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Driving tests in other countries
After four years in Spain and after four years of just letting DH drive, I've finally decided it's time to get my Spanish driver's license. Here, this is an extremely expensive venture (we're talking at least 500 euros when all is said and done) for a document I already have in the US. Naturally, I've been bitter throughout the whole process.
Getting your license in Spain sucks. Rumor has it the full driving manual has something like 1500 pages. I have to know all sorts of crazy, ridiculous, facts that I'll likely never use as a driver. Although I'm nearly fluent in Spanish, the vocabulary and wording used is ridiculous. I asked to take the exam in English (you can) but I overheard the school owner say to the secretary that she only has done that once and it was a personal favor (f*** you, lady.) If one more Spaniard tells me it's "easy", I might get violent.
My theory test is on Tuesday and I'm scared out of my mind. I'd really like to relax with DH this weekend, but I've got to study.
Is this the same case in all your countries? How are the driving exams? Are you able to trade in your old license and just get a new one, without having to do any sort of exam?
Re: Driving tests in other countries
Good luck!
We can drive here on a valid U.S. license. Since we are not required to get a Bahrain license, we haven't. I have heard that getting a local license is easy but couldn't say for sure.
In Qatar, it depends on your nationality. A lot of our friends who were European were able to just turn in their EU licenses and get a Qatari license. However, rumor has it a Qatari was offended that they had to take a test to get a US license, so they make Americans take a test to get a Qatari license. (Because we have residency permits, we cannot drive on our US/International License).
I can't speak for everyone who has had to get a Qatari license. We're lucky to be with Qatar Foundation, and they do their best to make the license process easy for their employees (bribery is not out of the question here).
The driving test has varied among all of our friends. Some people had to drive and go through a roundabout, but we never had to do that. We were given a brief sign test, and drove around the block of the Traffic Dept. It was really easy for us. Also, the driver spoke English, so we didn't know to Arabic to take the test (thank goodness).
Good luck!
Dave & Jennifer 10.18.08
My Doha Adventures
In Israel it was just a driving test for a foreign license. We had to take driving lesson first though. The test itself was fairly easy. Extra points if you honk like a crazy person
Good luck! I'm sure you'll pass!
a girl from Hawaii, living the expat experience in India.
I've been doing practice tests all day and made DH take me out to lunch to avoid cooking. I think I can do this! Poor DH is complaining of bodyaches (uh oh, we're in the middle of a flu epidemic here in our region) and whiny - it's probably a good thing I have to study and have my headphones on
Thanks everyone for your support!
In Germany it's all dependent on which state you live in and which state your from. Unfortunately, for our combination, we have to take the written test in order for to get a license. And our US license has to show that we've been licensed for at least two years (which, for Florida, only shows that date it was issued so we had to keep our old license as well). We didn't worry about this when we first moved here, but we've recently decided to get a car so now we're doing the studying. It's not fun.
There are a lot of specific questions about car maintenance and then random items on the practice test with, what feels like, missing information. For example it asks between which hours on Sundays and holidays are you not allowed to be on the road. Huh? What it is referring to is trucks, not all drivers, but it never specifies that.
It sucks here too. Lessons are expensive and the tests are REALLY hard. If you move even an inch backward at any point you fail automatically...stupid stuff like that. This means that good people don't get their licenses, while some people (who paid for theirs) are driving like maniacs. Drunk driving is also a problem here.
All that said, DH and I are just driving on our North American licenses even though we should have SA licenses by this point. Cops don't really care as long as you have a license in English. So I hear.
Moving here I had to provide my US license and two photos, wait a week and I got my flimsy pink pier of paper that tells people I an drive
(this piece of paper is valid until my 50th birthday!!)
When we moved to the US my parents both had to take the test! The examiner told my mum after taking the test that he could tell she's English as they almost always score very highly on the exam?!?!
I'm glad I didn't have to take the test here, I'd of had to do almost everything in French but the exam in English, I worked with a lady who did this and had issues taking the test because she knew the words etc in french but didn't know what they were in English! The driving manual here is just a bit shorter than the last Harry Potter book :-P
In Norway, it depends on the nationality of the existing license. Most EU countries can continue to use their licenses here, but for a US license, you have up to 1 year to convert it to a Norwegian license by paying a (pretty big) fee and taking a (rather difficult) practical test. If you wait more than a year, you have to start over as if you were learning to drive, and it requires hours and hours of mandatory classes as well as multiple written and practical tests (night driving, winter driving, etc. Even first aid, I think)!
The other thing is that you have to give up your old license when you convert it! Weird. Norway claims that it's because you can drive anywhere on a Norwegian license. The Russians are always pissed, because Russia insists that Russians have a Russian license when they're at home, and it's not easy to get a replacement. I just told the DMV that I lost mine (I did! It's lost in a Norwegian document shredder!), and got a replacement US license.