Before you start

Valid foreign driving licence
Residence permit
TRA TIN
Passport and photographs

Step-by-step

1
Drive on your foreign licence for the initial period only
A foreign licence is accepted briefly after arrival, best carried with an International Driving Permit. Residents staying beyond about three months are expected to convert.
In personWho: You
2
Get a TRA TIN first
The taxpayer identification number is the identifier TRA transacts on. Without it, the licence application does not start.
OnlineWho: You
3
Apply for conversion at a TRA office
Conversion of a foreign licence is a defined TRA procedure. Bring the original licence, a certified translation if it is not in English, your residence permit and passport.
In personWho: You
4
Pay and attend for the licence
TRA publishes the conversion fee and processing time in its driver's licence guide; conversion is generally a matter of about a week rather than months.
In personWho: YouAbout a week
5
Adapt to Dar driving
Left-hand drive, daladalas that stop without warning, bajajis in every gap, and low-lying junctions that flood in the long rains. The BRT lanes are for buses only and enforcement is real.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence and certified translation if needed
TRA TIN
Residence permit
Passport
Passport photographs

Things most newcomers don’t know

The tax authority issues driving licences here, which is not a joke.

TRA runs the computerised driving licence system, so your licence sits behind your TIN in the same way your payroll does. People spend weeks looking for a transport authority that does not do this. Getting the TIN early therefore unlocks two unrelated processes at once.

Source: TRA driver's licence guide

Conversion is genuinely fast — about a week — which is unusual in this cluster.

Against months for a work permit and weeks for a NIDA number, the licence is the one Tanzanian process that moves quickly. That makes it worth doing early rather than putting off, because it also gives you a second local photo identity document that is much easier to carry than a passport.

Source: TRA published procedure

Get an International Driving Permit before leaving home.

It covers the interim period, serves as an official translation of your licence, and cannot be issued once you have left your home country. Five minutes of admin before you fly, impossible afterwards.

Source: community-reported

Many residents in Dar do not drive themselves, and the reasons are practical.

Between traffic, parking on the peninsula and the cost of a vehicle, a mix of bajajis, ride-hailing and the BRT covers most needs. Employing a driver is a normal arrangement rather than an extravagance, and it removes the hardest parts — night driving and the flooded junctions in the long rains.

Source: community-reported, standard practice

Common mistakes to avoid

Looking for a transport agency instead of TRA and losing weeks.
Starting the licence application before you have a TIN.
Arriving without a certified translation of a non-English licence.
Driving in a BRT lane — the lanes are enforced and the fine is not nominal.
Driving through standing water in the long rains; Dar's low junctions flood deeper than they look.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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