If you’re relocating or moving to Sydney from another part of Australia or another country, you will need to get a NSW driver or rider licence if you intend to drive / ride. Relocating to Sydney: Getting a Drivers Licence provides you with the key information that you will need. However, for full details, I recommend that you contact Roads and Maritime, which is the authority which looks after drivers licences in NSW.
What you need to do when Relocating to Sydney: Getting a Drivers Licence
You can use your existing interstate licence for up to three months, but after that you must have a NSW licence.To convert your interstate licence, you need to attend a registry or service centre in person, and:
- Take your interstate licence with you
- Provide proof of your identity and residential address
- Complete a Licence Application form
- Pass an eyesight test
- Have your photo taken
Depending on which location you attend, your NSW licence card will either be handed over the counter or posted to you. If it’s posted, you’ll receive a temporary paper licence, which you can use to drive or ride until your new card arrives.
As you cannot hold more than one Australian licence at a time, they will invalidate your interstate licence, and provide you with a receipt for it. They will also notify the issuing state or territory to cancel the licence in their system.
International drivers and riders: Relocating to Sydney: Getting a Drivers Licence
If you’re a permanent Australian resident, or hold a permanent visa under the Commonwealth Migration Act 1958, and you intend to stay in NSW, you are not considered to be a visitor. As such, you are allowed to drive in NSW on a current overseas licence for a maximum of three months. After that, you will need to apply for a NSW licence to continue driving or riding.
If you do not hold permanent Australian residency, but will be in NSW for more than 3 months, you can be issued with a Temporary Overseas Visitor licence.
New Zealand licence holders, regardless of whether they are a permanent or temporary resident, must obtain a NSW licence within three months of living in NSW or they must stop driving.
Your overseas licence will be taken into account when you apply for a NSW licence, and once you have passed any required tests, the NSW licence is issued in line with NSW’s Graduated Licensing Scheme. You then need to meet the requirements to progress through each stage.
What you need to do
To apply for a NSW licence, you must attend a registry or service centre in person and:
- Take your overseas licence with you
- If you can’t provide your overseas licence, you will need to provide a letter from the overseas licence issuing authority confirming your licence details and status, or a letter from a relevant consulate or diplomatic office (based on information received from the overseas licence issuing authority) confirming your licence details and status
- Provide proof of your identity and residential address
- Provide proof of your Australian permanent residency
- If you can’t provide this, you will be issued with a Temporary Overseas Visitor licence
- Complete the Licence Application form
- Pass an eyesight test
- Pass a knowledge test for each class of licence you require, unless you are exempt
- Pass a driving or riding test for each class of licence you require, unless you are exempt
- Pay the relevant licence fee
Depending on which location you attend, your NSW licence card will either be handed over the counter or posted to you. If it’s posted, you’ll receive a temporary paper licence, which you can use to drive or ride until your new card arrives.
As you cannot, by law, hold more than one licence at a time in Australia, the details of your overseas licence will be recorded in our system. Once you’ve been issued with a NSW licence, including a learner licence, it becomes the authority under which you can drive or ride on NSW roads. Your overseas licence is not recognised and has no authority while you hold a NSW licence.
Recognised countries
Roads and Maritime Services recognises car and rider licences from certain countries. There are two categories of recognised countries – A and B.
Recognised Country A: If you hold a licence from one of these countries, you do not have to pass knowledge and driving tests when applying for a NSW car (class C) or rider (class R) licence:
- Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Denmark
- Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey
- Ireland, Isle of Man (licences issued since 1 April 1991), Italy, Japan, Jersey, Luxembourg
- Malta (licences issued or renewed since 2 January 2004), Netherlands, New Zealand, (except for paper licences), Norway, Portugal
- Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America
Recognised Country B: If you hold a licence from one of these countries and are 25 years or older, you do not have to pass knowledge and driving tests when applying for a car (class C) or rider (class R) NSW licence.
- Latvia, Lithuania, Poland
- Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea (Republic of Korea), Taiwan
- Bulgaria, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hong Kong, Hungary (Important: Hong Kong licence holders must have held a Hong Kong licence for a minimum period of 12 months).
Non-recognised countries: If you hold a licence from any other country, you will need to pass knowledge and driving tests when applying for an equivalent NSW licence
We have only covered the key points in this article: Relocating to Sydney: Getting a Drivers Licence. For more detailed information I recommend that you contact Roads and Maritime, who manage the licencing requirements in NSW.
For full details visit:
Roads and Maritime
http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/licence/moving-to-nsw.html