Getting a driving lincense

Getting a driving license in Dubai, UAE is a mixture of hard and easy task. I will explain it later in the post. First let me explain the process in details.

Basic Rules
All expatriate having a resident visa for Dubai has to apply for driving license if he/she wishes to drive cars in Dubai. Expatriates holding European / Canadian / USA driving licence can convert there own country's driving license into Dubai driving license by paying a fee. They are not required to go for training or tests. All other expatriates have to go for training and tests.

Opening a file
The very first thing you have to choose is a driving school from where you wish to get trained. There are a number of driving training institutes in Dubai but the most popular are Belhasa Driving School, Emirates Driving Institute, Al Ahli Driving School and last but not the least Galadhari Driving School (this school is mainly caters to people who come to Dubai for working as a taxi driver or professional drivers).
Once you finalise from which school you will get trained then you need to pay around AED 500 for opening a file with Dubai RTA. This includes fee for temporary learners license, eye check-up etc. You need to submit your passport and your home country driving license (if you have else not required) in original for verification with police. The verification will take two working days and after that your documents will be returned by the driving school. Once your file is opened, you will be in queue to start training.

Process
Once your number turns up you will be called by the driving school to start taking lessons. The wait is usually for varies from 30 to 45 days. The minimum number of classes you need to take is twenty if you have driver's license from your home country else you need to take forty classes. There are four 1-hour long mandatory theoretical classes to be taken. The first one is "Preliminary Lecture".
In the first fifteen classes (for those who are taking forty classes) will be parking lessons. Once you complete your parking lessons you will be taking parking test which will be taken by a senior instructor of the school you are enrolled into. This test is pretty simple and most of the student pass in one attempt. People having driving license from there home country are not required to go for parking test and the relevant classes.
Then you need to attend "Signal Lecture" which is the second theoretical lesson and is mandatory for all irrelevant of having driver's license from home country or not. Once you complete this lecture then you need to take signal test. This is a computer based test for those who are computer literate else manual for others. There will be ten multiple choice questions /pictures coming up one by one in the computer screen and to pass you need to answer eight correctly among them.
From sixteenth class onwards, you will be driving on roads with a trainer sitting by your side. After you complete all twenty or forty classes you will be asked to take an "Assessment Test". Again this test will be under the supervision of a senior instructor of the school where you are enrolled. Usually aspirants of driving license in Dubai pass this test in one or two attempts. Then you will be told to to take another eight to ten classes (this is over and above you previous twenty or forty classes). Once you complete the additional classes you will appear for final road test. Before going for road test you need to attend a mandatory theory class called as "Safety Protection Lecture".
Till this its stage it is easy and simple.

Final test

Final test will be taken under the supervision of a RTA personnel who will be an emirati. Here the most important thing required is your luck and not your driving skills. This is the most difficult stage. This is because there is no standard rule to determine how good driver you are. If one RTA examiner thinks that the way you took a left turn is not good enough he may fail you whereas the same left turn may not be wrong for failing to other RTA examiner when you take the another test. For any smallest mistake may be enough for failing you. The minimum number of attempts taken by maximum aspirants is three for clearing the final road test. The maximum has no limits but usually it is nine by when you become most experienced examinee. If you fail to clear the road test you need to take twelve classes before you go for next attempt. The subsequent test will be scheduled after fifteen days. Once you pass the final road test you need to attend the last mandatory theory class called "Final Lecture" and then you have your driving license in your hand.

Expenditure
Each class costs AED 60
Each test costs AED 80
License card fee is AED 170
All the above fees are given for the year 2008

Classes
Each class is of half-hour duration. You will be practising for an hour every alternate day of the week. The training location depends on where your school is located. There are free as well as paid drop and pick up service given by most of the school from your location to the training location. The training locations are designated areas in Dubai approved by RTA.