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Converting driving licence, how to prove 3 month residency?

applecore

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17 Nov 2014
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I have a UK driving licence and want to convert it to a Japanese one.

Simple enough, except I only got the licence a few weeks before moving to Japan, so failed the conversion requirement to have resided for 3 months in the licencing country. However, over the past 3 years of living in Japan I have now clocked up more than 3 months of time in the UK from trips back there. I think this now qualifies me to convert the licence, but the problem is proving the time I've spent in the UK. As a UK citizen they don't stamp my passport when I enter/exit the country.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and found some form of residence evidence (apart from passport) acceptable to the driving licence centre?
Thanks!
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very vague about it, mentioning only passports specifically.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1416226277.582633.jpg


Do you still have your old airline tickets, boarding passes, or the like?
 
I have electronic copies of the airline tickets, but I think the boarding passes are long gone.
 
I have a UK driving licence and want to convert it to a Japanese one.

Simple enough, except I only got the licence a few weeks before moving to Japan, so failed the conversion requirement to have resided for 3 months in the licencing country. However, over the past 3 years of living in Japan I have now clocked up more than 3 months of time in the UK from trips back there. I think this now qualifies me to convert the licence, but the problem is proving the time I've spent in the UK. As a UK citizen they don't stamp my passport when I enter/exit the country.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and found some form of residence evidence (apart from passport) acceptable to the driving licence centre?
Thanks!
I think the issue you may have is residency, as even though you have been back to the UK, I am guessing that you have not stopped being a J resident, but have returned to J on the same visa. Your passport will show you left J and you might be able to gather data from your frequent flyer programs of your flights(hopefully showing you went to the UK) and then like many things in Japan, it may come down to how the person in charge decides to interpret things.

I am really curios to see how this turns out so would you keep us posted.

Good luck
 
I think the issue you may have is residency, as even though you have been back to the UK, I am guessing that you have not stopped being a J resident, but have returned to J on the same visa. Your passport will show you left J and you might be able to gather data from your frequent flyer programs of your flights(hopefully showing you went to the UK) and then like many things in Japan, it may come down to how the person in charge decides to interpret things.

I am really curios to see how this turns out so would you keep us posted.

Good luck

It is a matter of physical presence in the issuing country, not residence (or residence status), as the same rules apply to Japanese citizens who acquire a license abroad and wish to convert it to a Japanese license here.
 
It is a matter of physical presence in the issuing country, not residence (or residence status), as the same rules apply to Japanese citizens who acquire a license abroad and wish to convert it to a Japanese license here.
thx

Cheers
 
I am really curios to see how this turns out so would you keep us posted

Me too. Because I want to convert my UK licence to a Japanese one. Problem is my UK licence was issued more than 30 years ago and I certainly don't have same passport or copies of any tickets from then.

I wonder how strict they are here about proving 3 months residency all those years ago.

Anyway, I know this thread is pretty old and I'm clutching at straws but interested to hear any other Brits' experiences. I'll definitely report what happens when I try anyway.
 
For me, an American, there was a form my state's office of motor vehicles could fill out. Not all states had it. Don't know if the UK has such a thing.

Eventually, I gave up renewing because my state insisted on me providing a picture taken there. So, since I travel back only rarely anyway, I just get an international drivers permit before I leave Japan. In the end, it works out well enough and could be cheaper depending on circumstances.
 
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