Automotive How to get your driver's license in CABA...

[Darksider415]

Correct. The only restriction on principaiantes for 2 years is 0 level limit on blood alcohol. Also not to drive on highways for 6 months but no one enforces that. It sounds like you do things by the book @Darksider415 and a great write up but most people skip this part of Apostille hassles and expenses.

Also you don't have to go to ACA, you can take the written test and the driving test the same day at any Comuna office.

There's one other restriction... If you want to rent a car and have a local license, the local rental companies won't rent to you if you have a principiante.

Those bastards did the same to my friends applying. Not sure what the difference is. Did you get any pushback @Darksider415 at all?

None at all. But, everything was apostilled and translated and certified, while I heard the UK won't apostille driving records.

 

[MikeYoung]

So, I've jumped through the hoops to get my license in Capital, and I have a pretty simple step-by-step for how to make it happen with a minimum of hassle. This is written from a US perspective, so your mileage may vary if you're starting from another country.

Step 1: Gather your documents. If you don't want to start over as a principiante, you'll want your Motor Vehicle Record from the US. This will serve in place of the "Certificado de Legalidad" in order to bypass the two years of restrictions for principiantes.

Step 1a: Verify your MVR has the date you were originally licensed as well as when your most recent one was issued. If it doesn't have the date of original licensure AND your current license isn't more than 2 years old, you have to start over as a principiante.

Step 2: Get your MVR apostilled. Each state has its own process for this. I have a Tennessee license, so it went about like this:
- Go on the State of Tennessee website and pay $5 for a copy of the Motor Vehicle Record
- Get the MVR notarized by an online notary in TN
- Get the notary signature certified by the county clerk in their county of practice
- Get the notarized certificate apostilled
- Ship it to Argentina

Step 3: Go down to your local librería and have a color copy of your existing license made. If your state also has a driver's handbook in Spanish, also print the page that has a chart of the types of vehicles permitted for each license type.

Step 4: Take the license and your apostilled, certified, notarized MVR down to the translator of your choice and get a certified translation.

Step 5: Breathe. Pour yourself a drink and relax for a few minutes. Then start preparing by going here and taking the practice exam until you consistently get it right. You can Google for the questions/answers for CABA. Read them, study them, then retake the practice exam. https://www.testdeconducir.com.ar/categoria/b

Step 6: Get yourself an Automóvil Club Argentino membership. This will cost you around 40k-ish pesos right now.

Step 7: Email their Escuela de Conducción and ask for a turno for the educación vial course. They'll ask you for your DNI, etc, then give you a date/time.

Step 8: Sit through the two hour Zoom call and pay some attention to the call.

Step 9: Pay the Boleta CENAT. You'll find instructions on the CABA website for this. It's about 6k pesos.

Step 10: After the mandatory two hour Zoom call and paying the CENAT, go to the ACA Sede Central, 3rd floor and schedule your appointment for the actual exam. They'll send you a link, you use the link to pay for the license itself. Roughly 26k pesos now.

Step 11: On the day of your appointment, go to the ACA Sede Central, 1st floor with all of the docs you gathered in steps 1-4, duly translated into Spanish and hand them to the nice folks behind the counter. You will probably have to point out the part on the translation where it has the date of original issue for your license.

Step 12: Wait. All of your docs have to get scanned and sent to Roca for verification and to decide if you get to bypass the principiante step.

Step 13: Go through the examen psicofísico. It's not hard, and the psychology exam is literally drawing pictures from a card onto a piece of paper.

Step 14: After the psicofísico, you'll take the theory test. It'll be the same questions you saw in the exam simulations you started in Step 5. You have to get at least 85% to pass. I got 97.5% for what it's worth.

Step 15: When the theory test is done, walk six blocks to the corner of Castex y Casares to take the driving portion. The examiner in my case was very chill, we chatted a bit, then drove the circuit. It's about 10 blocks, takes about 5-10 minutes. Easy.

Step 16: Go back to the ACA Sede Central, 1st Floor and wait for them to add up your scores. If you did all the above properly, you should have a shiny new 10 year license. They'll tell you to sit down after it's all approved and then call you back up to hand you the physical license right there.

Step 17: Go home and relax. You did it.

Honestly, this whole process sounds way more complicated than it needs to be. I got my license in Argentina without jumping through half these hoops.
A few things to clarify:

1. The "principiante" restrictions aren't a big deal.They don’t mean you’re stuck driving like a learner for two years. The only real limitations are:
   • For the first six months, you can’t drive on roads where the speed limit is over 70 km/h (so mostly highways).
   • You’re supposed to put a green “principiante” sign in your car. Which I never did I just left it in the glovebox, when I was stopped at a checkpoint which almost never happens, they didn't even look at that,
   • For two years, you have to maintain a 0.0 alcohol limit (which honestly should be standard practice anyway).
   • That’s it. If you’re mostly driving in the city, you won’t even notice these restrictions. And in practice, I was never asked about the “principiante” status when stopped at a checkpoint on my way to Tandill.
2. Getting an MVR apostilled and translated is overkill. You don’t need it. It’s way more time and money than it’s worth just to avoid the principiante classification, which isn’t really a restriction in daily life.
3. You don’t have to go through ACA. You can just go to your local sede comunaland take the required tests there, skipping all the ACA fees and extra steps. The process is straightforward:
   • Step 1: Get a turno for the educación vial course. They’ll ask for your DNI, then give you a date/time.
   • Step 2: Sit through the two-hour Zoom course and pay at least some attention.
   • Step 3: Pay the Boleta CENAT (about 6,000 pesos). You need this before you can schedule your exam.
   • Step 4: Schedule an appointment at a sede comunal.
   • Step 5: Take the psicofísico (basic medical and psych test).
   • Step 6: Take the written test (same questions as the online practice exams).
   • Step 7: Take the driving test (which is super basic).
   • Step 8: Get your license.

So yeah, if you’re trying to get a license in Argentina, skip the apostille and translation nonsense, don’t stress about the principiante status unless you plan on doing A LOT of highway driving in your first six months, and just go the direct route through a sede comunal. Less hassle, less cost, and you still walk away with a 10-year license.

Thanks @Darksider415 and @Jeffrey1990 super informative.

There's one other restriction... If you want to rent a car and have a local license, the local rental companies won't rent to you if you have a principiante.

But I would assume you can just rent with your foreign driver's license. I met a woman in Bariloche that bought a car and she didn't have residency at all or a DNI. Is that still possible? Can you own and just drive with your USA license?

 

[Billy Goat]

But I would assume you can just rent with your foreign driver's license. I met a woman in Bariloche that bought a car and she didn't have residency at all or a DNI. Is that still possible? Can you own and just drive with your USA license?

You can buy a car with just a CDI #. I know a few people that did that. I am not sure about insurance but a few people I know were in Argentina for an extended stay and was shocked by the cost of car rentals and just bought a used car. I believe they were even able to buy insurance but I am not sure how long you can do this but as others mentioned, typically in Argentina you can pay a bribe to a police officer and get off.

 

[earlyretirement]

You can buy a car with just a CDI #. I know a few people that did that. I am not sure about insurance but a few people I know were in Argentina for an extended stay and was shocked by the cost of car rentals and just bought a used car. I believe they were even able to buy insurance but I am not sure how long you can do this but as others mentioned, typically in Argentina you can pay a bribe to a police officer and get off.

Correct. You can buy a car with just a CDI # which is a tax ID number here required to buy real estate or a car if you don't have a DNI. I also know people that did this.

Also 100% correct about police officers and probably paying to get off. That is not a good thing but unfortunately (or fortunately for some people) you can probably in most cases pay a bribe and get off the hook. The most shocking thing I ever heard was one of my very good friends. He met a girl that I set him up with. I didn't know her well and was a friend of a friend. But I was trying to introduce him to her. They were going to go out on a date and she called him in a panic as she knew he lived near a car accident she was in.

She was drunk and with her friend. She totaled her car and ran into about 8 cars on the side of the street. She called my friend in a panic and he was a few blocks away. The cops came to the scene and my friend said he was related to the girl and helped her. She was crying. There were many angry owners. Some came outside. My friend is very calm and the people were yelling at her. My friend calmed all the people down and told them to calm down and insurance would cover it as long as they calmed down. Some were asking the police to check if she was drinking but he explained that most likely the insurance wouldn't pay if she was drunk.

Very shockingly he was explaining this and showed me all the wrecked cars. It was crazy. He only had about 200,000 pesos cash on him. The police wanted more. As crazy as it sounds, the cop just gave my friend his bank alias to send more cash to make it go away. I think he sent like the equivalent of like $500 USD more.

It was an eye opener to just how far cops will go.

 

[Surfer]

Correct. You can buy a car with just a CDI # which is a tax ID number here required to buy real estate or a car if you don't have a DNI. I also know people that did this.

Also 100% correct about police officers and probably paying to get off. That is not a good thing but unfortunately (or fortunately for some people) you can probably in most cases pay a bribe and get off the hook. The most shocking thing I ever heard was one of my very good friends. He met a girl that I set him up with. I didn't know her well and was a friend of a friend. But I was trying to introduce him to her. They were going to go out on a date and she called him in a panic as she knew he lived near a car accident she was in.

She was drunk and with her friend. She totaled her car and ran into about 8 cars on the side of the street. She called my friend in a panic and he was a few blocks away. The cops came to the scene and my friend said he was related to the girl and helped her. She was crying. There were many angry owners. Some came outside. My friend is very calm and the people were yelling at her. My friend calmed all the people down and told them to calm down and insurance would cover it as long as they calmed down. Some were asking the police to check if she was drinking but he explained that most likely the insurance wouldn't pay if she was drunk.

Very shockingly he was explaining this and showed me all the wrecked cars. It was crazy. He only had about 200,000 pesos cash on him. The police wanted more. As crazy as it sounds, the cop just gave my friend his bank alias to send more cash to make it go away. I think he sent like the equivalent of like $500 USD more.

It was an eye opener to just how far cops will go.

I think many of these Latin American countries are like this. Mexico is terrible with cops in some cities always asking for money. Brazil it can happen too. I had this happen in Rio. Mexico I have been stopped many times outside of Playa del Carmen. Cops seem very mellow in Argentina. My first trip I was freaking out because the police had their lights on following my Uber driver and I thought he was after him until I figured out the cops drive around with their lights on at night in Argentina.

 

[BA Bound]

Wonderful information. Thank you @Darksider415 @Jeffrey1990!

 

[McDonald]

Great write up! For those from the UK just be aware that many Sede offices they won't take a UK driver's license. I know several fellow Brits and same thing. I don't know what the difference is with UK vs. USA. I spent about $400 USD all told between aposttille, translation and DHL fees getting documents here. All for nothing!

I ended up with a principiante. I did get pulled over while driving to Mendoza. I paid the equivalent of about $50 USD to the police officer to avoid issues. Some things about Argentina I like! The officer suggested it not me.

From what my uncle mentioned to me from the UK is that while you can get your driver's license apostille the motor vehicle report from the UK can't be Apostatized in the UK and that is where the issue is. So it's worth skipping that process if you're from the UK going through this.

 

[Spend Thrift]

So, I've jumped through the hoops to get my license in Capital, and I have a pretty simple step-by-step for how to make it happen with a minimum of hassle. This is written from a US perspective, so your mileage may vary if you're starting from another country.

Step 1: Gather your documents. If you don't want to start over as a principiante, you'll want your Motor Vehicle Record from the US. This will serve in place of the "Certificado de Legalidad" in order to bypass the two years of restrictions for principiantes.

Step 1a: Verify your MVR has the date you were originally licensed as well as when your most recent one was issued. If it doesn't have the date of original licensure AND your current license isn't more than 2 years old, you have to start over as a principiante.

Step 2: Get your MVR apostilled. Each state has its own process for this. I have a Tennessee license, so it went about like this:
- Go on the State of Tennessee website and pay $5 for a copy of the Motor Vehicle Record
- Get the MVR notarized by an online notary in TN
- Get the notary signature certified by the county clerk in their county of practice
- Get the notarized certificate apostilled
- Ship it to Argentina

Step 3: Go down to your local librería and have a color copy of your existing license made. If your state also has a driver's handbook in Spanish, also print the page that has a chart of the types of vehicles permitted for each license type.

Step 4: Take the license and your apostilled, certified, notarized MVR down to the translator of your choice and get a certified translation.

Step 5: Breathe. Pour yourself a drink and relax for a few minutes. Then start preparing by going here and taking the practice exam until you consistently get it right. You can Google for the questions/answers for CABA. Read them, study them, then retake the practice exam. https://www.testdeconducir.com.ar/categoria/b

Step 6: Get yourself an Automóvil Club Argentino membership. This will cost you around 40k-ish pesos right now.

Step 7: Email their Escuela de Conducción and ask for a turno for the educación vial course. They'll ask you for your DNI, etc, then give you a date/time.

Step 8: Sit through the two hour Zoom call and pay some attention to the call.

Step 9: Pay the Boleta CENAT. You'll find instructions on the CABA website for this. It's about 6k pesos.

Step 10: After the mandatory two hour Zoom call and paying the CENAT, go to the ACA Sede Central, 3rd floor and schedule your appointment for the actual exam. They'll send you a link, you use the link to pay for the license itself. Roughly 26k pesos now.

Step 11: On the day of your appointment, go to the ACA Sede Central, 1st floor with all of the docs you gathered in steps 1-4, duly translated into Spanish and hand them to the nice folks behind the counter. You will probably have to point out the part on the translation where it has the date of original issue for your license.

Step 12: Wait. All of your docs have to get scanned and sent to Roca for verification and to decide if you get to bypass the principiante step.

Step 13: Go through the examen psicofísico. It's not hard, and the psychology exam is literally drawing pictures from a card onto a piece of paper.

Step 14: After the psicofísico, you'll take the theory test. It'll be the same questions you saw in the exam simulations you started in Step 5. You have to get at least 85% to pass. I got 97.5% for what it's worth.

Step 15: When the theory test is done, walk six blocks to the corner of Castex y Casares to take the driving portion. The examiner in my case was very chill, we chatted a bit, then drove the circuit. It's about 10 blocks, takes about 5-10 minutes. Easy.

Step 16: Go back to the ACA Sede Central, 1st Floor and wait for them to add up your scores. If you did all the above properly, you should have a shiny new 10 year license. They'll tell you to sit down after it's all approved and then call you back up to hand you the physical license right there.

Step 17: Go home and relax. You did it.

Sounds much easier to just use my US driver's license and pay a bribe or two if I need to. I guess if you are buying a car that is not an option but I have met a few expats that have been living here for years and none of them have a local license.

 

[Cardiac Arrest]

Correct. You can buy a car with just a CDI # which is a tax ID number here required to buy real estate or a car if you don't have a DNI. I also know people that did this.

Also 100% correct about police officers and probably paying to get off. That is not a good thing but unfortunately (or fortunately for some people) you can probably in most cases pay a bribe and get off the hook. The most shocking thing I ever heard was one of my very good friends. He met a girl that I set him up with. I didn't know her well and was a friend of a friend. But I was trying to introduce him to her. They were going to go out on a date and she called him in a panic as she knew he lived near a car accident she was in.

She was drunk and with her friend. She totaled her car and ran into about 8 cars on the side of the street. She called my friend in a panic and he was a few blocks away. The cops came to the scene and my friend said he was related to the girl and helped her. She was crying. There were many angry owners. Some came outside. My friend is very calm and the people were yelling at her. My friend calmed all the people down and told them to calm down and insurance would cover it as long as they calmed down. Some were asking the police to check if she was drinking but he explained that most likely the insurance wouldn't pay if she was drunk.

Very shockingly he was explaining this and showed me all the wrecked cars. It was crazy. He only had about 200,000 pesos cash on him. The police wanted more. As crazy as it sounds, the cop just gave my friend his bank alias to send more cash to make it go away. I think he sent like the equivalent of like $500 USD more.

It was an eye opener to just how far cops will go.

This is shocking! The fact that the police was not even scared of an electronic trace is something I have not heard before. Most would only want cash.

I would never want to own a car in BA. My friend owns a car but never takes it anywhere because parking is very expensive now anywhere you go.

 

[Blockchain]

This is shocking! The fact that the police was not even scared of an electronic trace is something I have not heard before. Most would only want cash.

I would never want to own a car in BA. My friend owns a car but never takes it anywhere because parking is very expensive now anywhere you go.

How much do parking garages charge in BA? I saw a few public garages where people could pay by the hour or day. But I didn't notice the prices.

 

[Larry]

How much do parking garages charge in BA? I saw a few public garages where people could pay by the hour or day. But I didn't notice the prices.

Prices are very dear. About 4000 to 5000 per hour in most places. Look at this article and it mentions $4.50 USD per hour.

A coffee for $3.50: Argentina is the most expensive country in Latin America

A price comparison with Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile shows the consequences of using the exchange rate as a strategy against inflation

english.elpais.com

 

[StatusNomadicus]

just how far cops will go.

zero of this happens when taxpayers/citizens demand bodycams for all citizen contact - i've never met an honest cop that was opposed to bodycams. argentina will overnight turn 100x more honest if all police record all public interactions

prices.

parking in Mendoza is around 900-1000 Pesos per hour, but obviously there are varying prices and longer-stay discounts. Mendoza supposedly is going to electronic parking payments for street/public parking, so i really hope it does away with the parking mafia (Cordoba was the worst - all are scumbag parasites)

11 months ago in Belgrano i paid 9,600 Pesos ($9.50 USD) for 12 hours when i had a rental car to get to Cordoba. not sure how much Palermo/Recoleta are, but this was the closest place to my airbnb apartment at the time.

 

[Darksider415]

How much do parking garages charge in BA? I saw a few public garages where people could pay by the hour or day. But I didn't notice the prices.

You can rent a monthly space for around 100k pesos/month depending on the neighborhood.

 

[Betsy Ross]

You can rent a monthly space for around 100k pesos/month depending on the neighborhood.

In many neighborhoods that are more central it is about 150,000 pesos per month. The garage in Recoleta charges about 150,000 pesos a month. I would say in much of Recoleta and Palermo between 100k to 150k a month. And spaces are selling for as high as $28,000 USD.

The per hour parking fees has gone up. That article is correct in many garages it is 4k per hour.