Drivers Licence Reciprocity

Hello Everyone,

I just recently applied for a JFRV, and I expect it will arrive in a few days. Once I have it I’ll try to convert my USA drivers licence(it’s one of the states that has reciprocity with Taiwan) into a local Taiwan licence. I’m feeling a bit anxious/curious about whether it will work or not.

I see some conflicting information online. In lots of threads and some government websites, I see that you must have an ARC that is valid for more than 1 year. The first JFRV based ARC that you receive is good for exactly one year I’m pretty sure. So I wouldn’t quality to exchange my licence under that rule.

There seems to be plenty of info that conflicts with that greater than one year requirement though.

For example Pennsylvania just signed a reciprocal agreement with Taiwan yesterday and that agreement states that [quote]Holders of a valid driver’s licenses issued by Pennsylvania State can obtain a driver’s license in once they have a Taiwan residence permit that is valid for at least one year.[/quote]

Another example of this is the agreement between Idaho and Taiwan. You can see that at the following link taiwanembassy.org/public/Att … 735571.pdf. That document states that the applicant must have: “A valid Taiwan ARC with a validity period, when received, of at least one year”

There’s other examples of this, but 2 will be enough to make my point here.

So I guess my question is, does anyone know the truth as it stands in October 2015? Which source is correct? I’ll find out soon enough, but I just wanted to ask about it online.

I just wanted to keep everyone up to date who might be interested in exchanging their drivers licence in the future.

I just got my ARC in the mail today. It’s actually valid for slightly less than one year. It expires 6 days prior to the date of issue. It expires on 10/14/2016, and was issued on 10/20/2015. And as I said I received it today, 11/2/2015.

My wife called the Zhongli Motor Vehicles Office, and the person on the phone said that I can indeed exchange my licence for a local Taiwan licence. My wife told the person on the phone the specific date it expires, which is certainly less than 1 year. You need to notorize your licence at your nearest AIT and take some other stuff with you, but I’m not going to go into that part of the process as it’s well documented already. I’m only keeping this thread up to date with regards to the extremely ambiguous nature of this length of ARC requirement.

So to sum up, apparently you do not need to have an ARC that is more than 1 year long.

I’ll believe it when I’ve got the Taiwanese licence in my hand though, and I’ll update the thread later this week as that’s when I have my AIT appointment scheduled.

Just got back from the Hsinchu Motor Vehicles Office, with a new local Taiwanese drivers license good for 6 years.

Even though the governments page itself says(hmv.thb.gov.tw/EN/Default_e.aspx?entry=122) that your “A.R.C. (permitted for stay of more than 1 year).” it simply isn’t true. As of right now in November 2015, your ARC can be a year or less and they’ll still let you exchange your license.

If memory serves me, I needed the following to exchange the license:

3 one inch passport style photos
A health check from a clinic across the street(150 nt)
A notarized statement from AIT swearing my license is real or something along those lines(~1600 nt)
My original drivers license and one copy, front and back
Your passport
Your ARC
A copy of your passport page with your picture and passport number and all that good stuff
A copy of your passport page that shows when you last entered Taiwan
A copy of your ARC, front and back
200 nt for the license fee

Walk into your nearest Motor Vehicles Office with those documents and you’ll be out in a flash with your new local Taiwan drivers license.