The Specified Skilled Worker system took effect in 2019, enabling foreign nationals who have completed three or more years of Technical Intern Training to work in Japan for an additional five years.

Going forward, more foreign nationals are expected to consider obtaining a car or motorcycle license in Japan.

Against that backdrop, this article explains the procedures for converting a driver’s license obtained overseas.

Conditions for Converting an Overseas Driver’s License

There are only two conditions for conversion:

〇 After obtaining the foreign license, the holder stayed in that country for a total of three months or more.

・ A driving license record (history) certificate issued by the foreign licensing authority (foreign administrative agency), showing the date of issue, renewal records, and similar information

・ The previous license before the current foreign license was renewed

・ A certificate concerning the details of the foreign license issued by a foreign administrative agency, or similar documentation

・ Foreign entry and exit certificates, or similar documentation

〇 The foreign license is valid in the country of issue.

Required Documents for License Conversion

〇 Foreign driver’s license

〇 Japanese translation of the foreign driver’s license

Translation bodies whose translations are accepted

・ The foreign administrative agency that issued the license, or a consular office of that country

・ A foreign corporation or similar entity recognized by the National Public Safety Commission

・ A corporation designated by the National Public Safety Commission

〇 Passport

〇 Residence card

〇 Certificate of residence (juminhyo)

〇 Photograph (3 cm × 2.4 cm)

Other

For Brazilian nationals

Certificate of driver’s license renewal records

For Filipino nationals

Official receipt and provisional license

For Australia and Saudi Arabia

If the date of license acquisition is not shown on the license, a history certificate

Hong Kong

ID card

Other countries

Depending on the case, a driving license history certificate or an identity document from the country concerned may be required.

Procedure Flow

Document review → Aptitude test → Knowledge check → Skills check → Pass and license issuance

Document Review

Staff at the counter will check the documents you need to submit.

Aptitude Test

Minimum checks required for driving a motor vehicle, such as eyesight, are conducted.

Specifically, as with ordinary driver’s license acquisition or renewal, a vision test and a color recognition test are administered.

Knowledge Check

If you answer at least 7 of 10 questions correctly, you are judged to have no issues and proceed to the skills check.

If you are judged to have issues on the knowledge check and take it again, an examination fee is required each time.

The knowledge check is simply a 10-question true/false test taken on a computer.

It is at a level that can be passed with basic knowledge of Japanese traffic rules. You can take the test not only in Japanese but also in various other languages, including Vietnamese.

Below are some sample questions that appear on the knowledge check.

Q: When turning right at an intersection, oncoming two-wheeled vehicles going straight may be hard to see, so you must exercise sufficient caution.

Answer: 〇

When a two-wheeled vehicle is traveling immediately behind an oncoming car, it may be hidden in the car’s blind spot, so particular caution is needed when turning right.

Q: When turning left, you may collide with bicycles or motorcycles, so you must check immediately beforehand.

Answer: 〇

Two-wheeled vehicles or mopeds may be traveling in the blind spot to the left rear of your vehicle, and turning left can cause an accident by cutting them off. You must check the left rear (blind spot) immediately before turning left.

Q: I drank alcohol at home, but only a little, so I drove to go shopping.

Answer: 〇

You must not drive a vehicle when under the influence of alcohol, or when affected by narcotics, stimulants, thinner, or similar substances. The same applies if you drank the night before and are still affected when driving the next morning.

Q: A pedestrian was about to cross near an intersection without a crosswalk, so I honked the horn to warn them and continued through.

Answer: 〇

When a pedestrian is crossing at or near an intersection without a crosswalk, you must not impede their passage.

Reference site: https://jdl.asia/ja/special/effect-measurement-problems/

Skills Check

After passing the knowledge check, in many cases you book a later date for the skills test. During busy periods, it can take more than a month after passing the knowledge check to secure a skills test reservation, so you need to allow enough time. The skills check is conducted on the designated day on the on-site course. Using the course inside the testing center, you drive the route prescribed for each license type, and a score of 70 points or more out of 100 is judged as having no issues.

Countries Exempt from the Knowledge and Skills Checks

Foreign nationals of the nationalities listed below are exempt from the knowledge and skills checks; however, almost none of the home countries of Specified Skilled Workers are included.

Iceland, Ireland, United States (limited to Ohio, Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland, and Washington), United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Canada, South Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Hungary, Finland, France, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg, Taiwan

Procedures for Converting to a Moped License

We have outlined the procedures for converting an overseas car license to a Japanese license, but many foreign nationals first want to convert to a moped license.

Document review → Aptitude test → Knowledge check → Pass and license issuance

The above is the procedure for converting to a moped license.

For moped license conversion, depending on the location, it may be possible to obtain the license in a single day, and because there is no skills test, the process is very straightforward.

In particular, many foreign nationals obtain a moped license because they do not hold a car license in their home country and obtaining one in Japan involves considerable time and cost.

That may be fine for foreign nationals living in relatively urban areas, but for those working at accepting organizations that run farms in rural areas, the nearest supermarket is often far enough that a bicycle is not practical, so some companies provide a moped for commuting and errands.

Examples of License Acquisition by Technical Intern Trainees and Specified Skilled Workers

Technical Intern Trainees

As already noted, some technical intern trainees obtain a license because it is necessary for daily life while training on a farm, while others obtain one for travel between construction sites and similar workplaces.

A point requiring caution is that technical intern trainees often cannot speak Japanese and frequently lack the financial means to cover compensation if they cause an accident, so supervising organizations (cooperatives) and accepting organizations need to allow them to obtain a license only with a clear understanding of the risks involved.

Specified Skilled Workers

In most cases, Specified Skilled Workers already have three or more years of work experience in Japan and a certain level of Japanese ability, but many do not have Japanese skills sufficient to handle an accident on their own.

Going forward, as Specified Skilled Workers they will be able to work in Japan for a total of more than ten years including Technical Intern Training, and in the construction and shipbuilding fields unlimited work and family accompaniment will also be possible, so obtaining a driver’s license is likely to become necessary for daily life.

Summary

This article has explained the procedures for converting a driver’s license.

With the start of the Specified Skilled Worker system, many foreign nationals are expected to want to convert licenses obtained in their home countries through procedures in Japan going forward.

Because rules can differ depending on countries where examinations are waived and on the licensing center handling the procedure, we recommend confirming the details once before starting the process.