Hi,

A quick question to see if anyone else has come across this problem. I was exchanging my license today at a registries office - i have a temporary work visa. The exchange went with no problems. However i asked if my wife can exchange her license using my temporary work visa as she is here under my visa (she is listed on the visa along with our two kids). The registrar said that as she does not have her own temporary work visa, she is classed as a visitor and so cannot exchange her license even though she is here for 3 years. Has this happened to anyone else? I am thinking that i will just go to a AMA office in another part of town and see if they will exchange it anyway.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Stuart.

I don't know the specific rules, but certainly there was no problem in my wife exchanging her license when she had a spousal work permit linked to my TWP. Is there any way your wife could get a spousal permit?

Go somewhere else, she has to change it within 3 months of arrival in Canada, visitor/TWP or whatever!

We had a similar issue, upon arrival my wife wasn't issued a visa, the immigration officer just wrote my TWP number in her passport and stamped it. When we went to the registry office they said that should she have been given her own visa. They made a call and had something faxed through and everything was fine.

I think it's someone getting confused. I was initially on a visitors visa and my husbands WP ran out before my visa did, they wouldn't let me exchange my licence UNTIL his WP had been extended - I was on both as accompanying spouse.

We came over on my OH work permit with me as a visitor. I had no problems exchanging my licence for an Alberta one. My visitor's record did mention on it that I was accompanying my OH for the duration of his work visa (they gave me a 13 months visitor's permit at POE).

This occurred to my sister in law. Visitor visa but married to a canadian and waiting her TWP. So she mailed of to the AA what ever the cost was to pay for an international licence and was allowed to drive here for a year hassle free!!.

Then when she got her TWP she then yo be retested in alberta Now here is a lady who struggles to drive an automatic and around Cochrane. She hates driving and is *rap at it.

So she had a friend drive her to Calgary to a really busy register office handed over her TWP and International license and got a new alberta one.

No retests anymore - just an exchange - at least for British licence holders - not sure about the rest of the world.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies - i think we will go into another office and see what happens -worst case scenario - my wife will need to get an international license so she can drive for a year and then we will see what happens after that.

Stuart

International licences are meaningless, they don't permit driving for any longer than the province permits on the licence you hold from your originating country.