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Irish Driver's License to British Columbia Drivers License

kennykill

Full Member
Jun 15, 2011
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Hi,

Does anybody have any information about changing from an Irish Drivers License to a British Columbia Drivers License? I've checked out the ICBC website and can't seem to find any information on there (there were a couple of broken links as well so perhaps that's where the information was!).

From other forums I read United Kingdom citizens can simply convert their UK license, does anybody know if there's a similar agreement for Irish citizens?

Thanks.
 

Leon

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Jun 13, 2008
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No, only if you are from N-Ireland, see http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/moving-bc/moving-dl/most-countries

If you are from a country that has no agreement with BC, this applies: http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/moving-bc/moving-dl/other_most
 

kennykill

Full Member
Jun 15, 2011
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Thanks Leon.

From what I've read on other forums, "just landed" people have a hard time as ICBC will only accept their PR card to start the changover process but we all know how long it takes for the PR card to come. This coupled with the 90day limit to changeover it can be quite stressful.

My query is; I've already got my PR card from when I activated my residency in March 2009 but technically I haven't landed yet as I haven't moved permenantly to Canada right?
 

Baloo

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Nov 30, 2009
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kennykill said:
Thanks Leon.

From what I've read on other forums, "just landed" people have a hard time as ICBC will only accept their PR card to start the changover process but we all know how long it takes for the PR card to come. This coupled with the 90day limit to changeover it can be quite stressful.

My query is; I've already got my PR card from when I activated my residency in March 2009 but technically I haven't landed yet as I haven't moved permenantly to Canada right?
You say "I activated my residency in March 2009" = you landed on that date.

How long have you been in Canada?
 

Leon

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You have landed as a PR already. That happened when you came to activate your PR.

Your 90 days limit to change your license to a BC license have really nothing to do with your PR. That clock starts ticking only when you move to BC permanently.
 

kennykill

Full Member
Jun 15, 2011
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Baloo said:
How long have you been in Canada?
I'm not living in Canada at the moment. I only activated my PR in March 2009 cause when I was granted PR I had a year to activate it. I plan to move to Canada in Feburary 2012.

So I'll have to prove to ICBC that I'll have just moved to BC in Feburary 2012?
 

steaky

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Nov 11, 2008
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kennykill said:
I'm not living in Canada at the moment. I only activated my PR in March 2009 cause when I was granted PR I had a year to activate it. I plan to move to Canada in Feburary 2012.

So I'll have to prove to ICBC that I'll have just moved to BC in Feburary 2012?
No, you will have to prove to ICBC that you moved to BC since February 2012 and living there up to the time when you get your BC driver licence.