Guidelines for Foreign Licence Holders Application for Reduced Essential
Driver Training (EDT) and/or Exemption from Six Months Wait Time for Driving Test
Essential Driver Training
• When you get your fi rst Irish learner permit, you must complete 12 sessions of Essential Driver Training (EDT).
Each session lasts one hour.
• You must have held your learner permit for at least six months before you take your driving test.
• If you have a current valid full foreign driving licence from a country that Ireland does not have a licence
exchange agreement with, you may not have to take EDT sessions 2,3,4,8,11 and 12. And it may be possible for
you to take your driving test without having to wait for six months. For further information on EDT, please view our
REDUCED ESSENTIAL DRIVER TRAINING (EDT) Information booklet. See www.rsa.ie.
How do I qualify?
• To get the EDT exemption you must have held your full foreign driving licence for at least two years.
• To get the six months exemption you must have held your full foreign driving licence for at least six months.
• If your full foreign driving licence expired more than six months ago, we cannot accept it for the exemptions.
To qualify for the exemptions you must meet the following rules:
• Send us this application form, your original foreign driving licence and a Letter of Entitlement from the driving
licence authority in the country of origin of your foreign licence by post to Reduced EDT, National Driver Licence
Service, PO Box 858, Southside Delivery Offi ce, Cork.
• You must fully complete the application form and sign the declaration.
• If you cannot send both your foreign licence and the Letter of Entitlement, you will not be able to apply for the
exemption. This means you will have to complete the full EDT programme and wait six months before taking your
driving test.
• Licence holders must be resident in Ireland.
• We will not accept international driver licence permits for the exemption.
• Upon receiving your licence, and any relevant documentation you send us, we will return them as soon as
possible. We will send them by post to the address you give on this application form.
Letter of Entitlement
• A Letter of Entitlement/Driver Statement is a copy of a driver’s record/history. You can get yours from the licensing
body that issued your foreign licence.
• You must send us the original Letter of Entitlement. We will also accept an email or online printout.
The Letter of Entitlement must include a copy of a driver record that shows the following details:
− Name
− Address
− Date of birth
− Driver Number
− Date of Commencement
− Date of expiry of licence
− Vehicle category/class of licence including details of what the category/class refers to
• If your Letter of Entitlement/Driver Statement is not in English or Irish, you must send us a certifi ed translation
of it. Translations must be provided by a professional member of the Irish Translators Association;
www.translatorsassociation.ie.