WA - visa validation and your driving license.

[OilDigger]

Following some posts on WA driving licenses I made a formal enquiry to the DPI Licensing Customer Contact Centre WA.

 

It is related to the fact we will be validating our residents visas before actually making the permanent move.

 

I'll post the text of the enquiry below for those who wish to read it however the bottom line is the clock starts ticking for your 3 months period of grace as soon as validation occurs, so my wife and I will need to get our WA licenses in August whilst there validating.

 

If we waited until our return and it was over the 3 months then we would need to sit the exams, if any members have any experience of this it would be good to hear your outcomes.

 

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Enquiry Details - My wife and I were granted a VE176 permanent resident visa on the 20th November 2008, which we intend to validate this August 2009 before returning to live in WA by the end of 2009 or early 2010. Can you advise us on when we need to apply for a WA state license as I understand it is noramlly within 3 months of arrival - however we will be returning to the UK once our vias''s are validated, so should we obtain or licenses whilst in WA in August or can we wait until or permanent move?

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

If you are becoming a permanent resident of Western Australia, you have three months in which to transfer your driver licence. If you are in Western Australia on a visitor, student or temporary visa you may continue to drive using your home countries driver licence, provided that it is still valid and has not expired.

 

 

• To transfer your overseas driver licence you will need to attend a Western Australian Licensing Centre or regional Licensing Agent. To find the address of your nearest centre/agent, please visit our website. Licensing Centre addresses are also listed in the White Pages under Planning and Infrastructure (Department for).
  

 

Licensing Centre opening hours are from 8.15am til 4.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). Regional agents opening and closing times may vary, so please check these times before attending.

To transfer your licence, you will need to bring the following identification with you -

· Passport

· Overseas driver licence

· Secondary identification that displays your signature, such as an ATM card or credit card

· Proof of residency, i.e. something that displays your Western Australian address, such as a bill, bank statement or lease agreement.

At the centre/agent you will be required to complete an eyesight test.

You will qualify for exemption from the computerised theory test (CTT) and practical driving assessment (PDA) for car © and motorcycle ® classes if the issuing authority for your driver licence is included in the list of 'recognised countries' below -

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Ireland, Isle of Man*, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malta^, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.

* - licences issued on or after 1 November 1991

^ - licences issued on or after 2 January 2004

All other applicants will be required to undergo a multiple-choice question test on Western Australia's road rules (CTT). This test is based on information in the Drive Safe Book. Those who need to complete the test will be required to attend a Licensing Centre/Agent before 3.45pm.

A practical driving assessment for each class of licence will also be required.

 

To transfer a heavy vehicle licence class you must pass a CTT relating to specific road rules, size and dimensions of heavy vehicles. The test will comprise of 10 questions of which you must get 8 correct to pass. You must also pass a PDA.

Please note, if your overseas licence is not written in English you will need to produce an official translation from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs at the time of transfer. Their office is located at -

45 Francis Street

Northbridge WA 6003

Telephone: (08) 9261 2266

Alternatively, the licence may be translated by your Consulate. In this case the translation must be on an official Consulate letterhead and be signed by the Consulate General or other authorised officer. You may also have your licence translated by an approved National Accreditation Authority Translators & Interpreters (NAATI) translator. There is a fee for this service.

The fees payable if transferring your C or R class driver licence from a 'recognised country' are:

· Transfer fee of $36.20

· Standard licence renewal fee of $36.60

The fees payable if transferring your driver licence from a 'non-recognised country' or if transferring a heavy vehicle class are:

· Computerised theory test fee of $17.40 for each class being transferred.

· Application fee of $68.30 for each class being transferred - this fee includes one practical driving assessment.

· Standard licence renewal fee of $36.60 once the practical driving assessment is passed.

Payments can be made by cash, cheque, money order, EFTPOS or credit card (Visa and MasterCard only) at any centre/agent. Please make all cheques and money orders payable to the Department for Planning and Infrastructure

If you require further information please do not hesitate to reply to this email. Alternatively, you can visit our website, www.dpi.wa.gov.au/licensing or call our Customer Contact Centre on 13 11 56 or 08 9427 6404 if you are calling from outside Australia.

Kind regards,

Kym

Senior Consultant

Communications Team

Kym,

Thanks for the reply however i'm still not clear on the scenario I described for my up comming visa validation.

Our visas will be a permanent resident visas - not temporary, student or visitor, however the visit is to validate the visas only, which we have one year to do from issue.

We will arrive in WA on the 15th August at which point the visas will be validated allowing us to come and go as we please, we do not intend to set up residency during this visit, that will be towards the end 2009 or early 2010, however if our visa is active from the 15th August does that mean we need to obtain our driving licences in that 3 months or can we wait until our permanent return?

What I'm alluding to here is that if we wait until residency and turn up to register for licenses with the visa that has been valid since August 2009 will we still qualify for the license exemption transfer or would we need to sit the exams ?

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

You will have 3 months to transfer your drivers licence from 15/08/2009, when your permanant residence visa becomes active.

If you require further information please do not hesitate to reply to this email. Alternatively, you can visit our website, www.dpi.wa.gov.au/licensing or call our Customer Contact Centre on 13 11 56 or +61 8 9427 6404 if you are calling from outside Australia.

Kind regards,

Francesca

Consultant

Communications Team

DPI Licensing Customer Contact Centre

We have a large selection of forms available on our website for your convenience. Please visit www.dpi.wa.gov.au/licensing/14811.asp

[ali]

I didn't know that .... although we didn't do a validation trip, it will be interesting to see if anyone who has - has had problems changing their licence. One of the problems is on your validation trip - you won't have a permanent address to give them, and also your card gets sent to you by post.

 

Ali

[Guest akj]

Oh this was also a new info for me. Is there any way to offset the three months period, since for the validation trip, we dont have any perm address

[OilDigger]

I'm unsure about the address issue, I assumed from the other posts I had read a hotel , lease etc. would be fine. I've now raised these issues directly, I'll post the reply when I get - don't hold your breath these two replies have taken around 6 weeks to get.

 

As far as I'm aware you cannot offset it, I suggest you contact them directly with your own circumstances and see what they say, there is a contact / query section on there website http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/licensing

[keily]

hi guys ...this issue was bugging me slightly so i took it upon myself to phone the licensing agency here in perth ....lovely girl called rachael provided me with this info

 

you do not need to change it over in aug .....its when you start living in wa your 3 months is taken from ...as your uk licence will suffice when you come to validate .....however if you want to change it in aug ...you have to fill in a statutory declaration to say you have perminent residency and this would cover any need for proof of address

hope this helps

mrs keily

[ali]

Good on ya Mrs K ... bet it was bugging you wasn't it

[OilDigger]

Thanks Mrs. K for taking the time out for that, much appreciated.

 

Just shows though you turn up one day and you get a new license :biggrin: , the next you may be revising the highway code :shocked:.

 

Hopefully the reply will guide us to the stat dec. you mentioned and if that is so we will go along and get our licenses in August, just incase, as with most countries it's difficult to believe the government and it's agencies at times.

[keily]

Thanks Mrs. K for taking the time out for that, much appreciated.

 

Just shows though you turn up one day and you get a new license :biggrin: , the next you may be revising the highway code

 

Hopefully the reply will guide us to the stat dec. you mentioned and if that is so we will go along and get our licenses in August, just incase, as with most countries it's difficult to believe the government and it's agencies at times.

 

no probs .....but its a pity the goverment agencies dont actually work along side the immigration department when it comes to advising peeps on the things you need to know when you actually get here ...believe me i went round in circles before she gave me this info ...just hope its correct :wacko:

mrs keily

[OilDigger]

OK folks as noted here is the Q and A, as Mrs. K found out it isa stautory declaration but they still seem to be going with AUgust for us IE. they haven't said we can wait.

 

To: Contact.Centre@dpi.wa.gov.au

Subject: Licensing General Enquiry

Francesca,

Thanks for the reply and clearing things up, can you please advise us on the identification part of the process EG.

To transfer your licence, you will need to bring the following identification with you -

· Passport

· Overseas driver licence

· Secondary identification that displays your signature, such as an ATM card or credit card

· Proof of residency, i.e. something that displays your Western Australian address, such as a bill, bank statement or lease agreement.

The first two items are no issue, however will our UK ATM / Credit cards be sufficient, also we will have no permanent residency at this time; we will be stopping with friends for the period in WA and will be also staying with the same friends on our initial return when taking up our residency, can you advise on what identification is required for this section.

 

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

Your UK bankcard will be fine. If you notify us of your address we can post you out a statutory declaration, Verification of WA residency which your friends whom you are staying with will be able to fill in for you as you do not have any documents with your name and WA address.

 

 

We will be going along in August, better safe than sorry - I'll make enquiries when there and if it can be done any differently I'll let you know.

[eammon]

what is the eyesight test ie 9/12