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New Extension period for Driving Licences and Learner Permits Find out more

Check if your licence has been extended on our expiry calculator here

Driving Licence Extensions

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton TD announced on the 2 July 2021 details of a further 10-month extension to the validity period of Driving Licences in response to the level 5 restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Any licence holder, who has not already renewed and whose licence expiry date is between 1 July 2021 and 31 October 2021 will have ten months added to their expiry date. e.g., a licence which expires on 25 September 2021 will have a new expiry date of 25 July 2022. This is in addition to previous extensions granted as set out below;
Licences which expired between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2020 were extended to 1 July 2021. These licences are now due for renewal now.
Any licence holder, who has not already renewed, and whose licence expired between 1 June 2020 and 31 August 2020 will have thirteen months added to their expiry date. e.g., a licence which expired on 31 August 2020 will have a new expiry date of 30 September 2021
Any licence holder, who had not already renewed, and whose licence expired between 1 September 2020 and 30 June 2021 will have had ten months added to their expiry date. e.g., a licence that expired on the 20 September 2020 will have a new expiry date of the 20 July 2021

NOTE: You do not need to do anything to avail of this extension as your driver record will be automatically updated. A new driving licence will not be issued to you. You can only apply for a renewal of a driving licence if it is within three months of its expiry date.

You can check the expiry date and earliest renewal date of your current licence on expiry date calculator here.

Full Press Release on new Extension for Driving Licences.

FAQs on Extension of Validity of Driving Licences and Learner Permits.

Learner Permit Extensions

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton TD announced on the 24 June 2021 details of a further 10-month extension to the validity period of learner permits in response to the level 5 restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

If your learner permit is expiring between 1 November 2020 and 31 July 2021 your expiry date is being extended by 10 months. e.g., a permit expiring 31 July 2021 will have a new expiry date of 31 May 2022. This is in addition to previous extensions granted as set out below;
If your learner permit expired between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 your expiry date was extended by 18 months in total. e.g., a permit expired on 30 June 2020 will have a new expiry date of 30 December 2021
If your learner permit expired between 1 July 2020 and 31 October 2020, your expiry date was extended by 14 months in total. e.g., a permit expired 31 October 2020 will have a new expiry date of 31 December 2021

NOTE: You do not need to do anything to avail of this extension as your driver record will be automatically updated. A new learner permit will not be issued to you. You can only apply for a renewal of a learner permit if it is within three months of its expiry date.

You can check the expiry date and earliest renewal date of your learner permit on expiry date calculator here.

Full Press Release on new Extension for Learner Permits.

FAQs on Extension of Validity of Driving Licences and Learner Permits.

Using the booking system

To access the online booking service you will need a valid Irish driver number OR valid PPS number AND a valid email or mobile phone number to receive confirmation of your appointment.

Using those personal details, you will be presented with a list of available times so that you can book an appointment up to 6 weeks in advance. If you cannot find a suitable appointment, please check back as new appointments become available weekly. You will also be able to cancel and reschedule your online appointment here.

Attending your NDLS appointment

Please Note: If you are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms on the day of your appointment or at any point in the previous 14 days, you must not attend for your appointment. Please cancel your appointment

You are advised to attend no more than 5 minutes in advance of your appointed time. Note: NDLS can only accept debit/credit card payments, Google Pay/Apple Pay or Payzone vouchers. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept cash, cheques or postal order payments.

Please ensure that you have completed any Theory test, Driving test or Driver training if required in advance and that you bring all the required documentation with you to the NDLS centre when making your application.

For further information see Guidance Notes for Learner Permits here

For information on driving licences see Guidance Notes for Driving Licences here.

Click here for list of required documentation.

All Driving Licences that expired from 01 March 2020 to 31 August 2020 have been automatically extended by thirteen months in total OR to 1 July whichever is the latest.

Driving Licences that expire from 01 September 2020 to 31 October 2021 will be automatically extended by 10 months in total.

Learner Permits that expired from 01 March to 30 June 2020 will be automatically extended by eighteen months in total.

Learner Permits that expired from 01 July to 31 October 2020 will be automatically extended by fourteen months in total.

Learner Permits that expired or will expire from 01 November 2020 to 31 July 2021 will be extended by 10 months.

Expiry Date Extension will not be displayed on the licence/permit but will be automatically updated on your driver record. Remember, you can only apply to renew your licence/permit 3 months before its new expiry date.

NOTE: The earliest you can apply for a renewal of your driving licence / learner permit is within 3 months of the expiry date of your current licence / permit.

For more information on this and other Covid-19 related measures please click here.

NDLS Booking service

Using the booking system

Attending your NDLS appointment