Colombian driver's license

I installed a dash came, front and rear, in our car after getting rear ended.  It's a little bit of peace of mind at least.  Doesn't prevent anything of course, but harder for people to say it was my fault being a gringo.

In Saudi Arabia the foreigner is always 100 percent responsible for the accident because if you were not in the country it never would have happened.

Keep in mind that your US driver's license doesn't exchange for a Colombia DL. In order to get a Colombia DL you need a Cedula de Extranjeria or just a Cedula if you are naturalized. Without a Cedula you can't get a Colombia DL. If you live in Colombia you should already have a Cedula if not then you are just passing by and can't get a DL.

Assuming you have your Cedula, the process to get a DL is relatively simple if you go step by step.

1st. Need to go to an accredited driving school, if you already drive then you are just paying to get their certificate of competence.

2. You need to get an appointment at the RUNT - (This is the equivalent to the driver's license office) This is done online but if your Spanish is poor I recommend you get a local to help you get the appointment online, the page is difficult to navigate. Get an appointment in the morning.

3. Once you show your documents and pay the fees, you need to get a physical exam, again, it is done at the RUNT but you need an appointment, you can do it online at the same time but a few hours apart. so you can get everything done the same day, if there is a problem on your morning appointment you just don't show up in the afternoon.

4. Once you do the physical exam and pass,  you will wait to get your license the same day.

Paying to get a certificate of competence at a driving school was stopped several years ago. You are now treated as a beginner and have to show that you have done the full driving school course (in Spanish of course).

The physical examination (which covers all aspects including reactions, sight, hearing) is usually done at an approved private specialist and can take several hours, passing from one office to another.
Most towns have more than one specialist so you can have another try if you fail at one.

People over 65 have to renew their license every 5 years, repeating the physical examination.

If you feel your Spanish is not good enough to sit through the classes and take the test, ***

@CaliRay I am currently in Barranquilla and enrolled in my class.  Its casically 1 million COP.  25 hours of theory, 2 mechanical classes, and 14 hours of Clase Manejo.   you can choose from weekday classes, or weekend.  Easy Peezy.

my class... 25 hours of theory, 2 mechanical classes, and 14 hours of Clase Manejo.... Easy Peezy.        -@adamscheid313

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"¿Easy Peezy?"  Not for most.

For the typical Gringo, sitting through 50 hours of Spanish-language

classes to "learn" what you already know (how to drive) has to be stultifying

and tedious.

If an Expat lives in rural Nalgas de Cerdo, Putumayo, a drivers license

may be essential.

But for the vast majority of Gringos living in the big or mid-size cities,

taxis and buses are so plentiful that a DL is superfluous.

Here in the 7th largest metro in Colombia, I have never waited for a taxi

for more than a few minutes in the Gringo-friendly areas from

8 a.m. to 11:45 p.m.  Most taxi fares I pay are in the US $2.50  range.

Unless you have the patience and plata to deal with license-learning costs,

car maintenance costs, registration, inspections, insurance, parking,

fuel and (God forbid!) the ramifications of dealing with the bureaucracy

in the case of a two-car accident ..  I recommend living in a city and

taking taxis or buses as the wiser way for el gringo promedio.

cccmedia in Bucaramanga, Santander

For what it is worth I have an extensive (34 years and over 200,000 km) driving experience in Colombia and Ecuador, on long road trips in my car (my KIA), this is my passion.....always starting/ending at my home in Medellin, many times just solo but about 35% of my road trips are with my best Medellin buddy when he can have some time off his work on the Medellin metro.............Colombia has become "Small" to me as I mark 34 years of exploring it and still doing almost non-stop traveling.

I do 3 or 4 long road trips every year and Just last month finished my 1st Road Trip of 2024, this was a total of one month (32 days) travel distance: driving 3,052 km and 215 km boating/sailing, 25+ cities and beaches/Caribbean islands visited with the following path of travel being -------(Just ONE EXAMPLE of a typical road trip):

March 2024 - I Started driving north out of Medellin - Turbo - Necocli - boat to Capurgana, Chocó - Supzurro - La Miel, Panama - return boat to Necocli - Arboletes - Monteria, Cordoba - Moñitos - boat to Isla Fuerte - Covenas - Rincón Del Mar - San Basillo de Palenque - Cartagena - Puerto Colombia - Barranquilla - Santa Marta - Minca - Tayrona - Mendihuaca - Palomino - Riohacha, La Guajira - Maicao - Paracuachon @ Col/Venz border - Valledupar - Bucaramanga - Chicamocha - San Gil, Santander - Barichara - Guane - Villa de Leyva, Boyaca - Bogota - San Luis/Cocorna, Antioquia - Return home Medellin.

Have also explored, driven, flown into, sailed to/from, launcha, chiva, taxi, horseback, motorcycle, etc. these places, cities, seaside villages/pueblos and Caribbean islands numerous times:

Santa Cruz de Mompox, Aracataca-Magdalena (home of Gabriel Garcia Marquez), Gral. Farfán/San Miguel-Putumayo, Cali, Yarumo, Mocoa, Ipiales (including nearby Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Las Lajas), Pasto, Silvia, Popayan, Villavicencio-Meta, Puerto López & Puerto Gaitán-Meta/Los Lanuras, La Plata, El Florián-Santander and the nearby Las Ventanas de Tisquizoque, Jamundi, San José del Guaviare-Guaviare, Vereda Cerro Azul-Guaviare, Tierradentro, Parque Arqueologico San Agustin-Huila, Salento, Palmira, Buga, Cartago, Armenia, Santa Rosa de Cabal (including nearby Termales), Filandia, Manizales, Pereira, La Chamba-Tolima, Ibaque, Anapoima, Girardot, Quibdo, Moñitos, Jerico, Jardin, Salgar, Ciudad Bolivar, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Tarso, La Pintada, Neiva, Villavieja, Tatacoa Desert, Guamo, Paracuachon @ Col/Venz border, Honda, Villeta, Facatativa, Fusagasuga, Soacha, Bogota 40+ visits over 34 years, Chia, Zipaquira, Villa de Leyva, Puente Boyaca, Puerto Berrio, San Basillo de Palenque, San Gil, Barichara, Guane, Villanueva, Chicamocha-Santander, Bucaramanga, Barrancabermeja, Cucuta, Buenaventura, Nuqui-Choco via flight from Medellin, Nueva Venecia via boat ride from Cienaga, Barranquilla, Tamalameque, Valledupar, Maicao, Riohacha, La Guajira, Uribia-La Guajira, Cabo de La Vela-La Guajira, Cartagena, Bocagrande, Getsemani, Rosario islands, Archipelago de San Bernardo including Mucura/Tintipan/Santa Cruz de Islote, Palomino, Buritaca, Los Naranjos, Tayrona, Minca, Taganga, Santa Marta, Rodadero, Cicada Perdida/Lost City (4 day hike), Tolu, Turbo, Covenas, Maicao, Rincon del Mar, Mendihuaca, Baru, Monteria, Caucasia, Yarumal, Necocli, boat to Isla Fuerte, Capurgana via boat from Necoli, Apartado, Guatavita-Cundinamarca, Tunja-Boyaca, Sogamoso-Boyaca, Mongi-Boyaca and of course Medellin and dozens of pueblos. in the outlying areas within 50km where I live and call home.

Like I mentioned I also head down and explore Ecuador, again always starting/ending my road trips at my home in Medellin, as example:

ECUADOR: Drove the complete 800 km coastline from top to bottom on the E15 La Vía del Pacífico o Troncal del Pacífico, from San Lorenzo, Esmeraldes, Atacames Canton, Mompiche, Pedernales, Canoa, San Vicente, San Jacinto, Manta, Portoviejo, Montecristi, San Lorenzo, Puerto Cayo, Machalilla, Puerto Lopez, Salango, Olon, Montanita, Ayangue, Monteverde, San Pablo, Salinas,La Chocolatera, Quito, Ibarra, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Banos, Ambato, Nueva Loja.

I am on my second 5 year Colombian drivers license renewal along with my once new 2019 KIA having turned 6 years old with well over 100,000 km so have experienced the upkeep, maintenance costs, SOAT/insurance, Techno-mechanica annual inspections, car tax renewals, numerous photo-multas infractions in many different places in Colombia and Ecuador, have also owned other cars here in Colombia along with a motorcycle I had for a few years, so I know the hassles and the benefits of owning a car and moto, driving it everywhere, accidents, heck on one span of 2 years I was rear ended by 5 motorcycles here on the autopista in Medellin and at the end of the day.................

....................I still keep driving, carrying on and would not have it any other way.

Happy Holidays to everyone everywhere!

@South American Voyager  I am strongly considering following in your footsteps, er wheels. I will get started in a few weeks.

lpd