FOREIGN LICENCE CONVERSION · PREPARATION GUIDE
Start with your situation. Leave with a clear next step.
Choose where your licence was issued and where you live in Japan. We will separate national requirements from local instructions and show what to check before you apply.
Step 1 of 3
No passport, licence number or address upload. Your preparation answers stay in this browser; they are not sent to us.
Preparation guidance, not an eligibility decision. Your local licensing authority decides which documents, checks and exceptions apply. This guide does not permit you to drive.
Collect records and follow your prefecture’s first application instructions.
Attend in person. The centre checks your licence history, eligibility and aptitude.
Knowledge and/or skills checks apply according to the confirmed route. Separate appointments may be needed.
Follow the centre’s instructions after passing the required stages. Preparation or a reservation alone never permits driving.
This is a preparation list, not a guarantee that your application is complete. Keep originals, check local copy requirements, and confirm country-specific additions before your visit.
外国運転免許証
Bring the valid original, including required reverse sides or supplementary pages. If it does not show the first issue date or vehicle categories, ask which licence-history certificate is accepted.
日本語翻訳文
Use a translator or organisation accepted for this procedure, such as JAF where available. A self-translation, AI translation or ordinary certified translation is not automatically accepted. Check availability, fee and processing time with the provider.
住民票の写し
Ask your municipality for the certificate with the entries required by the licensing centre: for foreign residents, nationality and the required residence particulars; for Japanese applicants, registered domicile. Confirm local issue-date limits and omit My Number where instructed. Exception cases need separate guidance.
旅券・本人確認書類
Prepare your passport, old passports if relevant, and residence card if applicable. Check the centre’s identity-document list and bring an existing Japanese licence if you have one.
免許取得後の滞在期間を証明する書類
Make a timeline of the licence’s first issue date and periods spent in the issuing country. Passport stamps may help; if stamps or dates are missing, ask about official entry/exit, employment or school records. Not every example is accepted everywhere.
申請用写真
The national guide specifies 3.0 cm high × 2.4 cm wide, taken within six months, front-facing, plain background, chest-up. Check local quantity and format instructions; permitted religious or medical head coverings must not obscure the facial outline.
申請書・質問票・手数料
Check whether forms are completed at the centre and how to pay. Application and issuance fees depend on the licence and local procedure. If you use glasses or contact lenses, bring them for the aptitude check.
国別・都道府県別の追加書類
Before paying for certificates or travelling to the centre, confirm the first application method, additional issuing-country records, original/copy rules, interpreter arrangements and the language of the knowledge check.
Local procedure details take priority for your application. Source-check dates do not guarantee that nothing has changed since. If sources conflict, ask the centre rather than relying on an assumed answer.
No. It is preparation guidance. The police confirm eligibility and required checks. Permission to drive depends on holding a licence or permit valid for use in Japan, not on completing this guide.
Use the prefectural police responsible for your actual Japanese address. The guide is not a tool for choosing a different jurisdiction to bypass waiting times.
Our translated guidance is for understanding the process. It is not an official Japanese translation of your licence. Use an accepted issuing organisation and check its current conditions.
No. Using, saving or sharing this checklist does not sign you up for email or buy anything. Existing account email preferences are separate.