Options for International drivers licence

[davita]

Stone the crows. I just received an email from Paypal that a full refund has been made. Now I feel oddly guilty. As they had asked for the source of the info provided, do you have a web address for that other than the AAA, Davita?

harry old pal...
all I did was search 'who can authorise International Drivers Permits in Canada' and the first .ca reply was...
https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/documents/international-driving-permit

I did the same for other countries and looked for the Government's response.

 

[Mark]

And another response after I posted the question: "which statute of the UN Geneva convention, or amendments, gives ITCA authority to issue an IDP from any country?"


Hello Sir

If you are interested to know more, we can schedule a phone call and explain to you in details

In any ways, the UN has no power to authorize any entity, only governments does. We have contacted governmental automobile association and got endorsements from many countries by fax or email. Yes, this is yet to be done with Australia and therefore I asked you to kindly share a contact information if you had. If not, no worries, our team are already researching online and I am sure they will contact the Australian Auto Association soon.

If you are interested to know more and have more questions, we can have a phone call

Best regards

John

Scam confirmed. And I would be very concerned about identity theft given the information that they request.

 

[davita]

Re Post # 40


This fellow clearly has no clue about the UN Geneva convention of 1949 and the subsequent Vienna agreement in 1968 which replaced it....
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Geneva_Convention_on_Road_Traffic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Traffic

 

[harryopal]

And this morning I received this.
=====================

Thank you Harry



Your concerns are smart. But as I explained before there is no IDP including the ones issued by the government has a legal status on its own. If something goes wrong, insurance companies will look at your driver's license validity while the IDP will provide a linguistic translation.



We are being very open to comments, and this will definitely improve our services. I will also check with my team to investigate further on IDP's role when it comes to insurance.



In the meantime, please allow me to ship ITCA IDP to you free of charge and what you can do is to check with authorities and car insurance companies in Indonesia before you use it and keep me posted. Would that be possible?.



All the best

John

 

[davita]

Re: your post # 44
Harry....thanks for having the fortitude to see this issue through.
I think the very tone, content and inarticulate response of the replies you received from ITCA speak well of the ineptitude and suspect of those IDP's they issue.
An IDP DOES have authority to all the States which signed the Conventions...and no-one has said that an IDP is a licence in itself, to the contrary...... so he is talking to the choir.
The issue is ...which State authorises them to issue an IDP. It beggars belief that a Sovereign State would fax or email a clandestine internet company who said "I'd like to issue an IDP on the behalf of your country."

Also...no-one has disagreed that Indonesia could accept an ITCA IDP.....as has been discussed previously Indonesia didn't ratify the Convention so they can accept or not.

 

[JohnnyCool]

harryopal.

Hello Sir
If you are interested to know more, we can schedule a phone call and explain to you in details

It's good that you didn't opt into that (more of your personal information for them).

 

[harryopal]

I find it hard to be completely ill disposed towards someone who has given me my money back. A bit like having been bumped by a pickpocket and I say, "Sir, I believe you have my wallet."

He slaps his forehead and says, "Goodness gracious. I am so sorry. How did that happen? I am so sorry." And he then hands me my wallet back.

Once in a notorious part of Nairobi walking along a busy footpath and a biggish fellow walking towards me and that moment of indecision as to who is stepping which way. In a friendly manner he smiles and slaps me on both shoulders. In that moment I feel something leave my back pocket. I never carry a wallet in the back pocket. Too easy to lose. And then I remember I had a very tatty, old Swahili - English dictionary in my back pocket. I turn around and there is a shifty looking fellow in a suit with a cardigan over his forearm. I lift the cardigan and there is my dictionary in his hand. I retrieve the dictionary and he says, "I didn't take it."

If I had shouted, "Mwizi" the fellow would have been killed on the spot. The tatty dictionary would not have fetched $1 so I let it pass. There were something like 600 thieves killed by mob "justice" in Kenya just one six month period when I was living there.

There are many ways to earn a living and I suppose making dodgy permits is just one. Wouldn't do it myself but the offer of money back isn't made my many scammers. (Mark, stop talking about identity theft. I don't need to have another worry.)

 

[davita]

Harryopal...if you wanted to tell us your life story you should have created a blog.
I'm sure we would all be enthralled but, given the thread is about IDP and drivers licensing in Indonesia.... perhaps another day...OK!
We all have stories to tell so why not initiate a new thread yourself and tell us all about it?
I for one would be very interested to hear about other member's life experiences and would not hesitate to talk about my own.
What do other members think?

 

[sakumabali]

good idea

 

[Mark]

There are many ways to earn a living and I suppose making dodgy permits is just one. Wouldn't do it myself but the offer of money back isn't made my many scammers. (Mark, stop talking about identity theft. I don't need to have another worry.)

Not trying to windup or worry you harryopal, just hoping that anyone else reading the thread would think twice about handing over sensitive personal information to an unverified and (in my view) dubious online business.

 

[harryopal]

Mark, it was intended as a tongue in cheek response as the issue of identity theft is serious.
Davita , as for my blabbering on I thought I was offering a light bit of whimsy but I concede I do go on. I will try in future be more to the point.

 

[samsiam]

Thanks yea ive lived here for alot of years.. need to go to bangkok apparently you can get a 10 yr lic

Think its 5 years... i have one....... you can get a licence here, i got car and bike..... the rules are like jello, they flop about a bit

 

[BuleNyem]

AAA sends my IPD to Bali each year, I have a family member handle the application and payment, but I think it is possible to do all from overseas. The shipping can be expensive, otherwise have someone mail it here 2-4 months before your current IDP expires, insure it for $25, the approx. cost to make the IDP with AAA.

Sure, there are many options that are 'passable' if encountering the police, however, after two accidents in two years, each requiring several thousands of dollars out of pocket before insurance reimbursed, I am glad that I always use legit documents. None of us want to end up on FB or GoFundMe begging others for money because we weren't responsible enough to protect ourselves from the risks we are exposed to here.

 

[harryopal]

Forum to the rescue again.

When I went to the RACQ web site I jumped to the conclusion that you could only apply in Australia for an international permit.Thanks to BuleNyem for his reference to the Australian Automobile Association which does show that you can apply from overseas for the international permit and lists the requirements along with a form to fill in. All very straight forward and, until my limited Bahasa Indonesia improves, much simpler than applying for an Indonesian licence.

 

[harryopal]

My driving permit from Australia arrived today. I sent an application by EMS to the RACQ in Queensland at the start of January. The application was processed on the 10th and then sent by registered mail. That gives me a year to improve my limited Bahasa Indonesia and then apply for an Indonesian driving licence.

 

[JohnnyCool]

I find it amazing that so many people are sucked into scam companies with bogus offers that are legally useless.

You can get IDP from your own country (e.g, Australia). You must have a normal driving licence in your country. In Australia, it doesn’t matter which state or territory you’re from. Any registered Automobile Association is fine. The IDP is valid for one year, provided that your valid licence doesn't expire during that year.

What’s so hard to understand about that?

A personal example: Before I was able to get a legal Indonesian Driver’s licence, I got my IDP’s from the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia. My Oz licence is from NSW. I’ve never lived in WA.

I did it from RACWA’s website, online, while I was here in Bali.

I just checked their website again and the price is nearly the same as it was before. Basically $AUD 39 + postage. If you want it sent by registered mail, add another 20 bucks, or so. I never did and they always arrived (within 10-14 days).

The requirements are a copy of a valid Oz licence, and one passport sized photo (plus the fee). I think that they’re a limit to how many times you can do this overseas.

That’s it.

Some may ask why I chose the RACWA. It was cheaper than, say, the NRMA in NSW.

For those who find it hard to navigate RACWA’s website, here’s a direct link to the relevant section:

https://rac.com.au/travel-touring/international-driving-permit