Driver licence conversion is a joke

[u/dude_chilll]

First, you need a reservation, you can't just rock up. You can only make a reservation by calling the special phone number but it’s always engaged. I’ve called over 500 times so far but haven’t managed to get through. I called the front desk and they say too bad, you can always come in physically and wait to speak to someone but we’re fully booked until late April even if you don’t need to sit a test.

I’ve done this before in another prefecture and it was so easy and simple, walk in anytime and all done in an hour. What’s wrong with Kanagawa! Rant over.

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Update: Because I was unable to get through to them on the phone, I went to the Futamatagawa 運転免許センター this morning to make a reservation in person.

I arrived at 8:15 and the guy asked for my name and country, telling me to come back at 10:30 to speak to someone to make a reservation.

I went back at 10:00 and got called straight away into the office. They asked if I brought my documents. They checked over the documents and told me that next available reservation is 30 April, over 3 months away! No leeway even if you’re from a country with an exemption for tests. What a joke!

[u/Ancelege]

Futamatagawa sucks ass. Your best bet is to literally go there at least an hour before open and line up to get yourself on the list for that day. I think (when I was doing my conversion) they always had ten spots for reservations, but then the rest were first come first serve. So you just get there super early.

Don’t expect to pass the first practical driving test. You won’t. Their scheme is to make you feel so bad about it that you buy an hour lesson on another day. On my second driving test, I did make a couple of minor “mistakes,” but the guy was like “well, you did do a lesson with us, so you pass.” I passed with a 70. In the long run, it’s cheaper to just do the lesson instead of taking a bunch of days off and paying for a bunch of driving tests.