Since my Permanent Residency will hopefully be awarded soon, I’ve been thinking about getting my Australian driver’s license. According to the RTA site, I only have to take a written knowledge test (since I have a valid overseas license). That’s pretty sweet. I have to prove how long I’ve had my US license though if I want to skip over the probationary levels here. There’s only one problem that I can see:
Since it is a legal requirement that only one licence can be used for driving in Australia, before your NSW licence will be issued, you must present your overseas licence to be made invalid in Australia. The overseas licence will be returned to you after holepunching plastic or laminated licences or endorsing paper licences. The holepunch or endorsement will be done at a blank area of the licence so that no licence details will be removed.
WHAT? What if I want to use my license when I travel back to the US? Does anybody know if holepunching your US license invalidates it?
aim
March 2, 2004 — 11:22 am
i don’t know, but i think your US license is screwed. when i went to get my CA license, not only did they punch a hole in my IN license, they took it from me! so i’m pretty sure the hole-punching renders it DEED.
Kris
March 2, 2004 — 11:34 am
Well, yeah, in the US, because you can only have one US license. But why would they take my perfectly valid US license away? I think they just want to mark it so that if I try to give it to a cop he’ll know to ask for my Australian one (since it’s valid for tourists to drive here on a US license). But shite, if they punched your Indiana one, maybe if I get pulled over in the US with a punched license, they’ll think I’m using an old one!
Kris
March 2, 2004 — 11:35 am
Hmm. I guess even if they do punch it, I can always just go to the BMV next time I’m in Goshen and tell them I lost the old one. It’s not like Australia can punch my replacement if they don’t know I have it!
amy
March 2, 2004 — 9:16 pm
use the Aussie one. That’s what I do
Kris
March 2, 2004 — 10:34 pm
So you don’t have a US one anymore? I guess that’s what I’ll have to do. How difficult was the test? I downloaded the manual today and it’s 150 pages! I’m a little worried.
Ben
March 3, 2004 — 6:07 am
Kind of interesting. I have an Aussie Licence, and came over to the US for a while to work.
Had to do the driving test in the US – they wouldn’t confer any credit for the Aussie Licence. However, it means I have two valid licences now!
Maybe consider that option?
Kris
March 3, 2004 — 7:25 am
What option, Ben? 🙂 I’ve already got a valid US license. The issue is just whether Australia is going to trash it when I get my Aussie one. According to the RTA site, they will. But I can always pick up another one when I go home, I guess.