Singapore Expats

I wanted to convert my Indian license to Singapore license. I passed the BTT and went for the conversion today at the Traffic police counter. My Indian license was issued during 2004 from Chennai Regional Transport office. From 2010 the Chennai office has started to issue smart card license but I havent converted mine to the smart card yet. The officer here wants me to convert to smart card before I can convert to Singapore license.
Has anyone done this?? Unfortunately the Indian high commission website is under maintenance now, so am not sure if I can do it from here? Any advise on the process would be appreciated!

randomrockz wrote:I wanted to convert my Indian license to Singapore license. I passed the BTT and went for the conversion today at the Traffic police counter. My Indian license was issued during 2004 from Chennai Regional Transport office. From 2010 the Chennai office has started to issue smart card license but I havent converted mine to the smart card yet. The officer here wants me to convert to smart card before I can convert to Singapore license.
Has anyone done this?? Unfortunately the Indian high commission website is under maintenance now, so am not sure if I can do it from here? Any advise on the process would be appreciated!

Hi did you get this sort out already?

even if you do not have a smart card, they atleast look for a hologram on your card for authenticity.
I did my conversion just few days back. My Driving License is from Bangalore- 2001, mine too was not smart card but lucky it was with a hologram!!

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Hi mpkrish,

Can you pls let me know which driving center/which officer helped you? My husband has a booklet license but he was rejected at the bukit batok center when he tried to convert his indian driving license. he has passed his BTT but the officer refused to acknowledge the Form 6 booklet license. it seems that converting from a booklet to smart card license is almost impossible from Singapore remotely...
you can pm me too if you prefer

mpkrish wrote:even if you do not have a smart card, they atleast look for a hologram on your card for authenticity.
I did my conversion just few days back. My Driving License is from Bangalore- 2001, mine too was not smart card but lucky it was with a hologram!!

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Probably has a masters.......

You can get the license attested by High Commission of India Singapore that will help you facilitate the conversion if the only grounds was confirming authenticity of the license.

randomrockz wrote:I wanted to convert my Indian license to Singapore license. I passed the BTT and went for the conversion today at the Traffic police counter. My Indian license was issued during 2004 from Chennai Regional Transport office. From 2010 the Chennai office has started to issue smart card license but I havent converted mine to the smart card yet. The officer here wants me to convert to smart card before I can convert to Singapore license.
Has anyone done this?? Unfortunately the Indian high commission website is under maintenance now, so am not sure if I can do it from here? Any advise on the process would be appreciated!

Hi,

Has anybody sorted out this problem,
I went with my Indian driving licence for conversion to Woodlands driving center. They are asking me to convert my license first to smart card license.
But in my state Kerala, this smart card license is not available.

How to sort this problem, Any help.
My license already have hologram.

Regards
Joby

joby.thampan wrote:Hi,

Has anybody sorted out this problem,
I went with my Indian driving licence for conversion to Woodlands driving center. They are asking me to convert my license first to smart card license.
But in my state Kerala, this smart card license is not available.

How to sort this problem, Any help.
My license already have hologram.

Regards
Joby

Joby you are screwed

Alternatively you can get your license converted in any other state where you have a valid address like Mumbai, Maharashtra or Delhi where they issue smart cards.

Till Kerala implements smart card system (not going to happen till your grand kids time in that commy state) you will not get this done.

Hi Joby, did you get this sorted out ? Mine is also a kerala license and am planning to convert. It is not a smart card license, but has a hologram. What is my best course of action?

greymatter wrote:Hi Joby, did you get this sorted out ? Mine is also a kerala license and am planning to convert. It is not a smart card license, but has a hologram. What is my best course of action?

As long as its a card and not a booklet, it should be ok. Doesnt have to be smart card. Even Singapore license is not a smart card.

Thanks! So I hope I won't need a verification letter from the embassy.

greymatter wrote:Thanks! So I hope I won't need a verification letter from the embassy.

Yes, the officer should be convinced that your license is not fake. In my case, I had a card license from bangalore and the officer at UBI wasnt convinced and asked me to get a letter from the embassy. I went to the embassy and they asked to go to the RTO in bangalore, I almost fainted and was considering to go to bangalore, but then I thought let me give a shot at another traffic centre and went to Bukit Batok and there the officer didnt have a problem with my license.

BTW, My Singapore license that I got in July 2010 is valid for 5 years. I need to renew it next year. Has anyone here renewed their driving license in Singapore?

I had to renew my a year and a half ago when I turned 65. I gave up one of my classifications as it seemed stupid to take a half a day off for a driving test and also have to pay for a medical every year (Class D). So I've gotten rid of it as I've not driven a Class D vehicle for 14 years now (since I moved my stuff to my flat).