i got my driving licence not at the local LTO, i got it at the doctors office opposite. drug test, eye test (2 big numbers on a A4 paper), pay this pay that, first i got a student driving licence, after four weeks the non-professional, officialy as a philipino citizen - guess sth somewhere went wrong, but, as usual, it doesent matter. as long as i have the drivers licence. since i got it, i never went into any traffic control.
My wife had to attend a seminar here to get her driving licence. After living in the UK for 23 years, she was not about to take any BS off of the tutor / instructor. She argued with him so much, that there was not enough time to sit the test, so they just passed everybody.
Are they forcing "foreigners" to take the test now? I always thought that if you held a driver's license from a country where people had half a brain while behind the wheel you were good to go. I never took any test or had to get a student/learners permit, they just asked for the fee and told me to come back tomorrow to pick up the license (then 6 months later they actually had it ready for me).
Other peoples mileage may vary but I had been in country for more than 90 days and there was no problem converting my US drivers licence for a Philippines one. I did the conversion on the expiration date of my US licence and all they said was happy birthday. I took the regs to mean that you are not supposed to drive with your foreign licence for more than 90 days, not that you could not convert it after that period. I was told that the cards were printed in Manila as the excuse why it would not be available quickly. All in all the process was fairly painless.
Ok...could someone tell me what it's like to get a licence there? I don't mean transfer or whatever. I mean take it like a newbie. Thanks
Go to the LTO and tell them you want a license. Explain to them that you are not a temporary tourist and will be there longer than 90 days. Fill out the paperwork. LTO sends you somewhere nearby to take a "physical" (blood pressure?, eye exam, maybe color blindness test and depending on the way the wind is blowing maybe a drug test.) Go back to LTO with paperwork. Pay them. (Should be P1200ish.) Get receipt. Take picture for license. Then: Wait awhile. Sorry sir, license machine is broken. Wait awhile sir. Machine still broken. Wait awhile sir. Machine still broken. Come back after lunch sir. Machine still broken. Wait awhile sir. Sorry sir, come back tomorrow. Come back tomorrow. Machine in Manila getting fixed. (You see license machine working next to guy telling you this.) Sorry, come back next week sir. Machine in Manila getting fixed. (No....it's not.) Sorry, come back next month sir. Machine fixed. (It never went anywhere.) Sorry sir, no plastic cards for machine, come back tomorrow. (They tell you to move aside so they can hand new license to another person.) Sorry sir, no plastic cards for machine, come back next week. (You see the stack of plastic ID cards next to the machine.) Sorry sir, no plastic cards for machine, come back next month. (Still making licenses for people.) Sorry sir, no plastic cards for machine, on order from manila. Next week sir. (ARRRRGGHH! You see the goddamn machine spitting out licenses right next to the guy!) Give up. Drive legally with official receipt showing you paid for license. Get stopped at checkpoint, show police receipt. Cop asks why no license. "Sorry, out of stock sir." Cop smiles and sends you on your way. 6 months or so later: Pick up license. (That was likely made the day you took the picture.) Repeat every 2 years. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
