+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

Issue with New Jersey Driver License Exchange in Ontario

Cmurphy9

Newbie
May 15, 2018
7
0
Guys, rather than sending DO-11 for, can we request a non-certified copy online and get the abstract immediately?
The copy has license issue as well as expiry date.

https://emvc.state.nj.us//MVC_DVRAR/AVSStart.jsp
I have already requested both a certified and non-certified copy. There isn't anywhere that says when the license was issued It has an expiration date, no issue date. Unless I am missing something.
 

Cmurphy9

Newbie
May 15, 2018
7
0
Solution: Don't stress :) Just keep driving on your US license. Mail the DO-11 form (with required payment and docs) to NJ DMV in Trenton. It will take CAD1.25 stamp to do so. From the day you mail it out, you will receive the response from Trenton in 21-25 calendar days. Thats it!
Hi,

I followed your instructions but the DMV wrote back and said they destroy all records after three years and could not provide me with anything. I don't understand how that can be true, because I have a 5 year abstract. Can you offer advise on what date you want covered?
 

rrahul963

Newbie
Apr 26, 2019
5
0
I have already requested both a certified and non-certified copy. There isn't anywhere that says when the license was issued It has an expiration date, no issue date. Unless I am missing something.
In the non-certified copy that i have the EVENT DATE is the license expiry date and POSTING DATE is when it was issued. I validated this from the driving license.
Yes, the certificate doesn't explicitly say start and end date but they have it there and if you have your dl with you then i guess you can show both the things to validate.

I am moving to Toronto next week, so will update the thread with my experience..
 

Cmurphy9

Newbie
May 15, 2018
7
0
In the non-certified copy that i have the EVENT DATE is the license expiry date and POSTING DATE is when it was issued. I validated this from the driving license.
Yes, the certificate doesn't explicitly say start and end date but they have it there and if you have your dl with you then i guess you can show both the things to validate.

I am moving to Toronto next week, so will update the thread with my experience..
I requested a complete driver history and no where on there is a license renewal. Are you talking about the driver history abstract?
 

LonOntario

Newbie
Jun 26, 2019
3
2
First, I want to thank everyone on this site for providing their experience with the NJ to Ontario license exchange. I was able to use this valuable information to navigate my way through the process of the exchange - which is insanely and unnecessarily complicated for NJ! I would like to share my experience as it may prove helpful for others.
Some background on my transfer: I’ve had a NJ license for about 25+ years, which means after I got it the first time around, I’ve had to renew it many times as they expire every 4 years.
What Ontario is looking for is 2 years of driving experience in the last 3 years and a current valid driving status with no suspensions.
I did the route of getting the driving record (both certified complete and 5 year), along with the infamous DO-11 mentioned on this forum. My current active license was just renewed in April 2019, which means an active license and the driving record with no initial licensing date is a problem. I even managed to find ALL my expired licenses and thought that was my lucky day because I have all the cards with the same record and no break in licensing activity. However, on my first visit without the DO-11, I was told old and current licenses along with a certified driving record cannot be submitted as proof of driving history in their eyes.
For the DO-11, it does get sent to Canada if you put the Canadian address in the first section of the request form. However, as mentioned by someone on this forum, what you get in return from the NJMVC explicitly states that they CAN destroy records three years after the expiration date of a document (I.e., license renewal). This means when you request a DO-11, the oldest information you may possibly get is limited if you’ve had a record for a long time like me. My DO-11 included a Transaction File Record for a license that expired in 2015, just a bit over 4 years ago. In the DO-11, they also included a sheet called Driver Inquiry that only gives you the information of your CURRENT active license. So in my case, it says expiration is set for 2023 for a license I renewed in 2019. This Driver Inquiry does not give me any more date information than my current driver license does (as I have no suspensions). Drive test rejected this because the DO-11 form I got has documentation of a license that expired in 2015 but nothing to detail the license that expired in 2019. There were many questions on this site to ask whether you need to get a DO-11 for every license you had. From what I received, I did not get my full history with one request. However, I suppose if you submit a DO-11 form with a specific date of when your last expired license was renewed, 2015 in my case, perhaps that would be good to fulfill the 2 out of last 3 years rule. Don’t do what I did for the DO-11 form request (put initial licensing date) if you have had many renewals.
Now, the complicated part is that the Drivetest employees are looking for a document called “Driver Abstract Inquiry” when it comes to NJ. This is part of their script somehow and they are trained to look for this document which they believe has the entire record of initial licensing date and all subsequent renewals. From all the hours I’ve spent trying to ask for this document, it seems that it really doesn’t exist. I even reached out to the Customer Advocacy office in Trenton and they told me the same thing - it doesn’t exist. The closest thing is the DO-11 form. There is someone on the forum that mentioned that the initial licensing date was provided in the DO-11 form but I could not get this. Perhaps it is possible for someone who got their first NJ license within the past few years and only had one renewal.
The key to remember in this whole process is that if you’ve had a license for a very long time, the initial licensing date is not that important. Sure, you want to get credit for all your years of driving so you get better insurance rates but you can do this directly with the insurance company. If you get insurance with an american company that operates in Canada, they can access your US insurance history and credit that way.
Request the DO-11 form with the initial date of your last expired license (or current one if you are still on your first) and it should be fine. I say should because I went another route that worked as well, though it may not for others. Instead of asking for another DO-11 form with different dates and waiting 3 more weeks, I tried again and brought my 5 year abstract along with my current and all expired licenses. Most people don’t have all these cards so it really is a method that may not work for all. The 5-year abstract and the licenses alone were not enough when I first tried. This time, I went to the NJMVC website and printed out the page that says the 5-year abstract covers a person’s record for the LAST 5 years and showed them. For some reason, the Drivetest office also thinks a 5-year abstract isn’t necessarily the last five years and is any 5 years!?!? When I did this, they went back to their script to ask for this non-existent Driver Abstract Inquiry form with the initial licensing date and all renewal dates. I calmly asked them, why do you even need this type of document when what I have shown you gives you documentation for the 2 out of last 3 years rule for a G license? I didn’t care if they credited all my 25+ years of US driving history, I’m ok with just 5 and the license exchange. She thought about this, consulted with many people, then issued the exchange.
Good luck to all and I hope this helps.
 

Cmurphy9

Newbie
May 15, 2018
7
0
First, I want to thank everyone on this site for providing their experience with the NJ to Ontario license exchange. I was able to use this valuable information to navigate my way through the process of the exchange - which is insanely and unnecessarily complicated for NJ! I would like to share my experience as it may prove helpful for others.
Some background on my transfer: I’ve had a NJ license for about 25+ years, which means after I got it the first time around, I’ve had to renew it many times as they expire every 4 years.
What Ontario is looking for is 2 years of driving experience in the last 3 years and a current valid driving status with no suspensions.
I did the route of getting the driving record (both certified complete and 5 year), along with the infamous DO-11 mentioned on this forum. My current active license was just renewed in April 2019, which means an active license and the driving record with no initial licensing date is a problem. I even managed to find ALL my expired licenses and thought that was my lucky day because I have all the cards with the same record and no break in licensing activity. However, on my first visit without the DO-11, I was told old and current licenses along with a certified driving record cannot be submitted as proof of driving history in their eyes.
For the DO-11, it does get sent to Canada if you put the Canadian address in the first section of the request form. However, as mentioned by someone on this forum, what you get in return from the NJMVC explicitly states that they CAN destroy records three years after the expiration date of a document (I.e., license renewal). This means when you request a DO-11, the oldest information you may possibly get is limited if you’ve had a record for a long time like me. My DO-11 included a Transaction File Record for a license that expired in 2015, just a bit over 4 years ago. In the DO-11, they also included a sheet called Driver Inquiry that only gives you the information of your CURRENT active license. So in my case, it says expiration is set for 2023 for a license I renewed in 2019. This Driver Inquiry does not give me any more date information than my current driver license does (as I have no suspensions). Drive test rejected this because the DO-11 form I got has documentation of a license that expired in 2015 but nothing to detail the license that expired in 2019. There were many questions on this site to ask whether you need to get a DO-11 for every license you had. From what I received, I did not get my full history with one request. However, I suppose if you submit a DO-11 form with a specific date of when your last expired license was renewed, 2015 in my case, perhaps that would be good to fulfill the 2 out of last 3 years rule. Don’t do what I did for the DO-11 form request (put initial licensing date) if you have had many renewals.
Now, the complicated part is that the Drivetest employees are looking for a document called “Driver Abstract Inquiry” when it comes to NJ. This is part of their script somehow and they are trained to look for this document which they believe has the entire record of initial licensing date and all subsequent renewals. From all the hours I’ve spent trying to ask for this document, it seems that it really doesn’t exist. I even reached out to the Customer Advocacy office in Trenton and they told me the same thing - it doesn’t exist. The closest thing is the DO-11 form. There is someone on the forum that mentioned that the initial licensing date was provided in the DO-11 form but I could not get this. Perhaps it is possible for someone who got their first NJ license within the past few years and only had one renewal.
The key to remember in this whole process is that if you’ve had a license for a very long time, the initial licensing date is not that important. Sure, you want to get credit for all your years of driving so you get better insurance rates but you can do this directly with the insurance company. If you get insurance with an american company that operates in Canada, they can access your US insurance history and credit that way.
Request the DO-11 form with the initial date of your last expired license (or current one if you are still on your first) and it should be fine. I say should because I went another route that worked as well, though it may not for others. Instead of asking for another DO-11 form with different dates and waiting 3 more weeks, I tried again and brought my 5 year abstract along with my current and all expired licenses. Most people don’t have all these cards so it really is a method that may not work for all. The 5-year abstract and the licenses alone were not enough when I first tried. This time, I went to the NJMVC website and printed out the page that says the 5-year abstract covers a person’s record for the LAST 5 years and showed them. For some reason, the Drivetest office also thinks a 5-year abstract isn’t necessarily the last five years and is any 5 years!?!? When I did this, they went back to their script to ask for this non-existent Driver Abstract Inquiry form with the initial licensing date and all renewal dates. I calmly asked them, why do you even need this type of document when what I have shown you gives you documentation for the 2 out of last 3 years rule for a G license? I didn’t care if they credited all my 25+ years of US driving history, I’m ok with just 5 and the license exchange. She thought about this, consulted with many people, then issued the exchange.
Good luck to all and I hope this helps.
Thank you. Your situation with 25 years experience and issues with the DO-11 forms were the same as mine. I actually talked to Customer Advocacy and asked for them to send me in writing the oldest license issue date they had because the stuff they sent with the DO-11 gave no information whatsoever. When I spoke to them, I said "How is the Canadian office supposed to ascertain when the issue date is? The only date on the form you sent is the expiration date." She said "Well, the issue date is on there. It is on the back of the form. There are printed numbers in the organ donor box". I said "How is Canada supposed to know those are issuance dates??" Her reply - "We've never had any issues with this information before". I just think it is ludicrous that they can send your entire driving record, but don't keep initial license issue dates. How is that possible?
 

GeekSync

Star Member
Jun 17, 2018
50
4
Solution: Don't stress :) Just keep driving on your US license. Mail the DO-11 form (with required payment and docs) to NJ DMV in Trenton. It will take CAD1.25 stamp to do so. From the day you mail it out, you will receive the response from Trenton in 21-25 calendar days. Thats it!
License was renewed couple of times. Do you need to send the form for each renewal ?
 

GeekSync

Star Member
Jun 17, 2018
50
4
Hello Rahul,

I am also from NJ . So right now I have requested for a certified copy to be send to me through email. Do I need to request for an non-certified copy as well?
Hi, just following up to know how your experience was to get the G license ? Any guidance would be appreciated! Thanks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joshua2018

A J

Star Member
May 28, 2017
89
17
Thank you very much AJ. Were you able to get this mailed to your Canadian address or did you have to have it sent to NJ first and then someone needed to send it to you afterwards?
they will send it to your Canada address. postal services between Canada and US is same as sending a post within Canada or US - it just takes more time due to cross border.
 

Joshua2018

Star Member
Feb 10, 2018
59
31
Hi, just following up to know how your experience was to get the G license ? Any guidance would be appreciated! Thanks.
Hello , My current license was issued on January 2017 ,because that's when I last renewed it.They gave me full G license because just by looking at the this license it was clear I had more than 2 years of driving experience in the US. I got it right away. So if you can prove you have more than 2 years of experience you should be good.
 

Meimei99

Member
May 8, 2019
17
1
First, I want to thank everyone on this site for providing their experience with the NJ to Ontario license exchange. I was able to use this valuable information to navigate my way through the process of the exchange - which is insanely and unnecessarily complicated for NJ! I would like to share my experience as it may prove helpful for others.
Some background on my transfer: I’ve had a NJ license for about 25+ years, which means after I got it the first time around, I’ve had to renew it many times as they expire every 4 years.
What Ontario is looking for is 2 years of driving experience in the last 3 years and a current valid driving status with no suspensions.
I did the route of getting the driving record (both certified complete and 5 year), along with the infamous DO-11 mentioned on this forum. My current active license was just renewed in April 2019, which means an active license and the driving record with no initial licensing date is a problem. I even managed to find ALL my expired licenses and thought that was my lucky day because I have all the cards with the same record and no break in licensing activity. However, on my first visit without the DO-11, I was told old and current licenses along with a certified driving record cannot be submitted as proof of driving history in their eyes.
For the DO-11, it does get sent to Canada if you put the Canadian address in the first section of the request form. However, as mentioned by someone on this forum, what you get in return from the NJMVC explicitly states that they CAN destroy records three years after the expiration date of a document (I.e., license renewal). This means when you request a DO-11, the oldest information you may possibly get is limited if you’ve had a record for a long time like me. My DO-11 included a Transaction File Record for a license that expired in 2015, just a bit over 4 years ago. In the DO-11, they also included a sheet called Driver Inquiry that only gives you the information of your CURRENT active license. So in my case, it says expiration is set for 2023 for a license I renewed in 2019. This Driver Inquiry does not give me any more date information than my current driver license does (as I have no suspensions). Drive test rejected this because the DO-11 form I got has documentation of a license that expired in 2015 but nothing to detail the license that expired in 2019. There were many questions on this site to ask whether you need to get a DO-11 for every license you had. From what I received, I did not get my full history with one request. However, I suppose if you submit a DO-11 form with a specific date of when your last expired license was renewed, 2015 in my case, perhaps that would be good to fulfill the 2 out of last 3 years rule. Don’t do what I did for the DO-11 form request (put initial licensing date) if you have had many renewals.
Now, the complicated part is that the Drivetest employees are looking for a document called “Driver Abstract Inquiry” when it comes to NJ. This is part of their script somehow and they are trained to look for this document which they believe has the entire record of initial licensing date and all subsequent renewals. From all the hours I’ve spent trying to ask for this document, it seems that it really doesn’t exist. I even reached out to the Customer Advocacy office in Trenton and they told me the same thing - it doesn’t exist. The closest thing is the DO-11 form. There is someone on the forum that mentioned that the initial licensing date was provided in the DO-11 form but I could not get this. Perhaps it is possible for someone who got their first NJ license within the past few years and only had one renewal.
The key to remember in this whole process is that if you’ve had a license for a very long time, the initial licensing date is not that important. Sure, you want to get credit for all your years of driving so you get better insurance rates but you can do this directly with the insurance company. If you get insurance with an american company that operates in Canada, they can access your US insurance history and credit that way.
Request the DO-11 form with the initial date of your last expired license (or current one if you are still on your first) and it should be fine. I say should because I went another route that worked as well, though it may not for others. Instead of asking for another DO-11 form with different dates and waiting 3 more weeks, I tried again and brought my 5 year abstract along with my current and all expired licenses. Most people don’t have all these cards so it really is a method that may not work for all. The 5-year abstract and the licenses alone were not enough when I first tried. This time, I went to the NJMVC website and printed out the page that says the 5-year abstract covers a person’s record for the LAST 5 years and showed them. For some reason, the Drivetest office also thinks a 5-year abstract isn’t necessarily the last five years and is any 5 years!?!? When I did this, they went back to their script to ask for this non-existent Driver Abstract Inquiry form with the initial licensing date and all renewal dates. I calmly asked them, why do you even need this type of document when what I have shown you gives you documentation for the 2 out of last 3 years rule for a G license? I didn’t care if they credited all my 25+ years of US driving history, I’m ok with just 5 and the license exchange. She thought about this, consulted with many people, then issued the exchange.
Good luck to all and I hope this helps.
Hello, thanks for sharing your experience! I had the same bad experience yesterday. My NJ driver license is still valid, I worked in NJ in 2006-2008, and went back to NJ in 2018 again so I had two driver license with same number, I got the non-certified driver history abstract, DriveTest employee said it is not enough and not showing my license issuance/expiry date, but is printed on my license. Due to Covid 19 I can’t go back to NJ to collect the certified history abstract through mail, anyone knows if the certified abstract mail can be forwarded by US post? I know the User ID mail is not forwarded. Thanks!