a driving authorization very easily…

Just be on your way to the traffic police station and look for the right counter. They’ll issue a paper, valid for 6 months, that basically states “the holder is allowed to drive whatever is written on his foreign driving license” and you’re good to go… You can actually get that paper first, and drive that way for the first year you’ll be staying in Macau.

After a year, though, you’re supposed to get a local license if you want to keep on driving. Your first option is to start from scratch… Find a driving school, pass the written and driving tests and you’ll be the proud owner of a Macau driving license. One little detail, though, is written tests have to be conducted either in Chinese or Portuguese so if you neither read nor understand either one of these, you’re kinda stuck…

Your best option, that will save you some time and money, is to exchange your license for a local one. That way, you’ll have the written test cleared automatically and will be able to take any driving test you want to (that’s if you want to drive something more than you already can, and if not, you won’t have to take any driving test)

“What do you mean exchange my license to a local one? I do not want to lose the right of driving in my country!”
Don’t worry, the Macau authorities will not take your license away to issue a local one… I am now holding both licenses and can drive when I go back to my country. Although I’ve heard they actually confiscate your license if it was issued by the Portuguese government to send it back to Portugal… So if you’re Portuguese, you may want to find some kind of a trick before handing your license to them.

“OK I’m reassured now, how do I get one?”
Actually, the process is pretty straight forward. You have to go to Direcção dos Serviços para os Assuntos de Tráfego (DSAT) located at the following adress:
Avenida da Praia Grande, 762-804, Edifício China Plaza, 2nd floor.
Hotline: +853 8866 6363.
Website: http://www.dsat.gov.mo (only in Chinese and Portuguese)

You’ll have to fill in an application, and if you want to be ahead of the game, try to get those documents filed in before going there:

• Form nº 3A
• Form nº011/DLC
• Medical Certificate

You will also need to provide:

• a copy of a valid Macau ID (I think passports should work too, call their hotline for confirmation)
• 2 ID pictures, size 1.5 inches, in color and with white background (just ask for a driving license picture in a photo shop and they’ll know what you need)
• Last but not least: 1,000 Patacas

With all this you should be good to go… Of course, do not forget to bring you foreign license and all the originals (ID, passport, whatever…). It could take a while as they’ll try to contact your government to verify the validity of your license and such. I’ve got mine after 3 months but some of my colleagues only had to wait for 1 month, it all depends on your luck I guess.