Driver’s license recognition pacts signed with 8 US states: MOFA
By Joseph Yeh ,The China Post
October 8, 2014, 12:01 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan has so far signed mutual driver’s license recognition pact with eight U.S. states and is working to sign even more similar agreements to facilitate Taiwanese travels in the U.S., a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday.
Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) Department of North American Affairs, yesterday said at a regular news briefing that Taiwan has signed similar pacts with Maryland, Idaho, Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Delaware and Washington so far to recognize driver’s licenses issued by the other side.
Also, Mississippi has already passed a law to waive written and road tests for Taiwanese drivers who want to exchange their home license for a driving permit issued by the state.
Hsieh noted that the ministry is still in talks with the rest of the U.S. states in the hope of sealing more such deals for the benefit of motorists of both sides soon.
As for Canada, Taiwan has signed similar agreements with four of its provinces. They are Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
The ministry is also working on signing pacts with the remaining six provinces in the future, he said.
I have a TX license with a motorcycle classification. If I transfer over my TX license, will I get both a car and 150+ scooter/big bike TW license? Or just the car and 50cc scooter?
It seems that Taiwan has signed some new agreements this year, with Texas being one of the new states that can now transfer. I have no idea about motorcycle licenses, though. All of the information I’ve read only talks about cars, and not motorcycles/scooters.
I believe endorsements for motorcycles would transfer (using logic not rules though).
Something that people don’t consider when using an int’l license is that if you don’t have a motorcycle endorsement then you aren’t actually allowed to operate >50cc scooters. AFAIK.
I don’t think so, car license gets you a car license … or it should be specified that you’re allowed in your home country to drive any vehicle that’s marked on your license, except heavy freighter trucks and buses. Than you need to be employed by a Taiwanese company that requires you to drive said vehicles.
I have a Belgian license that allowed me to drive anything up to a bus and heavy freighter truck … no way they said. Just the car and heavy motorcycle. And it needs to specify which heavy motorcycle as in Belgium (Europe) it’s according to HP, not cylinder volume (cc). It cost me translation, stamps, other documents … a few thousands of NT$ to get it all right.
So this means that I can use my Taiwan issued license in those states and I don’t need an International licence. Right? And visitors from those states don’t need an international licence here.
So what do I need to do for this? Go to the DMV with my Texas license and that’s it? Do they take the Texas license or do I get to keep that? Do I need to have it notarized at AIT (seem to remember reading something like that before)?
But it should be (a copy or document) stamped (and maybe even translated to Chinese as I had mine translated in Belgium) by the TECO of your country or state to prove it’s a valid and genuine license … maybe in Taiwan the AIT can do that (the Belgian Office in taiwan can not do it for Belgians).
A TECO in any country can not approve validity or authenticity of a license, they can only approve a document or license that is said to be so by the local authorities in a certain country.
And I remember that the DMV in Taiwan having a huge book with all images of how a certain license of any country should look like … it’s just to be really sure.
Yes I can personally confirm this. I had the same situation and was able to get both car and motorcycle license converted (I have no cc restriction in Taiwan). First, you have to go to AIT and pay 50usd for their notary service to validate your license. On the sheet write that you have a motorcycle endorsement (class C and M) and write something about previously riding a big cc bike in the US. After you get the notarized document you need to go do the health check. You can do both health checks at once (it’s cheaper, same tests but different forms). Finally, you go to the motor vehicle location north of Sun Yat Sen MRT to get the license made (don’t go to any others, I tried). Total it cost about 1000 NT plus the $50usd notary service. I did it all in the same day (last Thursday) and got 6 years of validity since my ARC is valid for more than 1 year. Depending on your Chinese level, you may want to bring someone to help.
So on your TX license you didn’t have a class C or M? So I have an Arizona license and just a regular driver’s license. So I just need to fib a little?
I just noticed that AZ isn’t on the list, so I can’t do this anyway. It looks like an AZ drivers license is valid though to use here in Taiwan.
So on your TX license you didn’t have a class C or M? So I have an Arizona license and just a regular driver’s license. So I just need to fib a little?
I just noticed that AZ isn’t on the list, so I can’t do this anyway. It looks like an AZ drivers license is valid though to use here in Taiwan.[/quote]
No, I have a TX license with both C and M endorsements (as does the guy I was originally replying to). If you don’t have an M endorsement then the notary at AIT won’t sign it and you won’t get a license. Only the states on the list are eligible to “convert” to a real Taiwan license.
Missed that