Just in case you belong to the clueless bunch, a Singapore PR is not allowed to drive in Singapore unless you hold a valid Singapore driving licence. If you already have a valid Malaysian driving licence, then you may be able to convert your licence to a Singapore driving licence by just sitting for a theory test and furnishing some documents to the Singapore Traffic Police.
However, before you proceed with the conversion process, please ensure that you meet the requirements for driving licence conversion: your Malaysian driving licence must be obtained at least 6 months BEFORE you hold any valid re-entry pass in Singapore (e.g. PR, student visa, employment pass). If you get your Malaysian driving licence WHILE you reside in Singapore on a long-term basis, then you are NOT eligible for licence conversion. If you are unsure of your eligibility on licence conversion, please call and confirm with the Singapore Traffic Police.
Ok, now that we get that out of the way, here's what you have to do for converting your driving licence in Singapore:
Registering for the test
Firstly, register for the Basic Driving Theory Test at any authorized driving centres. You gotta fill in a form and get a queue number to wait for your turn for registration. Be sure to bring along your Singapore NRIC.
The test fee is SGD6 (to be paid via NETS). The registration and fee payment are to be done at the same counter. After that, you may proceed to the computer terminals at the centre to select a test date. Change of test date at a later stage is chargeable, so do make sure you have selected a test date that you are comfortable with.
Preparing for the test
After marking the test date on your calendar, you gotta study for the test. Yes, no matter how experienced you are as a driver, you MUST read through The Official Handbook. Be sure that you have the latest version for your study.
Don't be mistaken that you can just sit for the test unprepared and then pass it. Well, maybe you can if the lady of luck is shining on you, but in most instances you would probably be wasting your SGD6. I had heard about someone who had been driving in Malaysia for many years and yet still failed the test for 10 times.
Taking the test
On the day of the test, be sure to bring along your NRIC. Your name will be called and the invigilator will check your identification. Then you will be given a piece of paper with a computer station number.
Well, in case you haven't noticed that we are already in the information age, the test is to be done online instead of on paper. Look for the right computer station in the exam hall and get ready for the test.
Pay attention to the examiner's instructions on how to operate the computer station. When i took the test, there was a foreign worker who didn't understand English too well and pressed the wrong button that ended the test without answering any questions. Needless to say, he failed and gotta re-sit for the test (and pay for another SGD6).
You will be given 50 minutes to complete 50 multiple-choice questions. You are not allowed to answer more than 5 questions wrongly. Proceed with answering all the questions in sequence and then re-check the answers AFTER you have gone through all the questions once. You can check the answers as many times as you like. Be wary of the time as you only have an average of 1 minute per question.
When you are confident with your answers, press a button on the screen to end the test. You will be informed of your test result on the spot. Whether you pass or fail, please be considerate for others who may still be taking the test and refrain from laughing or crying out loud. You can do it outside the exam hall if you want.
If you are so smart like me and pass the test, be sure to print out the result slip at a printing terminal and keep it for the following licence conversion procedure. Of course, the result slip is also useful for you to brag about it on your blog or to your friends.
Preparing the necessary documents
Ok, here's the part where you gotta travel to two places to get your application done. After you have passed the driving test and before you apply for the licence conversion in Singapore, you gotta get an extract of driving licence from Jabatan Pengangutan Jalan (JPJ) as part of the documents for the application.
At JPJ, you gotta submit a form (to be obtained at JPJ) together with photocopies of your Singapore NRIC (or other passes such as Employment Pass), Malaysian driving licence and Malaysian IC. The fee for the extract is RM10 in cash. You should be able to get the letter within an hour or so, depending on the efficiency of the JPJ officer.
One thing to note is that when you apply for the extract, you are effectively terminating your Malaysian driving licence (even though you still have the photocard licence with you). I'm not too sure if they actually invalidate our driving licence in the database, but i do know that we will not be able to renew our driving licence anymore when the Malaysian licence is due for renewal the next time. It's not needed anyway as we can drive legally in Malaysia with the Singapore driving licence.
After obtaining the required extract from JPJ (which was sealed by the way), you may proceed back to the authorized centre in Singapore to submit your application. The licence fee is SGD50 (to be paid via NETS) and it lasts for a life-time, unlike Malaysian driving licence that needs to be renewed every few years.
For the application, make sure you have ALL the documents with you -- an application form that is filled up (the form is obtainable at the centre), a passport-size colour photo with white background, the extract from JPJ, your Malaysian driving licence, your Singapore NRIC (or other passes), the result slip, and most importantly, the passport bearing your first endorsed pass. I didn't know that they wanna see the FIRST pass so i only brought along the current passport. In the end i gotta go to the centre twice to get the application done.
To further explain on the passport requirement, let's take me as an example. I first started working in Singapore with an Employment Pass in year 2000. Then i obtained the Singapore PR in year 2001. The following year (2002), my passport expired and i renewed it to the current one i'm using, with the PR endorsement transferred to the current passport as well. And so here's the catch: they wanna look at my previous passport, the one that bears the Employment Pass in 2000. This is to serve as a proof that my Malaysian driving licence was obtained before i started working in Singapore.
For those who don't have a habit of keeping the old passports, you would have to produce other documents to prove that you were indeed not residing in Singapore when you obtained your Malaysian driving licence. Some of the valid documents may be your school transcripts or Income Tax forms.
Your Singapore driving licence
You will be given a slip while you are waiting for your photocard driving licence to be delivered to your home address (the one on the NRIC) via registered post. You can start driving in Singapore, with this slip acting in place of the photocard driving licence.
The photocard licence should be ready within a month's time. However, if you are like me who had nobody at home to sign for the registered post and the licence subsequently returned to the sender, then you gotta collect it personally at the Singapore Traffic Police HQ at Ubi Avenue 3. The Traffic Police will send you a notification letter for your collection.
To get to the Traffic Police HQ, you can either take a ride on the MRT to Paya Lebar station and then get a cab from there (with cab fare of SGD4++), or take Bus 58 from one of the stops that is on the bus route.
At the reception, tell the staff that you are there to collect your licence and you will be given a queue number. At the counter, you just have to produce the notification letter and NRIC to the staff, and viola, there's your brand new Singapore driving licence:
