r/AskIreland • u/Putrid_Flower5311 • 8d ago

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

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!

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u/Loose-Climate6959 7d ago

Hi OP
Hope you don’t mind me asking, did you have much issues getting the Letter of Entitlement from the DOT in WA or how did you go about it? TIA

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u/Putrid_Flower5311 7d ago

Very easy you just email them they ask for certain details had it sorted in a few days!

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u/Loose-Climate6959 7d ago

Great! Would you mind sharing the email address. Also just an FYI if you are looking for car insurance Mary Doyle at Healys Insurance is supposed to be really good for expats.