Hi Everyone,
I’m relocating to Tokyo next month and preparing all the documents I might potentially need upon arrival. One thing really concerns me is the DL.
Long story short, I first obtained my DL in California, then a few years later moved back to Hong Kong and exchanged the California license to a HK one. Later I went to France and exchanged my HK license to a French one.. there’s a remark on my French license saying “Hong Kong” but there aren’t any indications or explanations about what that means.. (still valid as of now)
Now my concern is, since French DL is exempted from written and driving test, does Japan government accept that for ALL kinds of French DL? Or they only accept that for French DL issued from a driving test conducted in France? If the latter case is true, does it mean that I’ll need to submit the exchange application with my California license which has already expired and I’m not even sure where the expired card is now?
Thanks a lot!
3 comments
Better contact directly the JAF as your case is probably close to be unique.
Your best bet is to just make an appointment at the driving center in your prefecture to do a document review. Nobody here can really give you information since it will depend on the officers at your prefectural driving center. Much like visa renew length, it seems to depend on the mood of the guy handling your case that day. JAF can’t really help you since they just do document translation (they are like AAA).
Your case appears pretty unique, but at the same time, does it really matter?
There are only 3 possible outcomes.
a) They recognize your current license, and grant you a Japanese driving license with no test.
b) They recognize your current license, but will require you to take the simplified written and drive test to qualify for a Japanese driving license, or
c) They do not recognize your current license, and will require you to take the full written and drive test to qualify for a Japanese driving license.
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For either (a) or (b), the only things that you need to “prepare” is (1) the license must still be valid, and (2) you must be able to show that you have stayed in that country for at least 3 months after you obtained it… That’s pretty much it (well, you also need to get it translated by JAF, but that’s not something you need to do until you are here)