Do you have the most up to date IDLV Checklist?
The Indian Drivers Licence Verification (IDLV) process is necessary if you want to change your Indian drivers licence to an Australian drivers licence.This process allows the relevant Australian driving authority in your state to verify that you have a valid licence in India and that you have the pre-requisite driving experience in order to bypass your learner's licence or provisional licence. You may need to check your relevant state driving authority (ie, such as the RMS in New South Wales) to ensure that whatever experience you may have in India will be valid and accepted in Australia.
What about different names?
Sometimes, depending on which state issued your licence in India, your name may appear differently on your Indian drivers licence compared to your Indian passport. This is because your drivers licence may have been issued before you were issued with a passport and the driving authority in India issued your licence according to the name on your 'year 10 mark sheet'. Other times, the difference in your name may be due to various naming conventions which are acceptable in India, but unfortunately are not acceptable in Australia. Even if the differences are fairly minor, such as using your initials instead of your full name or using an abbreviated name or the substitution of your father's name, if your name on your Indian drivers licence is different to your name on your Indian passport, then you are going to have an issue and you will need help.In Australia, your passport is a primary photo identification document, not your Indian drivers licence. This means the driving authority in Australia will identify you according to your passport and if Indian drivers licence has a different name then that licence will not be accepted as your licence without other supporting evidence which you must obtain through VFS.
Notary public services and the IDLV application
As part of the IDLV process, VFS will provide the supporting evidence required by the driving authority in Australia to confirm that you are the one and the same person in your passport and your licence, that your licence is valid and your number of years experience in India. However, before VFS will provide that supporting evidence, you must apply to VFS and satisfy all the requirements in their IDLV Checklist. One of those requirements involves our notary public services.As a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney, we have assisted many people who have different names on their Indian passport and their Indian drivers licence. We provide them with a notary certificate to verify that they are the one and the same person, and we assist them in satisfying the requirements of the IDLV process.
Where is the most up to date IDLV Checklist?
A few years ago, VFS changed their IDLV process from requiring an authentication stamp to an apostille stamp. This was a significant change at the time because not only were they different stamps issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), but there was a significant cost difference between an authentication and an apostille especially when the documents were bound together - which, in the case of the IDLV supporting documents, we did to also include copies of passports and drivers licence.To avoid any complications arising from using outdated information or old documents, always download the most recent IDLV Checklist directly from the VFS website. You can find it here:
http://www.vfsglobal.com/india/australia/consular_miscellaneous/pdf/IDLV-Checklist.pdf
The last time the IDLV Checklist was updated was in November 2017, which means that if you started preparing your application before then, you should make sure everything you now submit is up to date and satisfies the current requirements. Fortunately, there have been no changes to the VFS requirements for the IDLV if your name on your Indian Passport and your Indian drivers licence are different.
To obtain a quote on our notary public services for India, please visit https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/notary-fees/.
Acknowledgements
This blog is supported and maintained by Phang Legal. Phang Legal is a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney. With offices conveniently located in Parramatta, Phang Legal supports and services the Indian community across Sydney with readily available and easily accessible notary public services at highly competitive rates.
For more information regarding notary public services for documents going to India, view our notary publications at https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/jurisdiction/india-notary/.
Frequently asked questions regarding our notary public services can also be found at https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/faqs/.
For Hindi to English translation services by NAATI accredited translators, see https://hindi-naati-translation.blogspot.com.au/.
Notary Public
Ern Phang is the solicitor director of Phang Legal and a notary public. Ern regularly writes about his experiences as a notary public, including the kinds of problems and solutions that his clients face when sending documents to India.
IMPORTANT: the information in this article is correct at the time of publication, however the law constantly changes. This means you should always refer to the most recent articles because we try to update this blog on a regular basis with the most current information.