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Getting a driving licence?

DukesArcher

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Jun 27, 2014
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I don't have a driving licence from my native country. Is there anyway I can get one in Canada without getting the learners and having to wait a year? Am I Ben eligible for a learners as a non resident alien?
 

newtone

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Nov 10, 2010
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So you dont have a license from your home country. And you want to get Canadian license without learners license and waiting close to a year. Thats like saying I want to get into university without passing high school and not having to wait for an acceptance letter from the University. Hnmm good luck
 

Steevy

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May 31, 2014
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DukesArcher said:
I don't have a driving licence from my native country. Is there anyway I can get one in Canada without getting the learners and having to wait a year? Am I Ben eligible for a learners as a non resident alien?
No. there is absolutely no way around that without an existing driver's license from your home country. Just pass the test for learner's permit, wait a year and get new driver one (in BC).
 

polara69

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Mar 9, 2013
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DukesArcher said:
I don't have a driving licence from my native country. Is there anyway I can get one in Canada without getting the learners and having to wait a year? Am I Ben eligible for a learners as a non resident alien?
Hahahaha..thanks for the laugh of the day. Good one!
 

DukesArcher

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Jun 27, 2014
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I can get a learners licence though? I didn't mean just get a licence and start driving, I mean can I go get a learners and star learning?
 

Leon

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Jun 13, 2008
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The rules in different provinces may vary somewhat. Like in Ontario, you can get a G2 license after 8 months instead of 1 year if you go to a driving school. Look up the rules in your province.

In order to get a learners license to start the clock ticking, you need to pass an eye test and you need to pass the written exam.
 

DukesArcher

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Jun 27, 2014
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I can't afford to wait an entire year though. I can't understand why I can't just go to a driving school and then pass the test? It's like that is most other countries. I can't see the point in needing to wait a year!
 

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DukesArcher said:
I can't afford to wait an entire year though. I can't understand why I can't just go to a driving school and then pass the test? It's like that is most other countries. I can't see the point in needing to wait a year!
The simple and only real answer is: it's the law. How long you want to or don't want to wait is irrelevant.

As Leon has said, you should kick the process off as soon as you can so that you can start the learner's permit time period and get yourself closer to a full license as soon as you can.
 

Leon

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Or get one in your home country if it is faster. If you are as you say a non-resident alien, that is, you are just coming to Canada for a visit, then you will not have a problem driving on your foreign license.
 

newtone

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DukesArcher said:
I can't afford to wait an entire year though. I can't understand why I can't just go to a driving school and then pass the test? It's like that is most other countries. I can't see the point in needing to wait a year!
Optimist would say: Canadians make better drivers, less accident rates compared to other countries
Pessimist would say: Revenue for the government, more red tape bureaucracy, just like the two vertical red tapes on the Canadian flag
 

Leon

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For me, the one year wait only makes sense for teenagers as they will spend it practicing with a parent at their side. However, for an adult immigrant, many of who are in Canada without family or friends to practice their driving with, the year will just be spent waiting. However, those are the rules so there's nothing much any of us can do about it.

DukesArcher, looking at your other posts, I see that you are just a visitor in AB. As a visitor, you are not eligible for an AB license, not even a learners but you may drive on your home country license. If you have an IDP, up to one year, see http://www.servicealberta.com/1741.cfm Now, you say you don't have a license but you have a motorcycle license. Is anything keeping your from getting a motorbike to get around?
 

voltron

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Feb 26, 2014
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DukesArcher said:
I don't have a driving licence from my native country. Is there anyway I can get one in Canada without getting the learners and having to wait a year? Am I Ben eligible for a learners as a non resident alien?
Unless you have a drivers license in your home country, you have to go through the process everyone else getting a license for the first time does. I had a license from my birth nation and they just switch it out for an alberta one, with out taking a test or learning process.
 

Leon

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voltron said:
Unless you have a drivers license in your home country, you have to go through the process everyone else getting a license for the first time does. I had a license from my birth nation and they just switch it out for an alberta one, with out taking a test or learning process.
In that case you were lucky enough to come from one of the countries that has an exchange agreement with AB. Most immigrants only get credit for their home country license in the way that they don't have to wait a year before taking the road test. They do however have to pass the written and road tests in order to get a license.