Benque Town Hall is your motor vehicle go-to place in Benque. You will get your driver’s license and car registration there. Both of these things are essential to get you through manned checkpoints, so make sure they are always up to date.
Benque Town Hall is located between the two streets that parallel the Mopan River, and there is a little park with playground equipment right in front of it. The park is a nice place to sit on a hot day when waiting for something to happen. Go here for official details on what is needed to get and renew a driver’s license. Keep reading this post for nitty-gritty advice.
NOTE: Requirements for government permissions may vary over time and with changes of political party and from officer to officer. Go over-prepared if possible.
Driver’s License
Stop by town hall and ask exactly what documents are needed before you go to renew. If you are seventy or older, you are required to have a physical before you can apply for your license, so stop by the town hall and get the form with boxes doctor will need check off. The physical consists of the doctor asking you a few questions and checking your vision. You can get that physical for free at the clinic just a couple of blocks down the street (north, toward Succotz), although they may charge a fee to stamp it for you when completed. If you have a December birthday, note that Benque city offices are closed for a week or two around Christmas and your license could expire during that time, so plan ahead.
Gather together your documents. A printout of your online internet bill will serve as proof of residency. That, along with your passport, your expired Belize license or out-of-country license, and your health form if over seventy will generally be sufficient. If you don’t have any proof of residency, take your BIB deed.
Dress as you want to appear on your driver’s license and go to the office at town hall with your documents for your interview with the official in charge of licensing. They will fill out papers and send you upstairs to pay at the cashier’s office. Take cash with you, as credit cards are not accepted. The license is renewable on your birthday.
When you take the receipt back to the officer downstairs, they will take a mug shot of you and produce a laminated driver’s license for you right there in the office. If your looks haven’t changed much, they may re-use the photograph from the expired license.
Certificate of Registration
You must not drive a vehicle that is not registered. To register a vehicle, go to the registration officer in Benque Town Hall with documents from the car dealership or the previous owner. If you bought it from an individual, that person may need to go with you to verify the sale. Check at town hall first for what is currently needed to get the certificate.
Renewing a Vehicle Registration (called Vehicle Licensing in Belize)
To renew your registration, take your Certificate of Registration, your driver’s license, and cash to the registration office at Town Hall. Take along a proof of residence, just in case.
They will fill out papers and send you upstairs to the cashier’s office, where they will ask you how long you want to register the vehicle for. It’s highly recommended that you get as long a registration as possible to avoid the chance of an unnoticed expiration. You can renew it for three months for $50, six months for $100, or a year for $200 (the current rates as of March 2021). Cash payment is required; credit cards are not accepted. As soon as you receive the green plastic sticker, adhere it inside your front windshield on the driver’s side.
It’s always a good idea to check the sticker on your windshield before starting to town. If it is expired, catch a ride to town with someone, with your documents in hand and go to town hall to renew it. Alternatively, you can send your documents and cash to town with someone to do it for you, but do not drive with expired registration! Warning: if your vehicle registration is expired when you reach the checkpoint going into Benque, you can be fined.
Vehicle Insurance
The other essential piece of windshield decoration is your insurance sticker. This is provided by your vehicle insurer when you buy insurance, and must be affixed to your front windshield next to the vehicle registration on the driver’s side. Put them where they interfere with your view the least. Both have expiration dates on them, and are regularly examined at checkpoints. Be vigilant, as expiration dates can creep up on you. If you borrow someone else’s car, definitely check these two items before starting out, as you can be fined and lose your driving privileges if you drive with expired insurance or registration stickers, even in a borrowed car.
Car insurance rates vary with insurer and age of vehicle, but the price for a year’s insurance in 2021 for an older Toyota/Isuzu (1990-2010) is around $400bz. In an emergency, to ensure your car until you can get to your regular insurer, you can go over to the Guatemala border and get short-term insurance at one of the insurers inside the enclosure on the left as you approach the entrance. In March of 2021, insurance for two weeks cost $46, so this is not a cheap alternative.