Hey, any Canucks in here?
I’m going to be returning to Canada soon, and I want to swap my Taiwanese driver’s license for a Canadian one. Has anyone done this?
As far as I know, I don’t need an international license since we have a reciprocal agreement now. So I just bring my Taiwanese license to a Canadian DMV and they put me in the graduated program with an novice Canadian license. Anything I should be aware of? My license expires August 30th, so I figure I should do it a little in advance.
Probably varies a bit by province. My only experiece is in BC and the government office stole my taiwan license even as i protested. Literally. I wouldnt let them touch it unless you are ok to lose it!
Their excuse is you cannot posses 2 different drivers licenses at the same time. Some chinese logic if i ever saw it.
What’s stupid about that is that a visit to the Taiwan drivers office if you return and they will likely print you another. Taiwan’s drivers office did the reverse, confiscated the Canadian one. They told me it was going into a box with other foreign licenses in their office.
To OP, this website breaks it all down, if you are from Ontario.
Sorry to hear about your license! I won’t be coming back to Taiwan for some time so I guess I’m okay swapping it. I’m heading to BC as well. I was going to ask ICBC this tomorrow, but you may already know this.
My Taiwan license is only for automatic vehicles. Any idea if that will be a problem? Also, it says I need to provide a verification of the license from the Taiwanese DMV, and prove residency (but I will have just landed there after three years abroad). Did you run into those issues as well?
Not heading to Ontario, but it looks like it’s pretty similar across all the provinces, just different names for the license gradations. I guess similar question to Explant. Did you have any issues proving residency or getting the license validation from the Taiwanese DMV along the way?
I didn’t convert my license in the reverse like you are doing.
Before you use time going to the DMV I’d call the info for foreigners line at 0800-024-111, and someone should get you in contact with the DMV to see if you can get that English license letter they are talking about. Never did it myself but it will save you time from having to go there in person to inquire.
To be fair i was trying to renew my old BC drivers license. They said it has been too long (i only have my N) and that i need to road test. Thats when i asked them if i could convert my taiwan license as i had been on that for iver a decade at the time. They asked to see it and wouldnt give it back haha. Ironically i couldnt have my N renewed either which left me licenseless. So i took the road test, but wasted on week of no diving till then.
A quick note, i retained my resident status in canada at that time. Im not sure, but i could see that being an important note. I wonder if you are officially a non resident, might make a difference.
I was only upset because te license is property of the taiwan government, not me. Which i told them. Anywho, they won the day. I was also in a region where we had to go through service BC, not a “dmv” type office.
I havent ever gotten the letter for canada. But me and my wife both had to get it when we went to stay in japan. We needed that sheet with our international drivers license and taiwan license to prove anything there. The taiwan licensing authority were fast, friendly and cheap to get that all done. I cant see an English transcript being anymore than a wait, some silly giggles and smiles and under a few hundred nt.