And WA Makes Three

Today I went to get my WA driver’s license. Having a U.S. license, I did not need to take a written or road exam, but just needed to provide my U.S. license, passport, and proof of address ( a piece of mail) at the local licensing center. I figured that the process here would be much easier than getting my driver’s license in Doha where I needed:

1. My U.S. license approved by the police chief, aka the man in the most flowing white robes in the police station, who did not speak English or care to look at me.
2. A letter of permission from my husband, translated into Arabic. This was available outside the main licensing area, still within the police compound, in a shed resembling an outhouse for ~$1.50.
3. My Qatar Residency ID, H’s Qatar Residency ID and photocopies of both. This was also available outside in the “outhouse” for ~$1.50 except during tea breaks, bathroom breaks, and calls to prayer.
4. Two passport pictures, on a blue background. One was immediately thrown away and the other was stapled to my application and then thrown away filed. Where did my driver’s license picture come from? A download from the government website (of the same photograph).
5. An eye test which I found my way to past a bathroom, up some stairs, past another counter where you could take a number from (did I need to stop and do that?), and into the first room with a door open and an employee in it. Luckily I had been told that sometimes the examiner showed really small letters for the test but you could ask (joking tone required) for larger letters, telling the examiner that it had “been a long day.” Mission successful! Fortunately it worked, or I may not have passed.

So with all of this documentation and a wait of approximately three hours in a very crowded room with all men, I got my Qatari driver’s license with its beautiful background picture of the Emir on his horse. Very apt!

In Perth, after a very short wait, I was called to a counter and asked to present all of my documentation. The relevant documents where photocopied and examined and then I got a very polite, “pardon me for a moment,” and the woman helping me left the counter to find what looked like the manager of the licensing center. They went back and forth with a lot of headshaking while I waited wondering if they thought my license was a fake or invalid for some reason. The woman came back with a grim face and asked me if I am only licensed to drive an automatic vehicle because my license reads “Auto Driver License.” I explained that no, it likely meant automobile and my license is indeed valid for all passenger non-commercial vehicles. She accepted the explanation and I am now the proud owner of a WA license. Fortunately there is no local law requiring one to be able to drive a manual vehicle in order to receive a WA license, because that is something that I have yet to learn. And apparently for work I need to take a defensive driving course, in a SUV with a manual transmission. This should be interesting!