Driving with a Foreign licence in Singapore

revhappy · Post by **revhappy** » Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:57 pm

The way I interpret it is: you can ride in SG with your foreign DL upto 12 months. Beyond 12 months if you intend to ride in SG you need a SG DL. They have not said that conversion will not be allowed after 12 months. Which means you can convert your foreign DL even after 12 months, provided you dont ride during the period.

Post by **Strong Eagle** » Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:03 pm

revhappy wrote:The way I interpret it is: you can ride in SG with your foreign DL upto 12 months. Beyond 12 months if you intend to ride in SG you need a SG DL. They have not said that conversion will not be allowed after 12 months. Which means you can convert your foreign DL even after 12 months, provided you dont ride during the period.

Nice fairy tale interpretation. If you know people who have done this, they have received an exception. I'll bet you 100 dollars that if you call SPF, they will tell you your interpretation is full of sh*t.

Post by **x9200** » Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:07 pm

I can see they changed their web page more recently but I do not know whether there was any change in the underlaying regulation. The fact from the past not that far long ago was as I mentioned and this I confirmed directly with the traffic police. This is one thing. The other thing is that you should not confuse formal regulation with a practice as the may not necessary be the same. I converted my car DL after 6y of living here but this is at their discretion whether to allow for this or not. Same for the requirements of the legaly translated DL if not in English. Mine was not and still was accepted thanks to their common sense being in place.

revhappy · Post by **revhappy** » Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:20 pm

I have registered for the BTT and my test date is 6th July. I came to SG on 26th June 09 and my EP start date was 3rd July 09.

I just hope my license gets converted. Coz I ve been riding for the past couple of months and now my bike is an extension of myself. Cant even imagine using any other mode of transport

. It will be a pain to go thru the normal process of getting a license. I believe you need to "practice" riding for 6 months and during that period cant use expressways

Post by **Strong Eagle** » Sun, 20 Jun 2010 8:06 am

revhappy wrote:I have registered for the BTT and my test date is 6th July. I came to SG on 26th June 09 and my EP start date was 3rd July 09.

I just hope my license gets converted. Coz I ve been riding for the past couple of months and now my bike is an extension of myself. Cant even imagine using any other mode of transport . It will be a pain to go thru the normal process of getting a license. I believe you need to "practice" riding for 6 months and during that period cant use expressways

Your dates for taking the BTT are fine. I've never seen someone penalized because they could not get a test date set before the year passed.

I agree. You don't want to have to go thru the license process. You'll be lucky to do the rider course in six months.

ram83 · Post by **ram83** » Wed, 23 Jun 2010 3:48 am

Hi you may find some useful info on the Traffic Police Singapore website.

http://driving-in-singapore.spf.gov.sg/ ... ersion.htm

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Wed, 23 Jun 2010 6:57 am

Yep, say basically the same thing we've already said. Why, you might ask? Because that's were we got the information.

You will find that and dozens of other useful links in my links page below.

Garlickbred · Post by **Garlickbred** » Tue, 21 Dec 2010 9:47 am

Guys. I was in more or less the same predicament and chanced upon this thread. I hold a valid Hong Kong drivers licence and have been in Singapore > 1yr. Having just got off the phone with the helpful Traffic police dept., I can confirm the following information was relayed to me. If I wish to drive in Singapore now, I can only do so after getting my licence converted to a local. Which also means, I dont have to take any driving tests etc, just the written. phew!

The law stipulates that you can only drive with a recognized foriegn drivers permit for 1 year. Beyond which you would need to convert to a local permit.

GoTheCon · Post by **GoTheCon** » Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:34 pm

I have just read this entire thread with some interest. On the basis of the dicsussion now being a few months old, can anybody provide a definitive answer to the following question ...

* I have been here for more than four years, holding an EP then a PEP throughout. I did not convert my Australian driver's licence within the first 12 months of my arrival. Am I required to undergo a full driving test or can I convert my Australian licence by simply passing a Basic Theory Test at one of the three accredited centres in Singapore?

With the greatest of respect, I'm keen to hear from anyone with personal experience in this area, rather than 'educated guesses'.

Post by **x9200** » Sun, 27 Feb 2011 6:41 am

GoTheCon, what i wrote earlier was not an educated guess. Go, pass BTT and approach the police counter in your driving centre. You should not be disappointed (unless something has changed more recently).

revhappy · Post by **revhappy** » Sun, 27 Feb 2011 9:55 pm

GoTheCon wrote:I have just read this entire thread with some interest. On the basis of the dicsussion now being a few months old, can anybody provide a definitive answer to the following question ...

* I have been here for more than four years, holding an EP then a PEP throughout. I did not convert my Australian driver's licence within the first 12 months of my arrival. Am I required to undergo a full driving test or can I convert my Australian licence by simply passing a Basic Theory Test at one of the three accredited centres in Singapore?

With the greatest of respect, I'm keen to hear from anyone with personal experience in this area, rather than 'educated guesses'.

I have personal experience in this area, and have succesfully got my Indian DL converted. As X9200 has advised, you can go ahead an register for the BTT and then get your license converted. Make sure that your Aussie license hasn't expired. They accept only "card type" licenses and not the booklet type.Off late they are quite strict especially on licenses that have photo smudged or if wordings are not clear etc. They might ask you to get your license verified from your embassy.

Other than that you shouldnt have any issues.

SpawnyWhippet · Post by **SpawnyWhippet** » Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:42 am

I just obtained my Singapore licenseafter 11 months in Singapore. Flashed my Aussie drivers licensed, took the BTT and passed. Recommend you pay the $10 to do the online practice exams though.

Sonic2010 · Post by **Sonic2010** » Wed, 18 May 2011 5:16 pm

Hi,
been reading through the trail as I am in the same boat.

My 1 was up on 19th April and I do not have my basic theory date until 24th May.

I am also yet to get a date for my wife who's year was also up on 19th April and we will do this tomorrow.

Reading the thread, I assume we are ok to convert after passing the thoery teast even though over 1 year.

What hasn't been stated though is the penalty of we are caught or have an incident before the conversion is done. I cant find this anywhere on the net.

Anyone know anyone who got caught?

Studyhard · Post by **Studyhard** » Sun, 24 Jun 2012 4:11 am

Strong Eagle wrote: Nice fairy tale interpretation. If you know people who have done this, they have received an exception. I'll bet you 100 dollars that if you call SPF, they will tell you your interpretation is full of sh*t.

Can i take you up on that bet?

*NiC* · Post by ***NiC*** » Tue, 22 Jan 2013 1:22 pm

Hi,

like Sonic2010 I did not convert my DL yet and the year is over. Now, just got caught on camera by hiding police man - abt 15/20kmh over limit. With a SingDL it is 130S$ and 4 points... as I did not convert my DL, what will happen now? We have a company lease car.

I could not find any info on the web...anyone knows?

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