Hello,
I’m trying to exchange my foreign driver’s license for a Japanese one, but I’m struggling with the “3-month stay in the issuing country after obtaining the license” requirement. I’ve read many threads, but most are about people who got their license long before moving to Japan.
My situation:
- EU country from the list of 29 exempt countries
- Categories: car (since 2015) and motorcycle (since June 2024), and I want to convert both (mainly interested in motorcycle, which I already own here, so it's more important)
- I arrived in Japan in September 2024, I have about 85 days in my home country after the motorcycle license was issued (84 if you don’t count the arrival day).
- I can easily prove time before September (tax certificates, utility bills, rental contracts, employment certificates, …). I also returned to my home country twice after that, each time for just over two weeks.
- Because it’s Schengen, I have no entry stamps (and even if there were stamps, they would be from France or Germany, not my home country).
Evidence I can show:
- Flight tickets
- Hotel invoices
- Social security contributions for this year (covering those periods)
- Credit card statements showing transactions in my home country
- Mobile phone bills in my name (SIM purchased on arrival)
- Google location history (?)
Questions:
- For Schengen (no internal stamps), which of the above have actually been accepted to prove the 3-month stay for short period of time?
- When converted both the car and the motorcycle permits, how will the 3 months rule be applied? If they refuse to give me the motorcycle one, will I still be able to get the car one (which is from 2015), or is it all or nothing?
Thanks in advance for any experiences or tips.
by kaliy