Have I mentioned how much I love Swiss bureaucracy?
OK, actually I have.
So in this second installment of Swiss Bureaucracy Kicks Ass, let’s talk about driver’s licenses. On Thursday morning, the husband and I headed out to the Strassenverkehrsamt (the Swiss DMV) to apply for our Swiss licenses. We had to bring (1) the results of an eye test (which cost CHF 15 and took 5 minutes at our friendly neighborhood Optiker); (2) a one-page form we had filled out and signed; and (3) our US licenses. After waiting in line for, oh, 30 seconds, the mild-mannered public servant at the counter asked to see our residency permits, took our paperwork, and told us we would receive the licenses in the mail in 2 or 3 weeks.
He lied. They came 2 days later, both our new Swiss licenses and our old US ones (which now have little stickers on the back that read “not valid in Switzerland”).
Compare this to Italy or France, where a US license is worth about as much as a discarded candy wrapper. To get Italian licenses, we would have been required to take practical driving lessons and then a written exam (completely in Italian). The whole ordeal would have cost us well over 1,000 euros and who knows how many trips to dirty, smelly Italian government buildings. Don’t get me wrong – I really, really love Italy. Bureaucracy is just not exactly their strong point.
In either country, an expat is allowed to drive on his/her home-country license for the first year of residency. If you fail to apply for your Swiss license within your first year here, then the process gets a little more complicated, in that you are actually required to take the test. Definitely worth doing it in the first year. Details about the process can be found on your canton’s Strassenverkehrsamt website, which is here (in German) for Zurich.
7 comments:
Getting our Swiss licenses was easy. Getting our Swiss license plates was another story.
We shipped our car to Switzerland from the U.S. when we moved here in 2000. I knew ahead of time that I'd have to have a mechanic change some lightbulbs, etc. and put it through an inspection. That was no problem.
The problem was with Motorfahrzeugkontrolle (MFK). I ended up going back four times. Each time they told me I needed an additional sheet of paper. Finally, the fourth time, I found a man who spoke English well, I asked him if he could just tell me everything I needed so that I wouldn't have to keep coming back, and he told me what was needed was only one more "green piece of paper from your insurance company". I happened to have the insurance company's information with me, and I asked him to make a call. One minute call...info faxed...license plates in hand. The whole ordeal was incredibly frustrating, but I blame myself (for not having a better command of the language), Mrs. TBF's company (for not providing a placement service person to help me out), and MFK (for not giving me a complete list of everything I needed the first time I went). I found that MFK was incredibly disorganized...long lines...shuffled between multiple windows...etc.
Zip ahead to early 2005 when I went to MFK to change our address. Number/ticket system like the post office...incredibly organized...drivers license address changed...in and out in less than five minutes!
What a difference five years made!
And have you noticed that your Swiss license *never expires*? That's my favorite part.
AND, if we ever move back to an EU country, we can forego the tests and trade in the Swiss license. I love this thing!
Guess we're lucky we didn't try to bring any cars with us here. An experience like that would have totally burst my I-love-swiss-bureaucracy bubble.
that sounds so cool. Yes I remember them telling me the same thing and I got it in the mail about 2 ro 3 days later too. Gotta love efficiency.
My French drivers license is bigger than your Swiss one.
And it never expires either.
This will be very funny many years from now at age 89 when I get pulled over for driving on sidewalks and the officer looks at my license photo.
*sticking out tongue*
What, no chocolate bunny?
Oh my god are you lucky. In Ireland they don't accept U.S. license transfers, so you have to sit the written test then wait up to 14 months to be called for your road test, and that you can be sure you will fail because getting you to do it again for another 70 Euro is just too good for the government to give up. Needless to say, living in the city I haven't actually had to do this yet, but I am dreading the day...
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