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NSMatt
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Location: London
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 Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:46 pm Post subject: International Drivers Permit Requirements Changed! |
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Possible great news regarding International Drivers Permits. As of 2 months ago Korea was requiring foreigners to reside in Korea for 3 years prior to applying for an an IDP. I just looked on their webpage and I no longer see a reference to this condition.
Can anyone confirm that the Korean Drivers Licence Agency has changed the requirements for obtaining the IDP?
http://www.dla.go.kr/english/01_info/info06.jsp
Edit-----------
I obtained my IDP today! I am on an E-2 and have been here for only one year. I don't know the official regulations but it would appear that anyone with a Korean DL and an ARC can now obtain the International Drivers Permit.
Last edited by NSMatt on Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:26 am Post subject: |
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| I haven't heard of anything directly, but I'll keep my ears open. *bump* Maybe someone else has heard. |
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kprrok
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: KC
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:46 am Post subject: |
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| I bet the people at the Drivers' License Agency could confirm this. Why not just give them a call and ask them directly? Wouldn't that be much more accurate and faster than asking a bunch of people here who, with a few exceptions, don't give a damn about anything but their paycheck and the next round of alcohol? |
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NSMatt
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Location: London
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:57 am Post subject: |
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| kprrok wrote: |
| I bet the people at the Drivers' License Agency could confirm this. Why not just give them a call and ask them directly? Wouldn't that be much more accurate and faster than asking a bunch of people here who, with a few exceptions, don't give a damn about anything but their paycheck and the next round of alcohol? |
As we are all aware, certain rules relating to foreigners (banking in particular) tend to be inconsistent. I will be going there directly on Tuesday to find out for myself.
Ill post my findings. |
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goesslry
Joined: 19 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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i dont' know where you got your information, but I had my driver's license here for a long time, well before I was here for three years.
Go down, trade your license for theirs (if you have a trade agreement), or in my case, being american, take a written test, then trade
I've been here a long while now, and never heard anything about a 3 year thing. If there is one, i've never seen it enforced. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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| goesslry wrote: |
i dont' know where you got your information, but I had my driver's license here for a long time, well before I was here for three years.
Go down, trade your license for theirs (if you have a trade agreement), or in my case, being american, take a written test, then trade
I've been here a long while now, and never heard anything about a 3 year thing. If there is one, i've never seen it enforced. |
DL ≠ IDL/IDP |
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NSMatt
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Location: London
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| Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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| goesslry wrote: |
i dont' know where you got your information, but I had my driver's license here for a long time, well before I was here for three years.
Go down, trade your license for theirs (if you have a trade agreement), or in my case, being american, take a written test, then trade
I've been here a long while now, and never heard anything about a 3 year thing. If there is one, i've never seen it enforced. |
An International Drivers Permit is a multilingual translation of your domestic licence which permits its use in most other countries.
Korea is now issuing IDP's without the 3 year residence restriction. |
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lorenchristopher
Joined: 25 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:50 am Post subject: |
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| NSMatt wrote: |
| goesslry wrote: |
i dont' know where you got your information, but I had my driver's license here for a long time, well before I was here for three years.
Go down, trade your license for theirs (if you have a trade agreement), or in my case, being american, take a written test, then trade
I've been here a long while now, and never heard anything about a 3 year thing. If there is one, i've never seen it enforced. |
An International Drivers Permit is a multilingual translation of your domestic licence which permits its use in most other countries.
Korea is now issuing IDP's without the 3 year residence restriction. |
Wow are you serious?? This is good news for me. So even on an E-2, I just go in (as an American) take a written test and trade for an IDP? Did you take the test? Did you go to the Driver's License place in Gangnam?
Thanks!! |
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Hamlet
Joined: 18 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:42 pm Post subject: |
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Has anyone tried to do this with an expired license from home. I have a California driver's license and, unfortunately, I let it expire before getting an international license?
Do I have to take some kind of written/driving test, as if I were new to driving? Or, can I still exchange it somehow? |
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tired of LA
Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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| lorenchristopher wrote: |
Wow are you serious?? This is good news for me. So even on an E-2, I just go in (as an American) take a written test and trade for an IDP? Did you take the test? Did you go to the Driver's License place in Gangnam?
Thanks!! |
You don't trade in your DL for a IDP. You trade in your DL for a Korean DL. Yes you can do it on an E-2. As long as you have a working visa and ARC, then you're good to go. I went to the one in Gangnam and it was pretty straight forward. Don't need to know Korean to get it done, but might be faster if you did.
| Hamlet wrote: |
Has anyone tried to do this with an expired license from home. I have a California driver's license and, unfortunately, I let it expire before getting an international license?
Do I have to take some kind of written/driving test, as if I were new to driving? Or, can I still exchange it somehow? |
There is no such thing as an international license. There are international drivers permits, but those must be accompanied with a valid drivers license. I don't know if you could exchange an expired license for a Korean DL, I doubt it, but I do know that even if you could, you would have to take a written test. All Americans must take the written and physical test when exchanging their license. Canadians on the other hand only need to take the physical. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| NSMatt wrote: |
Korea is now issuing IDP's without the 3 year residence restriction. |
The 3 year residence restriction didn't apply anyway to quite a few other visa categories, including most of the F ones. Good to hear that it doesn't for E2s now either.
| NSMatt wrote: |
| An International Drivers Permit is a multilingual translation of your domestic licence which permits its use in most other countries. |
Quite correct though NSMatt is, I suspect from subsequent posts that some people are still confused here. The IDP is a multilingual translation of a domestic licence (which you might have got from a country other than your own i.e. Korea) and the IDP is issued by the authorities in the same country as the domestic licence on which it is based.
So in other words, to get an IDP in Korea you must have a regular Korean licence for it to be based on. And it'd be something you'd be needing for driving outside of Korea. If you want an IDP based on a UK/US/NZ or wherever driving licence then you have to get it from that country.
The thing that people referred above to having to take a test for would be the regular domestic Korean DL, which as has already been pointed out, is not the same as the IDP. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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| tired of LA wrote: |
| I don't know if you could exchange an expired license for a Korean DL, I doubt it, |
You're right, you can't. It has to be a still valid licence from your home (or wherever you previously lived & drove) country.
If your licence from back home has expired then I think your only options are either to get it renewed and then exchange it for a Korean one OR to go through the same procedures as Koreans themselves do to get their licence here.
BTW, I'm pretty sure holders of valid licences from all of the English speaking countries other than the US can exchange it for a Korean one and only have to do the brief physical exam to get it. |
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Tiberious aka Sparkles
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Hamlet wrote: |
Has anyone tried to do this with an expired license from home. I have a California driver's license and, unfortunately, I let it expire before getting an international license?
Do I have to take some kind of written/driving test, as if I were new to driving? Or, can I still exchange it somehow? |
As long as your domestic license hasn't been expired for more than three years, you are eligible for an IDP. |
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lorenchristopher
Joined: 25 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:50 am Post subject: |
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QUESTION: Trying to get a Korean Driver's License. My Korean friend called today to ask about this. I'm American and they said I should go to the US Embassy first and get a paper verifying that my license is not a fake one.
Anybody else have to do this??? |
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Stones1962
Joined: 26 Nov 2008
Location: Europe/Asia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:37 am Post subject: |
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| Strange, as I got my IDP the same day I got my KDL and that was 8 years ago! BTW, that was at the Kangnam office. I renew it every year with no problem. |
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