A website run by a company in Spain claims that it has found loopholes in Maltese law allowing it to issue Maltese drivers licences, through “agents” in Malta, for people who have been unable to obtain a licence in the normal way.
The website dubiously claims it is able to secure Maltese driver’s licences without the need of sitting for a driving test and for people otherwise prohibited from being granted a licence in their own country. Additionally and against a supplementary payment, it says it can also deliver a licence without even needing to show an identity card.
The company, Pearl Migrations S.A., which operates the www.speedlicence.net website, says it has found loopholes in the legislation of Malta and eight other EU10 member States that allow customers to obtain a driver’s licence and exchange it for a licence from any other member State chosen by the applicant.
The service, which is of highly questionable legitimacy, is being offered against the payment of hundreds of euros. One option, in fact, offers applicants the possibility of merely submitting a photograph and a signature without sending in a copy of an identity card – for an extra fee of E100 (Lm43).
For a base rate of E400 (Lm172), E500 (Lm214.65) when not submitting a copy of an identity card, the website promises the end result of a driver’s licence from Malta, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, or Slovenia.
For another E100 (Lm43), the company says it can then transfer a Maltese licence, for example, to a licence of any other EU member State. The company says it requires payment, only to a bank account number that would be provided, before the application is processed and offers a money-back guarantee.
“Do you need an EU licence?” the website questions. “Have you failed your test because of nerves on the day? Have you been convicted of traffic offences where the judge has unfairly taken your licence away? Have you reached the age when you have to retake your test? Do you want to have more categories on your licence, ride a motorcycle for example or become a truck driver?”
The site also offers easy registration, with the necessary paperwork being handled by “agents” in Malta and the other countries in question.
The company claims to offer an easy way of getting a new licence from Malta or one of the other countries in question and as such eliminating accumulated “points” from traffic violations in an applicant’s home country.
The website explains, “If you have points on your existing licence and would like to exchange it for a clean licence then we can help because harmonisation of penalty points between EU States has not occurred between all EU members yet. Driving endorsements can be totally lost once you exchange your licence with another country, giving you a clean licence with a new licence number.”
The site adds, “It is your legal right to hold any member country’s EU driving licence. Ideally, you should be driving on a licence that is issued in a different EU country to the country in which you are resident and driving for a number of reasons. The main reason is to make it more difficult for the authorities to log a permanent record of your driving licence and driving history should you be prosecuted for driving offences.”