I’m very proud to announce that today I finally passed my Taiwanese driving exam and received a local driver’s license. This is no mean feat. You’ll find that many foreigners drive without a license because the process is so difficult. I would not have managed without the help of one of my students, Pisaw who helped me out nearly every step of the way.

Some foreigners can easily exchange their local licenses for a Taiwanese driver’s license, but it depends upon whether that country recognizes a Taiwanese license. Since each state in the US has its own rules, Americans have to check whether or not their state has a reciprocal relationship with Taiwan. I believe Florida does, but since New York State does not I had to take the test.

Full information on the various procedures and tests can be found on the various web pages I have listed on my del.icio.us account, with this post being the most informative. But here I just want to talk about the testing. Apart from the paperwork and medical exam the the process consists of a written test and a road test. As long as your learner’s permit is valid you can take the tests once a week until you pass. In the end I had to take each test twice, for a total of three visits, not including my initial registration last year.

Taking these tests is a good introduction to Taiwan’s test-taking culture, something about which Scott Sommers has written extensively on his blog.

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