This week I finally got my Swiss driver’s license. The process is fairly straightforward provided that you take care of everything within the first year – you simply need to fill out a form, get an eye exam, show your U.S. drivers license and pay a small fee. If you fail to do this within your first year in Switzerland, however, the process gets far more complicated. Effectively, you have to go through the full process that includes a drivers’ training course (20 hours of classes…in French) as well as a standard driving exam (also in French).
As many of you are well aware, my one year window closed at the end of May. Thus, I was faced with the prospect of going through driver’s training (likely with a group of 17 year olds – 18 is the legal age for driving in Switzerland) and taking the exam – at a total cost of roughly $2,000, mind you. Given that I never really have to drive, it would be hard justifying the cost. But then again, my U.S. drivers’ license was no longer legal in Switzerland so I couldn’t (legally) drive at all here in the future if I needed to.
Fortunately, I learned from one of my colleagues that the one year limit wasn’t always strictly enforced. (As a quick aside, it should be noted that this would be the first instance that I’d come across in Switzerland where a rule or regulation wasn’t followed to the letter.) As a result, I decided to not waste any more time and go for it. If I got my license, great – and if not, I’d hold off until I absolutely needed it.
After filling out the form – which took about 10 minutes – and making sure that I had my U.S. driver’s license, I headed out to get my eyes checked. Aside from reading the letter chart at the doctor’s office or the DMV (when I was 16), I can’t remember ever having my eyes actually tested. And I’m pretty sure that I’ve never had a formal eye exam by an eye doctor or optometrist.
The eye exam ended up being the most comprehensive examination that I could have imagined. Even excluding the fact that it was in French (which clearly complicated things – sometimes I forget hot to properly pronounce certain letters like “g” and “j”), it was a thorough ocular workout and probably lasted a good half hour. And in the end, it was for nothing. One of my eyes was just beyond the “acceptable” vision limit so the test could not count towards my driver license application.
Instead, I needed to re-take the exam with glasses. And, no, I could not borrow a pair from the optometrist I would instead need to buy a pair. Ideally, I could have found a cheap pair like those in the check-out line in many U.S. supermarkets. However, after a failed attempt at such a search I realized that my only option was to buy a real pair immediately since I didn’t want to further delay my driver’s license application.
To make a long story short, an hour later I had my new glasses and passed the exam. But to add insult to injury, the guy who gave me the second exam said that since I was on the threshold I didn’t necessarily need the glasses. Great…I wish he had been the first one to test my eyes. Nonetheless, the glasses definitely help me see more clearly when reading distant signs with small print.
As I arrived at the local Swiss DMV-equivalent with my full “application” in order, I also came fully prepared with a laundry list of excuses for why I hadn’t submitted the forms within the requisite one year period. And I was further ready to beg shamelessly if push came to shove. But it didn’t even remotely come to that. After my number was called, the woman behind the counter processed all my paperwork and I was legal again. And by the time I made it downstairs to the lobby, my new Swiss driver’s license was waiting for me.
As many of you are well aware, my one year window closed at the end of May. Thus, I was faced with the prospect of going through driver’s training (likely with a group of 17 year olds – 18 is the legal age for driving in Switzerland) and taking the exam – at a total cost of roughly $2,000, mind you. Given that I never really have to drive, it would be hard justifying the cost. But then again, my U.S. drivers’ license was no longer legal in Switzerland so I couldn’t (legally) drive at all here in the future if I needed to.
Fortunately, I learned from one of my colleagues that the one year limit wasn’t always strictly enforced. (As a quick aside, it should be noted that this would be the first instance that I’d come across in Switzerland where a rule or regulation wasn’t followed to the letter.) As a result, I decided to not waste any more time and go for it. If I got my license, great – and if not, I’d hold off until I absolutely needed it.
After filling out the form – which took about 10 minutes – and making sure that I had my U.S. driver’s license, I headed out to get my eyes checked. Aside from reading the letter chart at the doctor’s office or the DMV (when I was 16), I can’t remember ever having my eyes actually tested. And I’m pretty sure that I’ve never had a formal eye exam by an eye doctor or optometrist.
The eye exam ended up being the most comprehensive examination that I could have imagined. Even excluding the fact that it was in French (which clearly complicated things – sometimes I forget hot to properly pronounce certain letters like “g” and “j”), it was a thorough ocular workout and probably lasted a good half hour. And in the end, it was for nothing. One of my eyes was just beyond the “acceptable” vision limit so the test could not count towards my driver license application.
Instead, I needed to re-take the exam with glasses. And, no, I could not borrow a pair from the optometrist I would instead need to buy a pair. Ideally, I could have found a cheap pair like those in the check-out line in many U.S. supermarkets. However, after a failed attempt at such a search I realized that my only option was to buy a real pair immediately since I didn’t want to further delay my driver’s license application.
To make a long story short, an hour later I had my new glasses and passed the exam. But to add insult to injury, the guy who gave me the second exam said that since I was on the threshold I didn’t necessarily need the glasses. Great…I wish he had been the first one to test my eyes. Nonetheless, the glasses definitely help me see more clearly when reading distant signs with small print.
As I arrived at the local Swiss DMV-equivalent with my full “application” in order, I also came fully prepared with a laundry list of excuses for why I hadn’t submitted the forms within the requisite one year period. And I was further ready to beg shamelessly if push came to shove. But it didn’t even remotely come to that. After my number was called, the woman behind the counter processed all my paperwork and I was legal again. And by the time I made it downstairs to the lobby, my new Swiss driver’s license was waiting for me.
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