Watch out Autobahn, here I come
[Headbang8, I recommend skipping this post...]
Woo hoo, let's hear it for efficient bureaucracy! (And you thought that was an oxymoron.) Although not quite as speedy as in Switzerland, we have managed to procure ourselves some German driver's licenses, and it was relatively pain-free.
Whereas in Switzerland all US licenses are equally and deliciously exchangeable for Swiss ones, in Germany some US licenses are more equal than others. Depending on which state issued your license, you may be subjected to a written exam, a practical exam, both, or neither (you can check out how your US license stacks up here).
Or you could just trade in your Swiss license and be done with it. That is, if you happen to be lucky enough to have one.
It took two trips out to the big old German DMV (or Fahrerlaubnisbehörde - how's that for a beautiful word?), each visit involving a token amount of waiting (less than half an hour in each case). Apparently the Germans don't trust their postal system as much as the Swiss do, because instead of mailing us the licenses when they were ready, they mailed us a piece of paper inviting us to come pick them up. And while Switzerland let us keep our US licenses, Germany held on to our Swiss ones. But still, the whole process was simple and not overly paperwork-laden, and our German licenses are the magical kind that never expire. Yippee!
13 comments:
When I heard that I'd have to take a driving test to drive legally here in the UK, I decided it wasn't worth it. It would have been more convenient to have a car but we've survived this long. We're moving to Singapore in a couple of months anyway so problem solved!
So am I reading it correctly, that a Texan license doesn't even qualify you for a provisional license in Germany (and is only one of three states that the licenses are considered essentially worthless ? )
Sounds about right. I was horrified by the driving test I took here. Please drive around the block at 20mph. Congratulations. You've passed the practical exam.
Now, does taking cannabis while driving improve, impair or have no effect on your driving ability ? ... Correct. You've passed the written test too.
Enjoy driving on the freeways!
Sounds like the Tennessee test was quite similar to the Texas one...
There are a bunch of states completely missing from the German list. I'm going to guess that those are completely worthless for trade-in value. So that Texas appears at all must be a good thing?
i pulled the same trick with the french! (california for swiss and then swiss for french, the french dont take california). soooo nice not to have to take all the lessons.
The best thing on your licence is the big "Führer" written on it. I though the "Führer" is abolished in Germany? The Swiss call it "Führerausweis", and the German "Führerschein". I love that little difference. Both words remind me of "Führer-Hauptquartier" and "Führer befiehlt, wir folgen". :-)
CU, Jens
It was a straight exchange for me - but I had a Quebec license. Yay French chauvinism!
Germany treats Canadian drivers just as arbitrarily. Because I'm from BC, I had to take lessons and go through a written and driving test. Had I been from Quebec or Alberta, for example - universally recognised elsewhere in Canada as having the country's worst drivers - I could have paid a 50DM processing fee and been on my way. Instead it cost me more than 1000 and many hours of wasted time.
Der Führer war ein armes Schwein,
er hatte keinen "Führer-Schein" ;-)
By the way, he really did not have a driver's licence, only a license to kill obviousliy.
Congratulations!
Enjoy.
Kansas was a direct-trade state, so I lucked out. But trust me, I would have been figuring out how to get the license from an accepted state if for some reason Kansas wasn't on the list.
Lucky! Here in Spain my U.S. license means nothing, and although I´ve been driving for 15 years now, I still have to sign up at a driving school, pay several hundred euros in classes, then study for a LONG theoretical exam (which I´ll opt for the Spanish version, since I´ve heard the translated English version makes no sense at all), then a practical exam, and then for the first year of having my license I can´t go past 100 km per hour. All of that and they don´t even send you a nice, nifty little card. You get a pink peice of paper that you have to fold all up in your wallet. WTF???
yeah, georgia isn't on the list. so i guess i'll never be driving in germany ...
Scott's photo looks like a cast mug shot from Das leben der Anderen.
I had to retake a driving test in Australia, which I failed the first time by blasting through a school zone at the normal speed.
My defense? "I didn't know catholic schools counted"
Snooker,
The trick of getting a license from another state simply doesn't work in Germany. They check to see that the date of issue is before your first Anmeldung bei der Meldebehörde.
When I found out that my New York license counted for zilch, I travelled back to Japan (where I still had an address and renewed my lapsed Japanese driver's license. They checked the dates and said nein danke.
Now I have to do the whole bleedin' thing over again. So far I've completed the first aid course (very thorough) and the eye test. Next comes the written test and a prac.
I am insanely jealous of all you who can swap yours so easily.
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