I tried to get my 50 cc scooter license at the Beitun dmv today during lunch. When I got there they were closed so I waited around for them to open at 1 only to be told that I needed a health examination first. She sent me across the street for one but the only place I saw that looked like it could have been it was also closed for lunch. Is this health exam something that’s done by the dmv or is it a health check from a hospital? I have to leave the dmv by 1:30 if i’m going to make it back to work on time, is 30 minutes enough time to get the license? I was thinking about going at 8 when they open but I was told that tests are only at scheduled times and don’t start until 8:40. Is anybody able to explain the procedure for me? Are they open on Saturdays?
I know the obvious solution is to take time off work but my mechanic won’t give me my new scooter until I have a license so I don’t want to wait until I can get the time off unless I have to.
Um…you’re going to need the scooter to take the test at DMV (unless things have changed, might have! Do they supply vehicles now??) and I’ve never heard of such a “law-abiding” mechanic in my life. Overly law-abiding, in fact. There is no requirement that a person have a license to own a vehicle. You could be buying it in your name for your elderly grandfather to ride, assuming he has a license.
Can you get him to release the scooter to you plus a friend with a license who would drive it away? Then you could take your time to sort things out provided you can find a reasonably secure place to park in the meantime. Technically he is holding your property. Bringing in the FAP (foreign affairs police) would be the absolutely last recourse. You might try getting a like-minded Chinese friend to go in and discuss the matter with him (preferably one with a license).
I’m sure others will have better ideas. (Or, of course, take time off work. But I recommend that you check for sure if you will need the scooter to take the test. If that’s still the case, you would be making a wasted trip if you showed up to take care of things without it.)
The medical always used to be given right at DMV by bored-looking people sitting at a desk and magically gauging the function of various organs with their eyes alone. Okay, there was the color-blind test too which I always nearly failed. I don’t know if a certificate from a public hospital would be accepted or not. Maybe a phone call to DMV to inquire??
DOuble double post post
since it’s just a 50 cc, it’s a written test only, so no scooter is required. as far as i can tell the scooter is in my mechanic’s name and he doesn’t want to hand it over to me until he knows it’s in my name, technically i think they could ask for my license to do the transfer. fair enough i guess…seems like he’s dealt with a lot of foreigner’s in his day.
the medical test consists of: colour blindness… I believe sometimes they do the WEM3 test (close one eye and read the symbols thingy)… also, they ask you to squat (can you sit on a scooter without falling off?) and to open/close your hands a couple of times (can you pull the brake lever?)
thanks. do you have any idea where to go for the medical test at this particular dmv? (taichung-beitun). Also, any idea if the test is scheduled for certrain times or if they will give it to you whenever you arrive? If i go at 8 and then again at 1, i could have this headache over by tomorrow.
That’s a heap of utter bollocks. There is NO requirement for a license to simply purchase or own a vehicle. You could buy a Learjet if you wanted. Your mechanic is shitting you for some obscure reason.
The only thing you need a license for is to DRIVE a vehicle on PUBLIC roads.
Tell your mechanic to stop fucking you around and that you only want the scooter to plant flowers in.
Just a thought: in what language are you communicating? I occasionally hear Taiwanese people using the English word “license” to mean the blue registration card. Perhaps the confusion is due to this mistranslation? The mechanic would of course be correct to insist that the legal transfer of ownership be completed before you take the scooter away.
It’s on the new Web site at www.gov.tw but only in Chinese. The English law and regulation section only contains information that is, well, not immediately applicable to the situation of 99% of foreigners in Taiwan. Although I’m sure someone is interested in the “Regulations on Clearance of Ships’ Oily Discards in Taipei Harbor”.
(The information MAY be there somewhere in the database, but it’s not jumping out when you do a reasonable search in English, which means for all intents and purposes, it’s not there.) Their Chinese search sucks, too. I searched for “motorcycle transfer documents” (in Chinese) and got nothing. Googling it took me directly to the right page on their site.
[quote=“The Gov’mint”]需要收費
需身分證
汽（機）車過戶登記書、機器腳踏車新領牌照登記書、印章（新車主及原車主）、營利事業登記證影本（公司、行號）、行車執照、新車主強制汽車責任保險證
[/quote]
By which they meant to say the following about transferring ownership of motorcycles:
[quote] Requires ID card [or passport/ARC presumably]
Requires payment of fee
Automobile (motorcycle) transfer of ownership form, application form for new registration of motorized bicycle [the official term], chop (for new and original owners), copy of business registration (for companies or legal entities), ??? Presumably the vehicle registration; driver’s license would be a different word, new owner’s compulsory insurance certificate.[/quote]
http://www7.www.gov.tw/ESERVICE/web_service_choice.phtml?CaseID=315000000H0076&c=0
So it would appear that the mechanic is full of it. After all, what if lovely Grandpa wants to buy a BMW but doesn’t have a driver’s license? Surely he’s allowed to own one even if he can’t drive it?
the BeiTun DMV medical test is done in the mom and pop hovel across the street from the side entrance, ie. the gate/entrance closest to the scalectrix track where you do the scooter “practical test”… it looks like a regular glass doored concrete shanty just like any other “house”, but with more poorly hand written signs outside, so keep walking into houses and squatting/squinting/reading things until someone gives you a piece of paper to attest to your prime state of physical fitness… they may want to relieve you of a few hundred of your hard earned in recompense for performing these cutting edge medical procedures…
assuming the test starts on time, it finishes as soon as you do… that is to say if you’re agile with your clicking finger, you can get off the computer and have your paperwork at the top of the Inbox before the hapless teenagers you’ll be doing the test with can waddle over to the examiner’s desk with their hopelessly outmoded paper and pencils in hand… how long it’ll actually take to get your paperwork done depends on the mental capacity of the Taiwanese civil servants you encounter… so anything from 10 minutes up to 10 working days then…
oh, and everyone else already said it but your mechanic is full of it… 
ok. I know the spot you are talking about to complete the “health” check. we were there on tuesday from 12-2 but it was closed. I work monday-friday from 9-12 : 2-530 … anyone know how we can pull this off. anyone know the office hours / test hours ?
thanks for the help.
[quote=“bradandjack”]
I know the obvious solution is to take time off work but my mechanic won’t give me my new scooter until I have a license so I don’t want to wait until I can get the time off unless I have to.[/quote]
When I bought my scooter in Taipei, the mechanic did the same thing. He wouldn’t give me the scooter until I showed him my driver’s license. At the time, I thought it had something to do with the registration, ie he had to photocopy my license to turn in with the other paperwork required for change of ownership. Who knows.
In the end, I just borrowed my friend’s scooter for the test. And I’m glad I did. I was no expert on riding scooters at that time. I bought a 125cc and my friend’s scooter was a 50cc. When it came time for the driving test, I’m sure I would have failed if I had the 125cc.
I hadn’t really paid much attention to the guy taking the test ahead of me, except to notice that he failed on 2 attempts! I thought that after the first part of the test, where you have to ride it slowly and stay between the lines, you stopped and THEN continued around the bend.
But of course you DON’T stop–you just continue around the curve until you hit the railroad tracks or something. If I had been on my heavier 125cc, I would have stopped, put my foot down on the ground, and failed. Since the 50cc was so light, I was able to see my error and correct it (by speeding up and continuing around the curve) without failing.
As for WHEN you should take the test, I’d just tell your boss that you need one hour off in the morning–come in at 10am. That should be more than enough time for you to take the ‘health’ and written exams. An hour’s lost wages more than compensates for the freedom of having a scooter!
In case anyone finds themself in the same position, here’s how it all worked out. I went to get the health check done at the place across the street, they opened at 13:10. I forgot to bring photos with me so they took some, everything was done in about 15 minutes. Things we’re moving really slowly and then we told them we were in a hurry and they were fantastic about making thing happen. I can’t remember how much the whole thing cost but it wasn’t much. The next day I went back to the dmv for the test. That part opens at 13:00. You go up, give them your health check , arc and pay a fee. I think my health check said i was getting a 100cc license, i guess this costs more, i ended up getting some money back. After that you wait around for a bit and then they call you to write the test. the test is really easy, took me about 5 minutes for that part. Some questions really didn’t make any sense in English, that was the only hard part. The computer screen gives you your score at the end then you get to go wait some more. She came out and handed me my license and arc and i had to pay her 400 nt, or something like that. Very informal, I wasn’t even 100% sure if I was holding a license in my hand when I walked out of there. All in all pretty simple, although the practical test didn’t look like it would be so fun.