Philippines driver's license exchange process: the steps in order, where to go and how long it takes

Which kind of exchange this page covers

People who search for a Philippine license exchange usually mean one of three different things, and each has its own process. Sorting yourself into the right one first saves a wasted trip.

• You hold a foreign license and want a Philippine one. The official term is foreign license conversion, and it is the subject of this page.
• You already hold a Philippine license that is expiring or has expired. That is renewal, with its own rules and documents.
• Your license is lost. That is a replacement, and it starts with a notarised affidavit of loss.

This page follows the 2025 edition of the LTO Citizen's Charter for driver's license transactions and the official manual. The manual itself says the charter prevails if the two conflict, so where the charter gives a position, we follow it. Where it is silent, we do not guess on the window's behalf.

Exchange suits people who have settled in the Philippines, whose foreign license is still valid and who plan to drive locally for the long term. A genuine tourist with a valid foreign license may drive for up to 90 days during their stay, so there is usually no rush. If you have stayed beyond 90 days and are still driving on a foreign license, deal with that first: the charter's penalty table lists it as one form of driving without a valid license, with an added penalty of one year during which no license may be issued to you and you may not drive. For the layers of consequences, see what happens when you drive on a foreign license past the limit.

You do not need an international driving permit to exchange. It is a multilingual companion to your original license, and the exchange looks at whether the original is valid, what vehicle types it covers and your immigration status. How the permit works is covered in our guide to the international driving permit in the Philippines.

Work out your track before you book anything

The process is called the same thing for everyone, but the time and the number of visits differ a lot depending on which situation your foreign license falls into. The table follows the charter and manual; the window's own assessment on the day is final.

Three points matter. First, valid is the key word: the charter says an applicant whose foreign license has expired must pass both the theory test and the practical road test, so do not wait for your license to lapse. Second, left-hand-traffic issuers add a road test. Third, the tests are set by license category and DL code; see how the LTO written exam works for what is examined.

Also decide which codes you want. The manual says a valid foreign license can only be converted into codes A, A1, B, B1 and B2. To drive BE, C, CE or D vehicles you must submit an Alien Employment Permit (AEP) issued by the labour department and meet experience and training requirements.

The steps, in the order they happen

The guiding rule is simple: anything you can finish before you book, finish before you book. Once the appointment is set, every later step depends on the earlier ones being complete.

1. Sort out your immigration status and basic eligibility. The charter's basic conditions include being fit to drive, being able to read and write English, Filipino or a major local language, having no outstanding traffic violations, and, for foreigners, having entered on a visa valid for at least 120 days. If this stage fails, nothing after it matters.
2. Prepare the English translation. A foreign license that is not in English needs an official English translation, and the charter names the issuing country's embassy in the Philippines as the source. The LTO does not control how fast that arrives, so start here. A Chinese license is a non-English license; see what to prepare at home versus in the Philippines.
3. Get the medical certificate. The charter describes a certificate issued by an LTO-accredited clinic and transmitted electronically, so the result has to land in the system.
4. Create an LTMS profile, choose the transaction and upload documents. Choose foreign license conversion specifically. New license, conversion, renewal, replacement and adding a vehicle code are different transaction codes, and choosing the wrong one means a wasted trip. Expect to have the valid foreign license, the translation, your passport (the charter says the first page, the visa page and the latest entry stamp page) and the medical certificate. Registration is explained in how to register on LTMS and book an appointment.
5. Pick an office, date and time, then pay. Only offices the system lists under your transaction handle it at present. Fees are whatever the LTO currently publishes. Screenshot and print the booking confirmation.
6. Attend for verification, sit any required exam, then give biometrics. The LTO verifies the authenticity of a foreign license, and any exam takes place at the office you booked. If you are on the exam track, the window will tell you how the theory and road tests are scheduled.
7. Card production and delivery. For foreigners converting a license, the card is sent by Philippine Post registered mail under the memorandum, or you may pay for courier delivery.

For the ordering of the steps explained another way, see the five steps and why the order matters, and for Chinese licenses in particular see converting a Chinese license to a Philippine one.

Where to go: only the LTO's current office list counts

The short answer: an LTO licensing office or an authorised outlet. Which one, which transactions it handles that day and whether you must book first are all decided by the office list the LTO currently publishes through the LTMS portal and its website. This page lists no street addresses, phone numbers or opening hours, because those go stale fastest and cost people wasted trips.

The word office covers several kinds of outlet. Some are full district or licensing offices, some are extension points that handle only part of the work, and some are mall windows. Some do not handle foreign license conversion at all, some do not run the first-time road test, and some open a given transaction only on certain days. If you set out from a two-year-old list, you may queue, take a number and only then be told they do not do your transaction.

Before you leave, do three things: select the correct transaction in the portal; see which offices the system lists under it; and confirm the office together with the date and time, keeping a screenshot and a printout. You do not have to choose the nearest office. Central city offices are the hardest to book, and widening the map often turns up free slots, which can be worth a longer trip to finish weeks earlier. If you are outside Metro Manila, see which window to use outside Manila.

How long it takes: counter time versus the whole cycle

The charter's figures are the time at the counter. They are not the time from deciding to exchange to holding the card, and mixing the two is how itineraries collapse.

Two conditions apply. The processing time includes waiting, and it starts only when a complete set of documents is submitted, so trips made because papers were missing are not counted. The charter also notes that if the transaction cannot be finished the same day, staff ask you to return on the next working day and resume from the step where you stopped.

The part that really consumes time sits outside the counter: the appointment slot, the English translation, the medical certificate and delivery of the card. Three of those four are not decided by you or by the window, so we give no fixed number of days. Plan backwards instead. Start from the date you must hold the card, leave a buffer for delivery, allow half a day to a day for the visit, secure the slot, finish the medical and translation before the booking date, and settle your immigration status at the very start.

If you fail the road test, you must wait 7 calendar days before retaking it. With only a little over a week left on your stay, do not leave the road test until the end. More detail on timing is in how to schedule around the counter and the wait.

The downsides: where it is slower and where you lose a trip

• There is no single total number. Slot, translation, medical and delivery can each stretch, and most are outside your control.
• Slots are hard to get. Popular offices release slots in batches, so you may have to switch office or wait for the next batch.
• Missing paperwork restarts the clock. A second trip for a translation or medical is not counted in the charter's times.
• The exam track is much slower. Online, the no-exam track takes 1 hour 20 minutes at the counter against 4 hours 20 minutes for the exam track.
• An expired original has no fast track. Expired foreign licenses must pass both theory and road tests.
• Not every vehicle type converts. Only A, A1, B, B1 and B2 convert from a valid foreign license; BE, C, CE and D need an AEP and experience and training.
• Windows differ. Whether you are fully exempt from testing and which authentication documents are wanted can vary by nationality, license type and office, so follow your own office's current requirement.
• There is no shortcut around attending in person. RA 10930 requires the applicant to appear and be photographed by the LTO and sets penalties for fraudulent applications. Anyone offering a license without tests or attendance is best avoided; see whether the fixers outside LTO offices are safe to use.

For individual cases, consult a practising lawyer; this page is not legal advice. Approval rests with the LTO and we promise no outcome at the window. If you would rather have someone sequence the medical, translation and booking for you, see Yixing's settling-in service. Yixing is a private consultancy with no affiliation to the LTO or any government body, and you must take any exam yourself.

Official sources

Eligibility, documents, fees and window arrangements are set by the LTO: Land Transportation Office (LTO) website.

The counter times, steps and conditions on this page follow the 2025 Citizen's Charter for driver's license transactions and the official manual. Office lists, opening hours, exam arrangements and fees change, so rely on the LTO's current announcements; we do not copy any specific address or schedule.

About this guide and Yixing

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Yixing is a private consulting company registered in the Philippines (SEC Reg. No. CS202009551; BI Accreditation No. CA-202624381-1). This guide does not name or rate other providers and does not promise any outcome; approval rests with the competent authority, and the rules in force are those it currently publishes. For legal disputes or case-specific judgments, consult a practising lawyer — this is not legal advice.