Due to COVID and tighter border control last year, my BC driver’s license expired. Now with the restrictions more relaxed, I intend to go back to Vancouver to renew it.
However, as I was browsing the ICBC website, the following passage [taken from ICBC](https://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/visit-dl-office/Pages/Book-a-knowledge-test-and-other-services.aspx) sounds worrying to me:
> You must be a resident of British Columbia to apply for or hold a B.C. driver’s licence. If you are unsure if you qualify as a resident, please [contact us](https://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/contact-us/Pages/default.aspx).
So I did indeed contact them via the web inquiry form, only to get a fairly vague answer:
>The requirement for residency in B.C. is that a person be ‘ordinarily resident’ in B.C. This means that they have come to B.C. for a settled purpose, and they intend to stay. Residency in B.C. is separate from a person’s immigration or Canadian citizenship status.
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> If you would like to proceed with a driver’s licence application you will need to attend a Driver Licensing Office. Please be advised that if you are found to not be a BC resident, your BC driver’s licence may be cancelled and ICBC is unable to return your out-of-province driver’s licence nor refund any fees.
**This is my 9th year since coming to Japan. However long before I left Canada, I did apply for Non-Resident status** to avoid tax-related paperworks. **Despite this I was able to renew my license approximately 6 years ago** and really wonder if this time would still be OK.
Obviously, the last thing I want is to spend a fortune going back to Canada only to find out that they refuse to let me renew.
Any former BC residents, or, unsure if other provinces have similar rules, can share some insights on this?
Or am I kind of screwed and should consider a re-test and get a Japanese license?
7 comments
You’re a resident of Japan right?
If so then the only license you should be driving on is a Japanese license.
And if on holiday/business trip overseas a Japanese license + IDP.
If you actually become a resident of Canada again, then you can drive on your Canadian license.
Also you’ve been here for 9 years? The only way you can legally drive on an IDP here is if you left for greater than 3 months before returning, and even then it’s a bit of a grey area because even though it’s legal, the IDP agreements is kinda mostly there/designed for tourists/short stay visitors, not mid to long-term residents.
I just got mine – it’s as simple as filing out the form and taking a picture, no tests
You should have gotten a Japanese license within a year of using an IDP.
Sounds like you don’t have a J drivers license. Is it the same address on your BC again, like your parent’s address? You should be ok renewing if it hasn’t be expired long enough for them to say no. But don’t give them any inkling you are not a resident of BC. Or say you have moved back if trying to get it renewed past the expiry allowance. Which would be kind of true because you need to stay at least 3 months before returning if you want to convert, skill/knowledge test free, to a JDL.
Coincidentally I found myself in the exact same situation a few years back. My BC driver’s license expired while I was living in Japan.
A few months after it expired I went back to BC for a visit and stopped by an ICBC office to see about getting it renewed. They asked me why I had let it expire and I mentioned that I was living in Japan.
That was basically the end of the conversation. No license for me.
I suspect that you are screwed. They likely allowed you to renew it before simply because they routinely process renewals without bothering to check on your residency status, but with expired licenses they pay more attention and will check on things since its sort of like you are applying for a new license.
In my case I am now without a license anywhere and am currently looking into Japanese driving school options. I really regret not having converted my BC license when I had the chance (this was a few years ago when I didn’t have a car and never felt the need to drive in Japan, but since then I’ve become a parent and I really want to be able to drive…..)
Unfortunately, you’re not eligible to renew your license as ICBC won’t issue a license to anyone without a BC address. I had to surrender mine after converting mine to a J license.
If you have let your class 5 drivers license expire more than 3 years, you will need to do knowledge test and the class 5 road test again.
you can msg me if you have some questions. i have had experience in this topic lol