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Convert Driving License in Shanghai

Submitted by on 1 August 2010 | 34 Comments

Do you already have a driving license in your home country and you want to convert that to a Chinese driving license in Shanghai? Be prepared for some physical workout as the entire process involves much crossing over buildings and running up and down in one, as with most Chinese administrative errands. Nevertheless, your quest should be made easier with this guide to converting your driving license in Shanghai.

Note that an International Driver’s Permit (IDP) is not valid in China. The IDP would be equivalent to any other foreign license, and you’d still have to follow the same procedure of converting that license into a Chinese driving license.

Make sure your visa is valid for at least 90 days

Your visa needs to be valid for at least 90 days before you can proceed with converting your driving license.

Thanks to axin for adding this important tip in the comments section below. 

Get a certified translation of your driver’s license
The very first document you need before you can even apply, is a certified translation of your original driving license. Just bring your original driving license to the address below, and be prepared to pay 50RMB for a Chinese translation of it.

上海市外事翻译工作者协会, Shanghai Interpreters’ Association
北京西路1277号（国旅大厦）1607室
Rm. 1607, No. 1277 Beijing Road (W)
Tel. 63239910

Opening Hours: 9AM-4:30PM, Monday-Friday

Obtain temporary residence permit from police station

This applies to all foreigners, even if you already have your residence permit in your passport.

Take a simple physical check-up, process documents, and apply for a theory test date

(this will take at least a couple of hours, as everyone who doesn’t have a Shanghai driving license will be converting theirs here)

The next step to converting your driving license is to bring the following documents to the Driving License Issuing Authority at the Shanghai Vehicle Management Bureau (address below). Ensure you have all the documents ready with you to save yourself the trouble of joining the long queue at the bureau, or worse, needing to go back there another day because you were missing something:

  1. Certified translation of foreign driving license
  2. Original driving license + photocopy (front + back)
  3. Passport + Passport copy (front page + residence permit page)
  4. Temporary residence permit + photocopy

Driving License Issuing Authority, Shanghai Vehicle Management Bureau

179 Qinchun Road (Minhang district), 179 沁春路 (Near Subway Line 5 – Chunshen Road Station)
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 9am – 5pm (but I heard you can’t apply on Saturdays, only take your photos and vision test)  Updated: Others who have recently gone on this quest say you can’t do much at the above address. You should do it at 1330 Hami Road instead. 

Since the address has changed, the navigation guide below may not be accurate, but the process should be the same:

Once you arrive at the bureau, go to building no. 12 to pay for your photographs (40RMB). There’re also photocopying services there if you need (1RMB per copy). Proceed to take your picture and collect them after. You won’t be able to use your own photographs, as these in-house photos come printed with your name and id number.

Once you’ve collected your photos, head to the physical check-up area from the door on the right. Get the necessary forms and pay for the check-up (60RMB). Fill in the forms, affix your photos and proceed to the different small little rooms with them to get your vision and hearing tested. After you’ve completed all the sections on the forms, get it stamped by the person-in-charge at the window near the exit.

Once that is done, bring all your documents and forms to building no. 8 where a clerk on the first floor will check your documents and pass you a queue number for room 202 on the 2nd level.  Your documents will be checked again, and if everything is in place, they will clip all the documents together and return it to you. You will then be asked to head to building no. 9 where you will get a date for your computerized theory test. You will be given a slip of paper with your name, test date, and test time, and the website to download the learning material (http://www.shjtaq.com).

The computerized theory test

(You need to take the test where your visa/residence permit was approved in)

The test comprises of a mixture of multiple-choice, and true/false questions. There are 100 questions, of which you need 90 correct to pass, and you are given 45 minutes. On the test day, you need to bring with you all your documents, including your passport, original driving license, and the appointment slip. Head to building no. 9 to take your test. After you submit your answers, there will be a pop-up that will tell you immediately whether you have passed or failed.

If you passed, go to the officer outside who will print your results out. Bring that and all your documents to building no. 8, get a queue number from the clerk below for room 200, and get all your documents checked again. You will then be issued a slip which you need to bring to the first floor for payment (55RMB -> 15RMB for the license, 40RMB for the test, even if you took it multiple times), and then you have to head back to the 2nd floor to the big room, proceed to window 16 where you hand them all your documents, and they’ll issue you your license in about 10 minutes.

If you didn’t pass, rebook another test date. Before the next test date, go through the questions in the question bank, and take the mock test (best taken in Internet Explorer though)!

Cost Breakdown

  • Certified translation 50RMB
  • Photos 40RMB
  • Physical check-up 60RMB
  • Computerized theory test 40RMB
  • License 15RMB

Theory test tips

Unsurprisingly, the English test is more like a Chinglish test. Be sure to spend time going through all the test bank questions on their official site. Download here for the English test bank questions.

A very useful mock test site shared on ShanghaiExpat forums that helps a great deal is this one, and it gives a rather real feel for the theory test. It works best only in Internet Explorer, though.

Updated: There’s an iPhone/iPad/Android app to study from! 

Shanghai Halfpat fans have also contributed their study material:

To find out about getting a motorbike license in Shanghai, read here.

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  • Benniewas

    To the author: This post is extremely helpful and I must say, one of the most informative, descriptive and efficient i've seen. Thank you very much for taking the time to post!

    Brent

  • Jbeutell

    just went through the process. Explanation above is quite good. Upstairs room is 200, for first visit and second visit after passing. After you have paid the final 55, it is window 16 upstairs. You hand in all the paperwork and they call your number after 10 minutes to give you the license. I think I would have struggled a little to fill in the medical doc if my chinese friend was not there to help. Is definitely a good idea to scan all the questions in the test bank. About 4 hours should do it. Most are quite logical and many are similar. Few weird ones in the First aid section.

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    Thanks Brent! Glad to have helped. :) Good luck with converting your license, yeah?

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    Hi Jbeutell,

    Thanks for the additional information!

    And I totally agree with the weird questions in the First Aid section, and going through the questions in advance will definitely save you the trouble of going for the test again.

    Congrats!

  • coxaca

    Fantastic. Please tell: does this method work for a combined car/motorbike (Australian issue) licence? That is, can I get licenced to ride a bike here using this method?

    Or do I still have to do the 5 hours' compulsory training?

    Thanks for your assistance.

  • http://www.shanghaihalfpat.com shanghaihalfpat

    Hi,

    Sorry, I’m not sure about bikes!

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    Sorry coxaca, I'm not too sure about motorbikes!

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    Hey guys, guess what. There's now an iPhone/iPod/iPad app that helps you prepare for the theory test!
    http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id370324680?mt=8

  • Speakeztruth

    Please note that the location for the Vehicle Management Bureau has changed to 1330 Hami Road: 6269.0606, no longer in Minhang.

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    Thanks for the info!

  • Moztoprak8

    Thanks guys , good job

  • Abujamra

    I would like to thank you for the information you shared with us here. It was really helpful for me.

    I would like to contribute with it:

    As somebody said below, you can go to Ha Mi Road do everything, much closer than Minhang.
    Regarding the VISA, I have a tourist VISA, and it was no problem at all. I got a 6 years Chinese driving license.

    Cheers,
    Rodrigo

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    Thanks for the valuable info, Rodrigo!

  • syrian-guy

    hello Abujamra! man i want to ask you how can you study 1500 questions? because i want to do DL in shanghai but i think exam is difficult。
    i don't know i should remember 1500 questions or what?
    thank you very much!

  • Amjad

    hello! i want to ask something, I have already register and on 24 I will have my exam, but I do not know the topic of the exam and do you think I have to remember all 1500 questions? “because i just want to change”

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    @5745eeaad73055c2885bdcfd156878a9:disqus You don't really have to remember all 1500 questions, just roughly remember the answers and the main gist of what type of answers they look out for. Try out the mock test link included in this article, it helps. :) Good luck!

  • Amjad

    thank you very much for your reply, but I am confused. My friend when applied for converting the driving license received a questionnaire composed of 100 questions. He studied them and at the exams there were the same questions in different order. On the contrary the day I applied nobody gave me questionnaire and now I am wondering why I should study 1500 questions as basically I already have a license in my country,

  • Amjad-trading

    thank you very much for your reply, but I am confused. My friend when applied for converting the driving license received a questionnaire composed of 100 questions. He studied them and at the exams there were the same questions in different order. On the contrary the day I applied nobody gave me questionnaire and now I am wondering why I should study 1500 questions as basically I already have a license in my country,

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    @5745eeaad73055c2885bdcfd156878a9:disqus How about getting the questionnaire from your friend? :)

  • Amjad

    I would like to ask, as I downloaded from the official site two documents, one containing 1500 questions and the other containing 100 questions which one as to be studied?

    and the questions are the same of the exams?

    I am sorry to bother you again
    !

  • ShanghaiHalfpat

    Hi @5745eeaad73055c2885bdcfd156878a9:disqus

    I'm not sure about the 100 questions you received, but when I took the exam I only had the 1500 questions to refer to. Many were repetitions but the questions did come out from these 1500 questions. So yes, the questions (at least those in the 1500 questions I studied) are the same as the exam's, just that they may reorder the answer options.

    Hope this helps. :)

  • Rodrigoabujamra

    Syrian, you gotta check the questions before the exam because some of them are tricky.
    I would say 85% of the questions are really easy, but the rest aren’t that obvious.
    You need at least 90 out of 100, so gotta study a bit.

    I think if you read the questions at least once, that could be OK, it depends on the person.
    Good luck.

  • Quentin Berder

    Thanks a lot for the information! It is exactly what I needed. I went this morning and was completely set for it.

    Only as @Speakeztruth said “the Vehicle Management Bureau has changed to 1330 Hami Road: 6269.0606, no longer in Minhang.”

  • Remi

    Special thanks to all the persons who contributed to this page: explanations, mockup test, and the comments below .
    It helped me a lot; today I finally got my license. I failed the 1st time (only 87) after only reading the question bank. Then I found this website and the mockup test which was very usefull and more easy than study the question bank again and again…
     
    2 more comments:
    - the crossing road for HaMi Lu Vehicule Management station is:
    No.1330,Ha Mi Road (Crossby Jin bang road)Bus Lines : 739,807,88 & Xin Bei Special Line, from Shanghai Zoo Station Line 10.- If you already have a motorbike license in your home country, you should ask to get C1 (car) and D (all type of motorbikes, including 3-wheel) when booking the written exam. The link at then end of this article will gives you all the information…
     
    Thks again and good luck to the new ones coming to this webpage.

  • Sonk

    Do not underestimate this test. On the internet only the old version of 1500
    questions and answers is available. These are also the basis for the mock test
    in above link.

     

    But the currently used real test is based on only 900 questions which you
    will find when you download and compare the chinese version of the Q+A from http://www.shjtaq.com

     

    And the 900 questions are sometimes different from the 1500 questions, so
    they did not only delete, but they also changed some questions.
     

  • http://www.shanghaihalfpat.com Shanghai Halfpat

    Thanks for the updated info, Sonk. Boy am I glad I already converted my license!

  • Quentin Berder

    I had my license and I used the app China Drive (http://thinknao.com/appContent.php?appId=34), this is for iPhone, iPad and Android. And no this is not a promotional post, just sharing as it is easier to have it on your phone than to use the 300+ pages pdf.

  • http://www.shanghaihalfpat.com Shanghai Halfpat

    Thanks! Yeah sounds like a great alternative, and a good time killer while taking the metro!

  • Aa

    How many days later will the test be from when you go there to register?

  • http://www.shanghaihalfpat.com Shanghai Halfpat

    Mine was something like 2-3 weeks

  • Malte

    A friend and I went to Minhang today. Only thing we could do there was taking the pictures (25 RMB) and doing the health check (60 RMB). After that they told us that we had to go to 1330 Hami Road. Once arrived, they just checked the documents and gave us a date for the exam.

    The Android app mentioned below is really good to learn the questions.

  • axin

    Make sure your current VISA is in total valid for at least 90 days (it doesn’t matter how many of those 90 days are still remaining!). If in doubt, the guys in the last office will count every day from Issue Date to Valid Until and will deny you if it’s 89 days or less…

  • http://www.shanghaihalfpat.com Shanghai Halfpat

    Thanks for the advice! Have added it in the post. :)

  • Kaneta

    this article is quite informing for those who wants to try for a chinese license driver, why didnt i found this earlir ?? …. i failed the first try with a 89 score with just reading the question bank so close, but now with the mock test and the app it will make a lot easier, thanks for writing this !