we overlooked getting an idl in canada before we came. is there anyway to get one here? at the moment we have one canadian driver’s license and no arcs. is there anything that can be done in this situation or will we just have to wait until we get the arcs and then get a local license?
Can you get your Canadian IDL remotely from Taiwan? I do not think the Taiwan authorities will issue licenses from the equivalent Canadian authourity.
FYI I used my IDL (valid for one year) and got a piece of paper inserted into it. I had an ARC at the time, so do not know if it can be done without ARC
Also you should check (but I doubt it) if Canada ( or individual provinces of Canada) and Taiwan have a reciprocated agreement on driving licenses i.e you can get a TW drivers license based on your Canada license and vice versa
save you the hassle of checking - no, there’s no agreement.
get your arc’s and then get local licenses.
Yes. It didn’t take me long at all to Google this up for you:
Do bear in mind that the IDP will initially only be valid for one month (from date of issue, I believe). For this reason you might want to get the start date post-dated a little to allow for postage time, if the CAA will do that.
During that first month, you can get the IDP validated for the whole period of its duration, or a year, whichever is shorter. However, as TNT mentioned, you may need an ARC to do that. Certainly they asked me to show mine.
yes - you can go through all of the above. unsurprisingly, it will take at least as long as getting your arc. further, the photos must be exactly to specification, or they will return everything to you and you can start again.
if you are going to be here for any length of time, i’d just get the local license.
and with the local licence (dunno if you need a JFRV) you can get an international licence from here… so you can drive back home after your licence expires 
I realize that there has been a big palaver over this subject, and I’ve tried to read as many posts as I could, but my documentation seems to have a loophole that I may or not want to squeeze through, to wit:
I bought an international driver’s license at a AAA office in the states, and currently hold a Vermont class 1 license with no motorcycle endorsement. However, the int’l license text states under “vehicles for which permit is valid” that it can be used for “Motorcycles with or without a side car… with an unladen weight not exceedind 400kg”. I’m currently living in the BFE to the East of Kaohsiung and my wife has a scooter available to use. What do ya’ll say? Should I go ride?
50cc then go, otherwise laws will apply in some fashion.
Are you on a visa or ARC.
Visa, probably okay. ARC and you have to get a local license.
AAA International DL’s are good here for 30 days from date of arrival.
US DL’s mean diddily squat on Taiwan.
Must do the local DL thing.
50cc 'scooters have some magical exemption, I think they are legal for the blind, crazy and insane to operate here.
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Can’t you get them stamped for a year? I did with my Canadian IDL. Personally, I find it easier to go this route every year than bother with the ridiculous drivers test.
No … all international drivers licenses or only good for 30 days in Taiwan unless you go to the motor vehicle dept. and have it stamped, than it’s good for a year … and I guess if you are on a visa you could eventually drive a big boy (the trick is … don’t ask) … if on an ARC, legally, you can not use an international drivers license. You can however eventually change your international license for a Taiwanese license if it’s translated and stamped by a TECO in your home country (reciprocity) … than authenticated by the MOFA in Taipei … but you need to prove in writing that your license is valid for all the vehicles you want to drive in Taiwan and that’s tricky.
I have a license that in Europe (Belgium) is valid for or from a bike over 49cc to the biggest truck or coach you can find to drive but in Taiwan I only got a license for a car and scooter (up to 250cc) because I couldn’t really proof that it was as the license stated. Because the license in Belgium only says motorcycle class A which means 49 cc+ up until as heavy as you got them, but the Taiwanese don’t see it that way.
With my license ‘D’ (coach) you could legally drive any vehicle that applies to the lower category (from A-D) and even motorbikes and scooters under 49cc which in Belgium are of a still lower category and are called ‘certificate’, not license.
So basically I’m screwed because I can’t get a written document that’s authenticated by the Belgian government and the TECO … MOFA that specifies my situation … so I need to take classes and the test in Taiwan for the big bike over 250cc
Belgain Pie has hit the nail on the head. This all agrees with what I’ve tried to date.
Thanks all for the clarification, so unless my mother-in-law can dig up an old 50cc machine from the depths of her cluttered house, I’m going to be on foot or on a pushbike for a while (!). So far I’m too proud to ride bitch on my wife’s 100cc Kymco, but that may change.
So, because I’m going to be on a ARC sometime soon, I need to go through the process of getting a local license. I think I understand that process pretty well based on other threads/posts.
I have one more question. I don’t know where to go locally to take a drivers test, but more importantly, help me to understand one more thing. If I can’t drive a scooter, then how do I practice so that I can take the scooter road test?
You could … on a 50 cc … 
Driving school? I guess … 
Don’t forget people you need to do a WRITTEN test before you can legally ride a 50cc. Then you are supposed to practice on it before you can apply for a 50cc-250cc license.
An alternative would be to find some private land that the owner doesn’t mind you practising on.
I don’t know what the status of car parks is but I see quite a few people practising in those.
I seem to remember that the law changed a year or two ago so that local car license holders are no longer automatically entitled to ride a 50 and have to take the written scooter test if they want to do so. Is that correct? Presumably that would have implications for IDL validity – an IDL would have to mention motorbikes/scooters specifically to be valid even for a 50. I may be wrong.
A couple of people in this thread mentioned that once you have an ARC, an IDL is no longer valid. That is the first I have heard of this. Could somebody quote or point me to the relevant rule? (For interest only – I’ve got a local license of course.)
I have a UK international drivers licence. I presented it at the driving test and fine centre in Pan Chiao with my ARC.
They stamped it for me and told me that I was able to drive any vehicle in Taiwan which I was authorised to drive on my International Licence.
They also said that I am authorised to use the licence until the expiry date on the licence. They informed me that when this licence becomes invalid, I should bring my new one and they will do the same thing.
Nothing was mentioned about me having an ARC, and nothing was mentioned about the fact that I should sit and pass a Taiwan driving test for either bikes or scooters.
I did bring along my UK driving licence as verification for my International Licence, but they just ignored it
What may be happening is that the government has different rules for different countries and even different states within those countries but this could be contravening international law.
Taiwan subscribes to the 1949 Convention relating to International Driving Permits:
“This permit is valid in the territory of all Contracting States with the exception of the territory of the Contracting State where issued, from the period of one year from the date of issue, for the driving of vehicles included in the categories or categories mentioned in the last page of the permit.”
Further research (books, not internet - sorry, no links at present) suggests that, regardless of your resident status in any country which subscribes to the 1949 Convention, your driving permit is legal and must be recognised by that country.
I have applied for two IDP’s to be stamped in the last two years, and have had absolutely no problems.
I asked about that when I bought my scooter. All the bike shops said that the old law hadn’t been officially changed. I asked the DMV and they said I’d be ok too.
So, was all this law stuff just talk that never happened?
DM, thanks for the update.
The tai tai and I went to the DMV in FongShan, Kaohsiung county this week and got written info to prepare for our scooter tests. I also found out that residents of certain U.S. states are eligible for license conversion to Taiwan DLs…first time I’ve heard of this for specific states, though BP had mentioned it for Belgium. Massachusetts and Vermont were not on the list, so I’ll continue to use my IDL, and get it stamped as needed, in order to drive the car.
I’ve been “practicing” on the scooter in preparation for getting a license, my prime concern being safety rather than legality. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, my AAA IDL says I can ride a scooter, though I wish the local DMV issued some sort of learner’s permit instead: that’s how I justify it to myself, anyway. It’s extremely irritating that there isn’t a streamlined set of laws, permits and procedures to guide us through all of this.
I’m going to be taking an unexpected trip overseas to England. My friend there has a motorbike he wants to lend me. So can I get an international license in Taiwan? If so where?
In Canada you can use any country’s drivers license for 1-3 months when you first arrive. Does England have anything as helpful as that?