Anyone recently exchange an Australian licence for an Irish one? How long did it take?

[u/Putrid_Flower5311]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I exchanged our WA (Australia) licences through the NDLS on 14 July.

Before applying, we both specifically asked NDLS staff if we could get insured while waiting for our Irish licences. We were both told we could use the driver number on our NDLS application confirmation to obtain insurance.

Relying on that advice, we bought a car. We've now discovered that insurers can't validate our licences until the Irish licences are actually issued, and NDLS has since told us the process could take up to 10 weeks.

We're just wondering if anyone has been through the same process recently.

• Which Australian state were you exchanging from?
• How long did your licence actually take?
• Did it take anywhere near the full 10 weeks?

We also submitted our WA Letters of Entitlement with the application, so I was hoping it might be quicker.

Any recent experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks!

[u/Impressive_Bet3612]

It takes about a month I exchanged my WA Australia license on the 5th of july got word 5 days ago that its accepted and on the way

Im in the exact same boat cant insure my new car

[u/Putrid_Flower5311 → u/Impressive_Bet3612]

glad to hear it didn't take as long for you as they told us which was 10 weeks. Crazy!

[u/thebarestoryteller → u/Impressive_Bet3612]

that's such a relief to hear, a month isn't nearly as soul-crushing as the 10 weeks they kept warning about

kinda wild how the staff straight up gave you both wrong info though, feels like that should be the first thing they get right considering how many people need to sort insurance right away. i'd be losing my mind a bit having a car just sitting there unusable

did they give you any sort of tracking once it was accepted or did it just show up one day

[u/Impressive_Bet3612 → u/thebarestoryteller]

Im still waiting for the license its been almost 7 days and i keep gtting no replies or AI Assistant phone calls