Hi guys! I’m finally probably going to convert my unexpired California drivers license to a Japanese one, but from what I’m reading up online, it looks like some sort of a driving record might be required for licenses that doesn’t list a “first issued” (first licensed?) date? Does anyone know how to obtain this? Also, if anyone has any general advice about the process or what I can do to make it less painful, I would really appreciate it! Thanks in advance!
9 comments
I’ve never heard of a “first issued” issue. It’s my understanding that you had to have been in the country of issuance for more than three months after it was issued, or perhaps it had to have been issued more than three months prior to entering Japan… I don’t recall which.
The point is, even if a renewal, the issuance date is important, and it has to be more than three months before entering Japan.
If your current license was issued at least 3 months before you came to Japan (and states that license’s issue date), that should be enough to get you through.
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Hello fellow Californian. As others have mentioned, if your current license was issued 3 months before you came to Japan, you should be good to go. No need for a drivers record (fyi, due to changes in the law, the CA DMV will not issue a driver’s record with the date of first issue unless you are a part of law enforcement).
If you have renewed your CA license while living in Japan, then bringing any old licenses as well as old passports should be OK.
I converted my license a little over a year ago after living in Japan for over 10 years. Brought all of my old licenses (luckily I had one from before coming to Japan) and my old passport and had no problems (at Fuchu in Tokyo).
As for the process, I spent about half a day at the license center taking the written test (10 very simple multiple choice questions) and making an appointment for my driving test. I then spent about a total of 5 hours practicing at a local driving school. On the day of the test, I was at the license center pretty much the entire day; passed the test in the morning and then had to wait until the afternoon to get the license.
Edit: add info about the process.
The issuance date will be written on your CA license, at least it was on mine a long time ago. And, you have to have been in CA for three consecutive months after that date, and then you can transfer your license after taking the written and driving test. Only licenses from the states of Hawaii, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington can convert without taking the written and driving tests.
I’m in a similar boat but from a different state does that make a difference?
I did mine about 10yrs ago, my license had to be at least one yr old. This law is to prevent Japanese people from going to the states and getting a license on their 3 months passport and coming back and changing it. Since a Japanese license is a few thousand and a state license I think was $100~200.
Now I’m not sure if the rule has changed since. I would suggest you get the manual license because it’s “free” when you swap your license. I had to pay about ¥5000 for the paperwork.
I did mine from Australia, was a pain in the arse but at the end I got it without the test or any other stuff.
They wanted me to prove 3 months of living in Aus(despite having Australian passport isn’t valid for them , don’t know why)if I didn’t want the shoshinsha mark I will need to provide 1 year , and because I have unrestricted motorbike license they wanted 3 years so I can ride with a pillion ,
I just show them payslips form my previous work but they told me they would accept a tax report.
Edit * grammar
Yea I’m from California and I just got in the process of license translation. I printed my driving record just in case….. but never needed it