Motorists know very well that they are prohibited from riding with an expired driver's license. But what about the "green card"? Can having it expired bring problems in a traffic control?
The Unique Vehicle Identification Card – as it is called now, with no more green in sight – is the public document that indicates who is the "legitimate owner" of the vehicle and enables it to circulate.
It summarizes, on the one hand, the identification dataof the car (make, model, patent, chassis number, engine number); and on the other hand, those of its current owner (name, surname, ID, address).
The National Directorate of Automotive Property Registries (DNRPA), when granting these certificates, currently imposes a validity of one year. In 2019 that period had been extended to three years, but in 2021 it was again 365 days.
In any case, there is always an expiration date on the front of the card. What happens after that day? That the card, unless it is renewed, will lose one of its powers.
At traffic controls they always ask for the vehicle's ID, in addition to registration and insurance. Photo: Archive.
Who can and who can't drive with an expired green card?
For the owner of the vehicle (or the owners, if you have more than one owner), nothing changes once the license expires. They can continue to circulate with the same identification card, which in fact clarifies that "exhibited by the holderhas no expiration".
The important thing is to know that, once expired, the green card can no longer be used by third parties to drive. That is, by someone who is not the registered owner of the vehicle.
From the expiration date, if the owner or a co-owner wants someone else to use the vehicle, it will no longer be enough to give him the green card.
You must also process in the Registry a Certificate for Authorized (formerly called "blue card") for each non-holder driver, or make them a driving license in their favor through a notary. Blue ballots, unlike green cards, do not expire.
For the owner of the car the green card does not expire, but in the hands of other drivers it does. Photo: Archive.
What is the fine for driving with an expired green card?
Thus, in a traffic control, the agents will accept as valid an expired green card if the person at the wheel is the holder. But if the driver is not the owner and only has the expired ID, he will not be able to continue.
"If another non-holder person is driving, he needs a blue license or valid authorization. If not, it is infringed," they confirmed to Clarín from the Secretariat of Transport and Public Works of the City of Buenos Aires, the agency in charge of controls.
The penalties for this offense depend on each jurisdiction. In Buenos Aires territory, for example, it is punishable by a fine of 100 fixed units (today $ 10,292). And if the owner does not approach the place immediately to take the vehicle, they carry it.
As an exception, the green cards of taxis, remises and cargo or passenger vehicles do not expire, the authorities clarify.
If the green license is expired, those authorized to drive need to have the blue one. Photo: Archive.
How is the procedure to renew a green card and prevent it from expiring?
The renewal of the Unique Vehicle Identification Card can be managed after 30 calendar days before expiration.
The process takes 24 hours and to save time you can start it online from dnrpa.gov.ar, entering "Renewal of ID" and then "Online procedures" to complete the electronic application.
The owner (or a co-owner) will then have to go in person with the DNI to the Registry in which the vehicle is located to certify the signature, deliver the green card in use and pay the corresponding fees (if they were not paid before online).
Once this is done, the next day the owner of the car will be able to return to the Registry to withdraw the new card, which will expire one year after the day it was issued.
MDG
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