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andrewx

Full Member
Apr 23, 2016
21
1
Hey guys! I am not sure this is the right place to ask this question but I could not find another thread regards about this topic, I thought I would give it a shot here.
I am a Chinese citizen, will be heading to Toronto for school in the next few months, I have been driving in China for at least 4 years now, then I went to South Korea and got my Korean driver license and an International driver license issued by South Korea.
I have checked out the Ontario government website, it said you can go straight to exchange for a full G license if you hold a South Korean IDL, however my Korean IDL was not issued by my OWN country,will this still works?

Thanks a lot!
 
So if I understand, you have a South Korean "normal" driving license, and a Chinese International one?

That should be fine, ON accepts any of these to convert for a full license: Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Japan, Korea, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland

So you won't even need to show the Chinese one. I just gave them my UK (GB) one, they took a photo, asked me a couple of questions (not about driving but can't recall what), checked I could read something in the distance and gave me my new license in exchange for $80.

Be warned line at ServiceOntario tend to be very long if you are moving to the GTA. Take a book!
 
jc94 said:
So if I understand, you have a South Korean "normal" driving license, and a Chinese International one?

That should be fine, ON accepts any of these to convert for a full license: Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Japan, Korea, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland

So you won't even need to show the Chinese one. I just gave them my UK (GB) one, they took a photo, asked me a couple of questions (not about driving but can't recall what), checked I could read something in the distance and gave me my new license in exchange for $80.

Be warned line at ServiceOntario tend to be very long if you are moving to the GTA. Take a book!

Thanks a lot jc94! That should be fine then.
No I actually have a normal Chinese driver license, then I have a Korean normal driver license and a Korean international driver license. Sorry about the confusion.
 
Yeah, unless asked (in which case be completely honest) I'd just say you are there to change your Korean one for a Canadian one and not reference having three.

The main advantage of having international ones is they are normally good for driving on for a year, instead of 2 months.
Note of course, that if you try to convert your Korean one after being in Canada 9 months ... well that might cause questions. I did it day 1 after getting my SIN, a cellphone, and a bank account -in that order :D

Good luck!
 
jc94 said:
Yeah, unless asked (in which case be completely honest) I'd just say you are there to change your Korean one for a Canadian one and not reference having three.

The main advantage of having international ones is they are normally good for driving on for a year, instead of 2 months.
Note of course, that if you try to convert your Korean one after being in Canada 9 months ... well that might cause questions. I did it day 1 after getting my SIN, a cellphone, and a bank account -in that order :D

Good luck!

Thanks a lot jc94!! I really appreciated it! Thats actually a great order! Haha
Sorry about this question, if they do ask for your ID, such as passport, then it would show my Chinese nationality, wouldnt that be a problem?
 
I wouldn't think that will be an issue, if I had to show my passport at all (and I don't think I did) it was only to prove that I had a valid permit to be living in Canada.
 
jc94 said:
I wouldn't think that will be an issue, if I had to show my passport at all (and I don't think I did) it was only to prove that I had a valid permit to be living in Canada.

Alright! Thanks a lot!!
 
andrewx said:
Thanks a lot jc94!! I really appreciated it! Thats actually a great order! Haha
Sorry about this question, if they do ask for your ID, such as passport, then it would show my Chinese nationality, wouldnt that be a problem?

Hey,I moved from US to Canada and swapped by US license to Ontario License.
I am not a US citizen and not asked for passport as I showed my PR Card and SIN card

So the same will be with you !
 
kirch said:
Hey,I moved from US to Canada and swapped by US license to Ontario License.
I am not a US citizen and not asked for passport as I showed my PR Card and SIN card

So the same will be with you !

Haha Okay! Thanks!!