We got our driver licenses !

Today we crossed a big line : We got our driver licenses ! Now you might think this would be a simple thing to get ( after all, the driver license is nothing more than a piece of ordinary paper printed by a dot matrix printer and your photo next to it, and then plastified with the most normal machines. In other words : It's not a very secure document , in European standards.

However, all is not as it seems. In Australia, your driver license is worth equal identification points to your passport ! This means that you can use your driver license for almost any form of authentication. In fact, your driver license is NEEDED in most cases because without it you will need a proof of settlement in Australia, which is basically a document ( not any document, a legal one ) like a rental agreement, or a home ownership document. These documents are obviously very hard to get initially when you settle in Australia, but here's the good part : The driver license IS SUCH A DOCUMENT ! Your address is printed on it so people readily accept this as a formal proof of settlement in Australia.

Obviously the driver license is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT document that you will have to get once you settle in Australia, we knew this so we tried to get it asap when we got here. The second day we got here we went into the Road and Transportation Association customer service center ( what a long word that is ). If you have trouble finding them , here's a listing of the addresses of all the RTA offices in Queensland. We went inside and got told that we didn't have enough points to authenticate ( you'll get used to the point system , it's very easy : driver license = 40 points, passport = 40 points, 18+ card = 20 points, medicare card = 20 points, Visa ( which is inside your passport ) = 20 points or something etc etc ). We told her that we just arrived and that we didn't know where to get our points. She said that a Bank Card with our name on it and our signature would be sufficient together with the Visa and the Passport and a Credit Card or foreign Bank Card. You will realize soon that the requirements are flaky at best : In another RTA office we were told completely different things and that lady would accept another document but not the one that the first lady accepted. We found out later that the only REAL authentication you need is a bit of personal charm and flattery towards the person behind the counter, this will get you a lot further. Something like "We just moved here and we love it, (fill in the town you're in) is really beautiful ( doesn't matter if it is or not ) and what lovely beaches and friendly people over here, Queensland definately is the best place on earth !" will be worth a lot more points than any document you can come up with. It took us two days to find this out.

So the first day we failed. We got the application forms with us though, and ended up with this magical combination of points :

- Commonwealth "Change of Address confirmation" that we got when we signed up with commonwealth bank and which states your "new" address which in our case was our B&B for three weeks. TIP: If you're staying in a hotel you're screwed, you won't get anything done since you don't have a real address and the bank ( and everyone else ) DO NOT ACCEPT A POSTBOX ADDRESS. Remember : To get a bank account you will need a telephone ( prepaid, since you cannot get anything else ) and an address. The bank told us they don't use the points system anymore and they will happily help you with just your passport and some flattery-points ( plus the phone number and the address )

- Credit Card ( if you have any ) or your old bank card from your European bank as long as it has a signature on the back ( very important : no signature = no legal document )

- Passport

- Visa ( in our case it's a 175 visa which is in our passport but this is not always the case )

- B&B Booking confirmation + payment slip ( important ! )

Those 5 things will get you a driver's license : But not everywhere.

We went back to Maroochydore RTA customer centre, went in armed with our documents, and here comes the surprise : The classes are different ! So let's say I have a A+B license in The Netherlands ( same as in the UK btw or any other european country ) then that means that I can drive a Motorbike ( A ) and a Car ( B ) without trailer.
In Australia however, that would equate to a C ( Car + Trailer ) and R ( rider = motorbike ) ( you also get RE which is 250CC or lower, make sure you get the full R one , not the RE !! ).
Since I filled in AB in the driver license code on the application form, I got told that they don't accept untranslated driver licenses. I gave her the International Driver License which is a translation of it in english and 50 other languages, after which they got irritated ( our flattery points turned negative right here ) and they
said that that was not a legal document. I told them it was, they looked it up , they said "it's only for driving, not for requesting a driver license" and that was basically it. So we asked what we could do and the lady told us we had to go to the consulate to ask for a translated driver license. A young Danish guy stepped in and told us he had to do the same and showed us his version of his Danish translated driver license. This would take weeks !

But I don't give up that quickly. I had learned and I knew exactly where it went bottoms up : My non-Australian knowledge of their license classes. After all we're talking about the single most important document you'll ever get in Australia : Your driver license. It was late and we had other things to do ( see next post ) so we called it for the day. We did however take a new empty license request form with us, which would come in handy later.

Next day, we decided that we'd note down the addresses of some of the nearby RTA offices ( of which there are many ) and use the GPS navigator ( an old , outdated Garmin Nuvi which doesn't really work well but better still than reading paper maps ) to drive to all of them : If they would decline us the driver license, we'd just move to the next one until we would learn enough about the Australian way to get it without hassle. At home we filled in the empty forms and this time we put "C + R" in them , not "AB".

It proved we're fast learners : The first RTA customer centre we went to was Redcliffe ( Kippa Ring actually ). We came in to the RTA office and there weren't that many people there ( there never are in Australia, but a queue of more than 10 peopls here is considered VERY busy ) I think there were 3-4 people there and after waiting less than a minute we were greeted. Now this is the absolute critical moment in Ozzie socializing behaviour : The greet. It will make or break your entire conversation. If you respond like a Pommie then that's how you will be treated. If on the other hand you respond like an Indian they won't take you seriously.
They have different variations of greets ( to fool the immigrants obviously ) and the game is played like a chess gambit. On opening E2-E4 , the correct response would be D2-D4, but you could also use a E2-E4, after which the horses will come out. If you try and move your rook , they'll figure you out, if you move the A2-A4 pawn they'll think you're a beginner.

"Hi, how are you today, and how may I help ?" ( Whaaaa she played the shrude Sicilian opening, clearly advanced and long-time Australian. )
"Very well thank you. It's lovely weather, what could possibly go wrong today ? We really love this town and love the friendly people over here. How are you ?" ( carefully parried that first move there, if you answer "I'm ok, I need you to convert my driver license" then you just lost the game )
"Fine thanks. Now what can I do for you today ?" ( the original question again, but this time they expect you to answer it )
"We just migrated to Queensland six days ago and we hope to convert our current license into a Queensland driver license. We have read up on the application process and have the completed forms right here, we also brought along the needed documents" ( we're on a win here )
"Let me see that. Oh... wait you have a Commonwealth Change of Address form, but you don't have the Commonwealth Bank Card yet, we'll need some other form of proof of residency from you" ( now, this is a very tactical move, she just moved her Queen and your king is checked. Ofcourse we knew the commonwealth bank documents were sufficient without the bank card, after all we used them in the other RTA office where they were no problem. However, if you play that card it's a check mate and you'll never get your license here. )
"We have the rent agreement with us, will that do ?"
"Hmm... lemme check all that. I'll just copy these documents right here and be right back"

YOU WIN ! She's just been check-mated and will now be open for requests.
15 minutes later and 200 dollars lighter ( 75 for a 5-year driver license and 25 for an 18+ card , times two people ), we got our driver license , and used this driver license to complete the application form for our 18+ card which is also valued at 20 points.
A big job done, especially since we just bought a car ! ( and you need your driver license to buy a car over here, there's no other way )