How to get a Chinese Motorcycle License

[corporal_clegg]

for all you iHaters out there get the driving test software for free right here http://www.anzhi.com/soft_64001.html (android only, mwuahahahaaa)

you're welcome. No bike night anyone?

edit: just got fully legal this week, after about 6 months of waiting & pushing. never give up!!! There's aways a way as you'll see if you look through my papers. Took three different bikes to get plated, it's a long story.

[Max Power]

Just came across this forum, awesome info! While reading through this post I noticed some confusion on what type of Visa is required to obtain a Chinese driver's license. Some say the type doesn't matter it just needs to be longer than 90 days in duration, others say it must be a resident type Visa. Wondering if anyone can say for sure one way or the other. I guess if anyone can confirm that they got their license on a tourist Visa longer than 90 days that would in theory do the trick. Also I was in China for a year before so I know how hard this can be!

The real problem I have is that I'll be there on a 6-month Visa and so I don't have the length required to register a bike in my own name. I see that a lot of people have talked about getting around this by registering in someone else's name, how exactly does that work? Is there any reason someone wouldn't want your bike registered in their name, like liability issues or something? I'm coming from Canada and I know liability stuff would pop up here. I've also seen a few people saying you just get the dealer to do the registration for you. That true? What type of documentation do they need?

Any insight on this would be amazing. I want to try and get a plan going before I arrive so that I'm riding as soon as possible!! Cheers guys!

[Barry]

I can confirm that at the moment you register/apply for getting your driving license, you still need to have 90 days or more left on your visa. So you will have to carefully plan it! This is the reason why I did my driving test in freezing december. So the type and the total duration of the Visa don't matter! At least that's how it was December 2010, though I haven't heard from anyone that this has changed.

[fahni]

I can confirm that at the moment you register/apply for getting your driving license, you still need to have 90 days or more left on your visa. So you will have to carefully plan it! This is the reason why I did my driving test in freezing december. So the type and the total duration of the Visa don't matter! At least that's how it was December 2010, though I haven't heard from anyone that this has changed.

Second that. Problem is that you normally don't get a tourist visa that is valid more than 90 days, so try to obtain a 6 months F (business) visa. Maybe you have to go through an agency.

As for registering your bike on another person's name: normally the dealer can register it on his name. If you buy 2nd hand, the process is much more difficult and you have to find a friend who lends his name or involve an agent, who will cut the red tape and tale the registration in his name. As far as I know, the person on which name the bike is registered faces no consequences if you are involved in an accident (assuming you have a proper chinese licence). BUT he will receive all the points that might be handed to the bike for speeding etc due to surveilance cameras. This is counterballnced though as in China, you can call up the traffic managment bureau and take points from another person on your credit.

Hope this helps.

[Max Power]

Cool thanks for that info, super helpful. Really good news for me about the dealer being able to register in his name. I know a few people I could possibly ask from my last time in China but if the dealer can take care of it that's even better. Also thanks for confirming about the Visa length.

I'm trying to get a work Visa lined up right now, but if I don't get it in time it looks like I can get a 6 month Visa in Honk Kong. I'm still a bit skeptical about that cause in Canada all I can get is a 30 day tourist Visa, but I called the company and they assured me 6 months was no problem, just a bit more pricey! I might even start looking over those exam questions now, appears there's a lot of em!

[euphonius]

I'd be really surprised if you could not get a six-month multiple-entry business visa there in Hongkouver. As a last resort, see if you can find a third-party commercial visa service to submit your application rather than going directly to the consulate. Yes, the longer-term, multiple-entry visas generally cost more.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Cheers!

[ChinaV]

The long term/multiple entry visas are probably not going to help you as the MAXIMUM LENGTH OF EACH STAY is limited to 30 days....Which is why it's almost impossible to get a license on a visa that's not a long term residence type. Absolutely verify that whatever visa you are going to get will allow you to stay in the country for 90 consecutive days.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[euphonius]

Good point, ChinaV. Unless your company will second you to China for a project, or you perhaps sign on with a school to teach English, it's hard to imagine how you'll have a visa that permits stays of longer than 30 days.

Ain't China grand!

[lightend]

You could think about getting a temp 2 month driving license then renewing it.. If you are only here for 3months it could be easier

[Max Power]

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a temporary two month license! If my plans go sour I'll look into that for sure.

As far as the Visa situation I've been assured twice by the agent in Hong Kong that a 6 month/180 day Visa is no problem, and really it doesn't cost much more than the 30-day tourist Visa I can get here in Vancouver. I know, surprising I can't get something better here but apparently some rules have changed recently and it's either that or a 60-day family visit/invitation Visa. Neither are good for my purposes.

So the license should be no problem as I'll follow the steps that are well documented here (thanks again to all who put the effort in to post this info!). And hopefully I'll be able to find a dealer willing to register a new bike. I see a lot of people here talking about ordering direct from the factory, is it possible to get a bike like that registered? It doesn't really matter to me where it's registered as I'm going to use it for one long trip across China. At least I don't think it matters, I just want to have a plate and insurance and I figure since I won't really have a home base, plates from anywhere are just as good. I'd like to get something similar to the Sineray xy200gy-7, so I thought from the factory might be the easiest way?