Driving

yes you can drive if u have Philippine's driving license,even if u don't own the car .as long as its not a carnapped or u know the owner.like if the owner is ur friend and they let u borrow/drive their car.and ofcourse u know  the traffic rules etc. here.enjoy safe driving!

Thank you so much

Hi
I am wondering the same thing because here in the USA (Fla), That person needs to be a close relative in the same household or on the policy,or it is an emergency and you cannot drive yourself to get some place. We have a small car there ,but they (the insurance carrier said, I had to be listed on the policy unless one of those conditions applied,so I have put our car on my US policy with State Farm as well as in the Philippines ? Maybe someone knows the exact law concerning this ??? Because it would be cheaper for me to be only on one policy not both, would help save us money lol.

eduardo001 wrote:

Hello guys.

Do you know is allowed to drive car or scooter if vehicle is owned by someone else?
I have Filipino driving license.

Kind Regards,
Edin

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You can drive another's vehicle as long as your license is for that type of vehicle. If would not be a bad idea to make sure you have the owners information with you, contact, registration, etc. in case you are stopped or get into an accident.
You may also want to see if the owner's insurance, if they have any, covers you while driving their vehicle. If not and you are in an accident, you many wind up paying for two vehicles and other expenses.

Jim

Jim raises a very valid point. I would go as far as saying that if the owner/vehicle is NOT covered by fully comprehensive insurance (any driver) - DON'T drive it. The basic insurance is NOT GOOD ENOUGH, and accidents are very common!!!

Assuming good insurance is in place, it is ALSO important to ensuring the following:

1. Copy of Certificate of Ownership is in the car.
2. Letter of permission from owner stating you are allowed to drive the car.

These will be of great assistance if you are stopped by officials. It is also worth mentioning for any other readers of this thread that if you are driving on an INTERNATIONAL DRIVING LICENSE, it is only valid if you are in the country on a TOURIST VISA. Anything else - you need to get a Philippine Driving License (not difficult).
Hope this is of assistance.
Andrew.

Oh, and if you drive for any prolonged period of time definitely invest in a forward-facing HD Vehicle camera (about $100 for a quality one) that can record everything that goes on in front of you. As a general rule of thumb, as a 'foreigner' you will be presumed guilty in any accident (and an easy target for extortion/bribes) so it will pay for itself in peace of mind alone!

I had a trike driver drive into the side of my SUV and the driver told the police I hit him. Even though the camera failed to pick-up the accident (side of my car) I played back the video and proved I was driving straight ahead and at 20 KPH, and did not deviate from my lane. The driver was thrown in the local jail until the family paid for my repairs - result!

TIP: DO NOT move your car in the event of an accident (if at all possible) and tell the 'other party' to stay where they are until the police arrive - if you're blocking traffic they will arrive REALLY QUICKLY (especially if you are a foreigner and they think there may be something in it for them! Keep calm, don't say much and don't be rude or aggressive. The police will appreciate your calmness and be much more prepared to listen to your side and look at the evidence. A video recording at the time will help - even if it does not show the accident directly, you can prove you were driving correctly and a lot of the time the 'other party' will have something wrong with their vehicle and/or documents!

Expat IFA wrote:

It is also worth mentioning for any other readers of this thread that if you are driving on an INTERNATIONAL DRIVING LICENSE, it is only valid if you are in the country on a TOURIST VISA. Anything else - you need to get a Philippine Driving License (not difficult).
Hope this is of assistance.
Andrew.

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A friend who recently came to the Philippines was given 90 days to acquire a Philippines drivers license. He had a valid U.S. license. This was confirmed by members of two LTO offices. The same applied to me when I first arrived here a few years ago.

Jim

If you are here purely on a tourist visa then the international driving licence is OK - until you are here for any extended period and need to register under ACR. Then [I believe] you also need to get a .PH driving license too (which would concur with your "90 days" implication).

I do not know about UK, USA or other 'recognised' foreign licenses. My understanding was they are not valid (as is the case in Thailand) and only the recognised 'International Licence' is accepted as valid (for tourists) - but I am happy for you/someone else to clarify the matter for others (I have held a .PH licence for quite sometime now).....

Expat IFA wrote:

If you are here purely on a tourist visa then the international driving licence is OK - until you are here for any extended period and need to register under ACR. Then [I believe] you also need to get a .PH driving license too (which would concur with your "90 days" implication)......

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Regarding the ACR-I identification card. 7 days prior to the expiration of his 59 day tourist Visa. My friend went to a BI satellite office in a Robinsons mall to renew his visa for another two months. At that time he applied for his ACR-I card and received it a short time later. He said the renewal and ACR-I application procedure took about a 1/2 hour.
According to the LTO website your valid foreign drivers license is good for 90 days. See link below
http://www.lto.gov.ph/index.php/faqs/dr … licensing/

Jim

TeeJay4103 wrote:

Expat IFA wrote:

If you are here purely on a tourist visa then the international driving licence is OK - until you are here for any extended period and need to register under ACR. Then [I believe] you also need to get a .PH driving license too (which would concur with your "90 days" implication)......

______________________________________________________________________________________

Regarding the ACR-I identification card. 7 days prior to the expiration of his 59 day tourist Visa. My friend went to a BI satellite office in a Robinsons mall to renew his visa for another two months. At that time he applied for his ACR-I card and received it a short time later. He said the renewal and ACR-I application procedure took about a 1/2 hour.
According to the LTO website your valid foreign drivers license is good for 90 days. See link below
http://www.lto.gov.ph/index.php/faqs/dr … licensing/

Jim

That's definitely worth knowing Jim (for tourists). It is also probably worth highlighting that what you say is actually the gentleman's ACR application (mandatory after tourist visa extension as you have correctly stated) but NOT "ACR-I" which is the longer "permanent" non-immigrant card - Am I correct? (I think so)...

Expat IFA wrote:

That's definitely worth knowing Jim (for tourists). It is also probably worth highlighting that what you say is actually the gentleman's ACR application (mandatory after tourist visa extension as you have correctly stated) but NOT "ACR-I" which is the longer "permanent" non-immigrant card - Am I correct? (I think so)...

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ACR card types are determined by your status. Your status in the Philippines determines the card type identified by color. Here is a link and explanation.
http://www.immigration.gov.ph/news/pres … g-thursday

Jim

Yes. But surely everyone has to get ACR first, irrespective of whether you 'upgrade' to ACR-I afterwards as a longer-stay non-immigrant?

In your post you said the guy applied for ACR-I [from tourist status], but surely he applied for ACR (re driving/visa/requirements) and not immediately ACR-I. That's how it all works isn't it? You don't immediately go to an ACR-I application without first being a prior 'ACR' card holder? Maybe you can? News to me though? Hey-ho... It's more fun in the Philippines

Expat IFA wrote:

Yes. But surely everyone has to get ACR first, irrespective of whether you 'upgrade' to ACR-I afterwards as a longer-stay non-immigrant?

In your post you said the guy applied for ACR-I [from tourist status], but surely he applied for ACR (re driving/visa/requirements) and not immediately ACR-I. That's how it all works isn't it? You don't immediately go to an ACR-I application without first being a prior 'ACR' card holder? Maybe you can? News to me though? Hey-ho... It's more fun in the Philippines

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My previous reply was as it happened, no more no less. If what and how it happened is News to you , then the post accomplished what was intended, to inform.

"Regarding the ACR-I identification card. 7 days prior to the expiration of his 59 day tourist Visa. My friend went to a BI satellite office in a Robinsons mall to renew his visa for another two months. At that time he applied for his ACR-I card and received it a short time later. He said the renewal and ACR-I application procedure took about a 1/2 hour.
According to the LTO website your valid foreign drivers license is good for 90 days. See link below
http://www.lto.gov.ph/index.php/faqs/dr … licensing/  "

Jim

I think we'll get dizzy if we keep on going around in circles 

Your info on the driving licence, formalities and validity of licences is surely correct. Yep. No issues there whatsoever. And indeed any clarification of the finer points is helpful for anyone reading this thread.

My issue in point was with the terminology you used for [your friends] ACR-I as I thought [IMHO] that it could be confusing for a newbie. Please, this is in no way a criticism of your reply and very helpful pointers. I merely wished to clarify the terminology of ACR vs ACR-I as I still believe you are not technically correct on this? If I am wrong then great - we learn something new everyday. For any newbie - is my following statement not more accurate than yours in terms of the correct reference to ACR vs ACR-I :-

Unless I am mistaken (and I am happy to be corrected) an extended stay TOURIST Visa holder CANNOT get an ACR-I at Robinsons, as they are only issued in Manila, Cebu, Davao.
An ACR yes but not ACR-I.

The ACR Card will usually state "TOURIST"
The ACR-I Card will state "Non-Immigrant" (hence the "I" in ACR-I.)

Plus: ACR-I Cards are valid for 10 years+ (well, mine is). Annual reporting in places like Robinsons yes - but renewal upon expiry? - I doubt it (but I do not know). I suspect that probably involves one of the central immigration offices etc.....

With the above in mind. I still think that this guy applied (and got issued) with an ACR Card and not an ACR-I Card. 

(Please don't hang me - I'm just trying to be accurate) :dumb:

UPDATE:  I see I am wrong on this (read below - next post).... !!!

Nope - I see my understand is wrong Jim.

They are BOTH referred to as ACR-I Cards - just that the "wording" for the persons status will be different.

I stand [sit] corrected.

I shan't delete my post (just in case it helps others) and I shall share my embarrassment with the World!!

Right then - now we've got that cleared-up, I'm off for a drive.....