Indian Driving License in Australia

There are different rules in each of the Australian States/Territories. But basically, if you are coming from Overseas, specially if you have an Indian drivers license, then you will need to follow through with the below:

1. Before you leave India, get a letter from your RTO validating and verifying the drivers license and all the details on it. It needs to be in a format where all the details of the license as well as your details need to be mentioned in a paper, which is certified by an official at the RTO.

2. You need to go on-line and make a booking for getting verification of the License done by the VFS Indian Consulate Offices, which are located, in Sydney, at: 64, Clarence Street, Sydney 2000 (very near to the Wynyard Station on the York St side). The Licensing Authority might provide you with a letter stating the Actual Embassy/Consulate address, but it is no use going there, as they will redirect you to the VFS address, and the VFS people will ask you to fill the form on-line. So, save yourself the trouble :-)

a) Main Site: http://www.vfs-in-au.net/
b) Offices in the various Territories: http://www.vfs-in-au.net/submityourapplication.html
c) Instructions to get your License Verified: http://www.vfs-in-au.net/indiadriverslicence.html
d) The Online Application: https://www.vfsglobalonline.com/IHCAUSOnline/

Once you have booked an appointment with them and submitted the required documents, they will "Again" provide you with "another" document which verifies that the document and license that you have is authentic and can be used by the Roads & Transport department to provide you with a Permanent Drivers License. (The VFS Site has a good step-by-step guide to take you through the process, given at the above link)

The caveat in the above is that your existing license should be more than 3 years old, else you are back to getting a Provisional or even a Learners License from the Roads Department.

3. Once you have this letter with you. Go ahead and book your initial Drivers Knowledge Test (or DKT) on the respective states transport site:

a) New South Wales: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/tests/index.html (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/)
b) Victoria: https://billing.vicroads.vic.gov.au/bookings# (http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/)
c) Queensland: http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Licensing/Getting-a-licence.aspx (http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/)

4. Most of the territories will have practice tests on their online sites and these should be given before going for the actual tests:

a) New South Wales: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/tests/driverknowledgetest/demonstrationdriverknowledgetest/index.html
b) Victoria: http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Licences/GetYourLs/PracticeLearnerandLicenceTests.htm
c) Queensland: http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Licensing/Getting-a-licence/Licence-tests/Practical-driving-test.aspx


Most of the time getting your Drivers License authenticated, may not be required, as the Agency already has your License registered with them; and they just check that the License is in the correct format and allow you to give the DKT. But, it is a good thing to do the above in advance before approaching the Licensing Authority to provide you with an Australian License.

So, once you have your letter from the Embassy, stating that the Indian License is authentic, book your DKT on-line (links given above) and at the designated time and date, be sure to arrive atleast 15 minutes earlier with the following documents:

1. Passport Original
2. Original License
3. Original Authenticity letter
4. Proof of your address in Australia (Gas bill or Lease agreement)
5. The Printout of the Test booked Online
6. The Printout (details filled) of the RTA form, which has your details for giving the DKT

You could also get a Photo ID card created, which will save you the time and effort to carry most of the above documents. But, usually if you are sure of passing the DKT, it amounts to spending that amount extra, as it gets cancelled once you get a Learners, Provisional or Full License. (usually within a day of your passing the Tests).

Settling in Australia

I have been making plans to write something about my Australia venture for sometime now. Just the issue being that I can't make up my time to go about it :-) . The thought for writing something on this topic came up soon after I recieved the final go ahead for my Australian PR, which materialized last year. So, here are a few things which helped me in settling down here (these experiences are mostly related to Sydney and may differ vastly across the other Cities). This is going to be a series of blog posts.

The first thing to work on when you get your PR Visa is the essentials being provided by the Australian Government for Citizens and PR Holders. There is not an integrated site, which provides information on all the essential services being provided:
http://www.australia.gov.au/

Register yourself on this site (you need to just provide some essential details). The next step is to check the job sites (read the next article on Australia Jobs). Once you have uploaded and applied for numerous job opportunities which suit you. You might be called for a face-to-face. This is the appropriate time to make a quick short trip to Aussie Land. (if you have a PR Visa, you need to make atleast one trip in the first year of getting the same). Convert this trip to a pleasure and recursion trip, then you enjoy and complete what you came to do, without feeling the pinch of just having to visit for fulfilling your PR Visa requirement. Best would be if you shift over permenently, but as many would have other commitments, it might not be possible.

When you get to Australia, either you need to have friends and family to stay with or book yourself into a Hotel. A good place to go for this is http://www.hotels.com/, who have a good collection of Hotels for Australia. The other thing is to go around sites such as http://www.domain.com.au/ or http://www.realestate.com.au/ and search for a furnished appartment initially. There are many, which are available in and around Milson's Point and North Sydney. These places are near to the City, where the maximum jobs are available and they have some good restaurants and grocery shops for every need. I would recommend these for a short term lease (1-3 Months), and meanwhile look around for something more permanent and suitable for your needs. It is best to look for a furnished apartment for the initial 3-6 months, if you are planning to shift with Family, and then later get something much cheaper and/or nearer to your workplace. It is also a good idea to make the booking before you arrive, as then the burden of that money is reduced and you have a fair idea of exactly how much you have with you.

More on Jobs and Driving around in the next few blogs :-)

Beijing Subway vs. Mumbai Trains

During my recent trip to Beijing, China; I got to make good use of the extensively laid out Subway trains of the capital city. It was an experience unto itself, when I climbed one of the older lines and was instantaneously reminisced of the Mumbai trains...

The crowd in China is to be seen when you try and get onto the subway during the office hour rush (morning 9-10 and evening 6-8). It looks like a tin packed with sardines. You are not required to hold on to anything except what you brought on board with you, holding you up and pushing you either side is taken care of. It is a good reminder that China is still in competition with India on the population :-)

Anyways! that said, it really was a great experience, and very convenient too. We could visit maximum number of places due to the availability of the same subway nearby and stay on to enjoy the surroundings, without thinking of how we get back to our place of blissful sleep. I am mentioning some of the places and associated stations below:

Line 5: Tiantan Dongmen - for the Hong Qiao Market (good place to go for electronic goods and toys)
Line 1: Yong`anli - For the Silk Market (good place to shop for leather good - handbags, shoes, jackets. Also, good place for souvenirs and small trinkets. You need to be careful and bargain well... mostly bring down the price to 10% of the quoted price. More of this is given on a different blog).
Line 8: Olympic Green - For the Nest and Aquarium (Olympic Stadium and a good nice BIG ground to jog in the mornings)
Line 13: Wudaokou - Good eating joints around this place. Student community and you can find many IT companies also around. You can ask for references here, as people speak and understand english. I liked the Japanese restaurant and the disco/bar alongside it :-)
Line 4: Beijing Zoo - good to visit and see the Panda
Line 4: Beigongmen - For the Summer Palace. This place is good to see over (take the 50 Yuan ticket and a guide to go over the place). Serene and green, with the minimal of traffic noise and a lake to sit by :-)
Line 1: Tian`anmen East/West - For the Forbidden City and and the Tian'anmen square. Forbidden City is Ok, but would prefer going to the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace.
Line 5: Ciqikou - Temple of Heaven. Similar to Forbidden City and would recommend it over the other (60 Yuan vs. 30 Yuan) :-)

Journey to Beijing!

It began with work transitioning from the China office to the newly opened center in Bangalore. People started talking about getting the Visa's done and arranging for flight tickets. Our's being more of a startup, all travel arrangements have been outsourced to AMEX. They did a proficient job of getting the Visa and the tickets (although at a good premium :-) ), and off we were to the land of Dragons... I landed in Beijing with little expectations of what I got to see.

The first was the Airport terminus. It was HUGE!! We had to catch a mini train to reach our baggage handling area and that was not the end of it. I heard that there are 3 monsters of similar size, which make up the terminus. China has done a tremendous job of Infrastructure planning and execution. They have built a city based on modern and old values, which is by far the best and seemingly biggest I have seem so far in the so-called "developing nations" category.

Out of the airport, you do not find any touts or people trying to mishandle you. There is order there. You have a elevator, which takes you either to the Taxi stand (marked all the way in English), or the Subway (the underground metropolitian railway line). Here also, you will find a lot of interesting infrastructure. The Airport line is a bit expensive (25 Yuan, compared with 2 Yuan for anywhere in the city), but it delivers you to a destination on the main lines of the Subway. From here, if you have prepared yourself well and know where to go, you catch the appropriate line (much like the london underground) and reach your destination. I decided to take the taxi, as I had not done the above. :-)

The roads are - smooth and spacious. (although most would not agree on the spacious part, if they arrive on Saturday/Sunday) They have a 8-10 lane infrasturcture of roadways running from the airport to the city (with a additional service lane and an emergency lane). The population is courteous enough and do not bother with you on the Subway or otherwise (not a single beggar to be seen). The main hurdle being communication and trying to make the people understand you. First rule I learnt: Talk with a lot of hand gestures and communicate in a syllable by syllable manner, not in mouthfuls, as we usually do.

The air in Beijing is clean and you will find mostly cars (high end ones) or motor powered bicycles. Around our Hotel, it was more of the student crowd which we faced. The hotel was located (on-campus) near the Beijing Aviation University (which was a misnomer, as they taught more than just aviation). Maybe due to the excellent public network (of taxi's, buses and Subway combined), there did not exist a diverse vehicular traffic. Although that scenario changes, when all try to take their cars out in the weekend, when there is no restrictions imposed on the vehicle numbers out on the street (got to know that there is a restriction each weekday on what last digit vehicle can ply the roads, but it is lifted on weekends).

गग्नीत सिंह

Bangalore RTO and other Government Agencies have started insisting on getting your name in Hindi! So, here it is ... with a little help from Blogger and Google :-)