How to renew my soon to be expired chinese driver license

**Brice** · 01-01-2012, 12:37 AM

Happy New Year! All the very best in 2012 for the MCM members.

Nearly 5 years ago I got my chinese driver license (a real one, car and motorcycle) in Shanghai. It will expired in few months. I'm no longer in Shanghai but in GuangDong province.

Do you have experience about renewing your license?

Brice

**Lao Jia Hou** · 01-01-2012, 02:18 AM

HNY Brice (et al)

I just renewed last month, and it was very easy. First, you need to get 3 or 4 one inch passport-type photos. Then, off to a quick "medical" (eye test) at an "approved medical center" to get the official chop on the medical form. Then off to the Driving License Bureau where a new 10 year license was issued on the spot, within about 15 minutes. The whole thing took about 2 hours. Not bad and very painless when compared to other bureaucratic processes.

You will get a 10 year license if you've been a good little boy (or girl) and kept a clean license.

You might hit a speed bump, though, with your initial license being issued in SH but now you are in GZ. Don't know about that one.

The forms and more info is available online on the Beijing / Shanghai Traffic Management Bureau websites.

Safe riding in 2012

**euphonius** · 01-01-2012, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

...You might hit a speed bump, though, with your initial license being issued in SH but now you are in GZ. Don't know about that one.

Dear Brice,

About 8 years ago, after I'd moved my main residence to Shanghai from Beijing (with a few years in Taipei in between), my Beijing issued license expired and I was NOT permitted to renew it in Beijing. I was told this was because I was not longer a Beijing resident. Worse yet, I was unable to use the expiring Beijing license as "evidence" of my having driven safely in China for more than 10 years. Instead, in order to start with a clean slate in Shanghai, I had to have Beijing cancel my previous license so it could be expunged from the computer system. It was not a huge hassle, but I did waste quite a bit of time going to the vehicle management bureau in Beijing, and then going to see the same folks in Shanghai.

I hope that things have improved in the interim, and that you can show your Shanghai license in Guangzhou, then have a new 10-year license issued in Guangzhou on the basis of your having already qualified for a license 5 years ago in Shanghai.

But you never know, and you should be prepared for having to start the whole process anew -- i.e., having your French or other foreign motorcycle & car license translated into Chinese, and having the translation notarized, so you can skip the mandatory rider training and road test and just have to pass the written exam to qualify.

Please do post about your experience!

Best wishes for 2012! Cheers!

**Brice** · 01-02-2012, 02:47 AM

Hey Guys,

Thank you both for your responses. I'll check in the next few weeks how it is working in Zhuhai and will report here my own experience.

In general I found that the Chinese administration has vastly improved over the years with an heavy and efficient usage of IT systems. There are often many offices to visit in a specific order to get the "red seals" but if one follows the path with the right papers the outcome is positive.

Brice

**humanbeing** · 01-02-2012, 03:29 AM

Did the DL "转籍" to Zhuhai? Otherwise u can't renew there.

**Reckleben** · 12-21-2012, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by humanbeing

Did the DL "转籍" to Zhuhai? Otherwise u can't renew there.

Many Foreigner (and Chinese) have the same problem.
Moving to another province, then they do not know how to check the penalty points, where to go for renewal and and ...
We can help there.
A renewed license ( 10 Years ) can be seen here.

Greetings Torsten - Hong Kong ZhongDe

**Jonsims** · 01-07-2013, 07:40 AM

You will probably have to transfer your file from Shanghai. The Che Guan Suo where you are now should be able to do that for you. You will need proof of residency locally from the Pai qu suo and then all the bits and pieces of paper and piccies required.

Originally Posted by Brice

Happy New Year! All the very best in 2012 for the MCM members.

Nearly 5 years ago I got my chinese driver license (a real one, car and motorcycle) in Shanghai. It will expired in few months. I'm no longer in Shanghai but in GuangDong province.

Do you have experience about renewing your license?

Brice

**euphonius** · 01-07-2013, 07:59 AM

I think Jonsims is right, Brice. Now that you've moved to Guangdong from Shanghai, it will be very interesting to see whether indeed you can "transfer" your license to your new city. In the past this was not possible. I moved to Shanghai from Beijing in 2003, and was given only one course of action: Cancel my Beijing license and apply from scratch in Shanghai. There were no provisions for transfer, and I was told that Shanghai would refuse to accept my new application UNLESS my Beijing license had been canceled and purged from the national license registry.

I hope things have progressed from that primitive state of affairs.

Brice, is the city where you now reside "dry" or does it still permit motorcycles? If the latter, you may find it all goes smoothly. Otherwise, you may be better off seeing if you can get your Shanghai license renewed, even though you no longer reside there. Whether this works would depend on what kind of documentation they require for renewal.

Wishing you luck!