Job Discussion Forums

[JonnyB61]

Dear Folks
What follows is a copy of an email that I have just sent to the British Consulate General in Osaka. If, after reading it, anyone can shed any light on the questions I raise at the end then I'd be pleased to hear from you. For the entertainment of readers I will give more details of the ridiculous questions that I was asked but I'll add them tomorrow because I've really had enough of the whole thing for one day, and I'm fed up with typing. In fact, I need a drink! Cheers!

Dear Sir / Madam

I am sending this email to ask for your guidance and advice on the issue of exchanging a UK Driving Licence for a Japanese Driver�s License.

Today, Thursday 5th April 2007, I attended an appointment at the Kumamoto Driver�s License Center in order to execute the transaction mentioned above. I took a Japanese friend along as a translator and I supplied all the documents that JAF told me I would need, including bank statements from last year to show that I had lived in the United Kingdom for at least 3 months after the issue of my UK licence, (it was issued in 1980!). The officer who interviewed me refused to accept my bank statements as proof of residence claiming that someone else could have been using my ATM card while I was out of the country. He then proceeded to ask me to explain every single transaction on each statement asking questions such as:

�What�s this one?�
�It�s a supermarket purchase�
�What did you buy in the supermarket?�
�I can�t remember. Does it matter?�
� Try to remember.�
�Groceries, probably.�
�Soooooooo!�

He then went on to ask endless questions irrelevant to driving licenses or motoring matters before producing a form that he asked me to complete explaining all the stamps in my passport with destinations, dates of entry / exit into foreign countries and the reasons for my visits. I pointed out that these were immigration questions with no connection to motoring matters and that the details were my private business. He told me that if I completed the form he would accept that I had lived in the UK for at least 3 months. I couldn�t see how that information would prove what he said so I declined to give it. For refusing to supply that information he refused to issue a Japanese Driver�s License, my documents were returned and the interview was concluded after about 2 � hours.

Having briefly outlined the events, I would be grateful for your advice on the following points.

1. Am I right in my belief that Japan and the United Kingdom have a reciprocal agreement to honour each other�s driving licences? I know from the experiences of Japanese friends that it is far more straightforward for them to obtain an exchange licence in the UK.

2. Exactly what proof of residence in the UK do the DLC want to see if bank statements are not sufficient? (I asked this question but received no answer.)

3. Do the DLC have the right to demand such detailed information from my private life such as supermarket purchases and reasons for visits to other countries, in order to issue a driving licence? To me these seem to be irrelevant intrusions and I wonder if the officer concerned was following correct procedure or exceeding his authority in an over-zealous manner.


4. Under the circumstances, could you tell me if there are any procedures for appeals and / or complaints? If so, do you believe that they would be of any benefit to me and could you advise me on how to implement them?


Thank you for your attention in this matter and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully


Jonathan G Bradshaw
[/b]

[Gordon]

Sounds similar to the questions I were asked, so am not sure why you question the idiotic nature of their probing questions. Standard procedure to me. They also asked me what percentage of drivers in Canada pass their driving test, I said 32%, I of course have no idea, but it satisfied him.
Prepare to give and answer or bluff for any and all questions. They can and will do whatever they please. You are the one who wants the license so play their game.

[canuck]

Jonathan,

When was your passport issued? Did you have your passport while you were in England? That would prove that you were there. Or you could provide information that you have insured a vehicle in the U.K.?

You should have just did your best to answer the questions, provide them with information and give them what they want. Pretty simple. Seems like you flew off the handle and wasted 2 1/2 hours. Try again another day, and make sure you don't deal with the same person.

[Chris21]

[madeira]

Proving residency... do you have Council tax bills in your name? That would be pretty conclusive, I think. Even if you were exempt from the tax, you should have some correspondence. If you were living with parents or such, maybe they could make a document declaring you were living with them and have it notarised?

You have a driver's record, right? (You may call it an abstract.) That should show the issue date.

Just some ideas.

[G Cthulhu]

[osakajojo]

Better yet, just go in there by yourself with no translator. They will probably ask you less questions if they know that you can't understand their questions.

[voodoochild]

Jonny B61.... i agree with you.... they are asking stupid questions ...its another example of Japan at its most stupid.... could also be racism... go to the British Embassy and tell them to follow it up.... too many people here just accept too much crap in Japan like this

[gaijinalways]

Yes, it sounds like you took it too personally. I found the schenanigans at the DLC annoying too.

It went like this for me;

1 Couldn't complete my application as I was missing a document they didn't tell me about.

2 Brought all they told me, and discovered I needed to bring my old license and old passport as my newer ones were not used long enough (to show the dates in the US and periods I could have been driving, CT doesn't keep records for some reason to show I have driven since '76).

3 Came third time and applied. Took the oral exam and aced it. Made appointment for driving test.

4 Came in morning, ran a light.

5 Stopped at last stop sign, not long enough for the examiner. He passed the Japanese guy who left his turn signal on through a whole curve.

6 Was told my turns were not straight.

7 Was told I didn't stop far enough back for one white line.

8 Burned my coat on the kerosine heater they had in the examing room, with this Japanese guy next to me telling me my coat was on fire after it had already had burned through the outer coating.

Passed the exam, but lost a coat .

[Glenski]

Gotta agree with others who say that bank statements don't prove residency time. I had just renewed my license in the USA before coming here, so I had not had 3 months on that license, so I was forced to get a document from my motor vehicles division back home that said when my original license had been issued. Perhaps this is the driving record madeira is referring to. That, and my passport information (I don't even recall if they looked at it), as Cthulhu pointed out, was enough to clearly and unmistakably prove how long I had been driving on that license in the USA. (Years, not merely months.)

I don't know the process for a transfer of a UK license, but to hear that you actually had to endure a 2.5 hour grilling sounds unusual and that perhaps something prompted their suspicions. Some drivers license stations are known for their apathy towards certain foreigners, too. Don't know if this was the case.

I don't think you are going to get much sympathy from your home office, but best of luck.

[womblingfree]

Surely a passport has all the relevant information to prove you were in the country?? If not then credit card statements, income tax receipts, council tax bills, utility bills etc should all OK.

Anyway, I found that my international driving licence issued from the UK was enough to get me driving around.

It's fully valid in Japan for a year and then you can just renew it.

I think it's far more difficult for Americans.

[Odango]

I had a similar problem with my pursuit of getting a Japanese licence too.
I took at the documents it said I would need, but still I was grilled as to what I was doing in the UK during the time I got my licence. My UK licence by the time I arrived in Japan was only 13 months old so I think that's why they asked so many questions. They even asked if they could see my wife's passport and all sorts of odd things which freaked me out alittle since like you said, I had everything it said I needed well prepared.

In the end I got the Japanese licence and have since been burning up Japanese streets

[Glenski]

[womblingfree]

[Grasshopper]

Wombling, you may have had no trouble renewing the international license, but it is actually illegal to drive with it in Japan past 12 months of residency here.

You have to leave the country for 3 months or come back on a tourist visa for the international permit to be valid for driving in Japan.

If you get stopped while using an international permit and have been in Japan for over 12 months, it is the equivalent of driving without a license, which carries stiff fines, and points against you should you ever get your Japanese license.

Even though it`s a lot of trouble, the best thing to do is convert it.

http://www.japandriverslicense.com/lic.htm

G