Reader question: How can my Thai wife obtain a Belgian driver's license?

Dear Guy,

here is the manual as it applies in the Netherlands. There she will just have to get a driver's license again. I suspect that this is also the case in Belgium.

Manual 'Application for exchange for a Dutch driving licence' (3 E 0397)
This manual is intended for several target groups. Therefore, determine below which situation applies to you. You can then follow the instructions for your target audience.
1. Target groups
A. You want to exchange a foreign driving license for a Dutch driving licence. The foreign driving license has been issued by the competent authority in:
1. Another member state of the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)1.
2. A country that does not belong to a member state of the EU/EFTA and with which the Netherlands is a
exchange agreement. These countries are known to the municipality and are also listed on the
internet site http://www.rdw.nl.
3. Another non-EU/EFTA country in case the applicant qualifies for the
so-called „30% tax rule‟.
4. The former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba.
5. A different country than indicated in points 1 to 4 and the applicant has been in possession of a
Dutch driving license that was valid after June 30, 1985.
B. You want to exchange an old linen Dutch driving licence.
Target group A
What do you need to send with the application?
– The fully completed and signed application form 3 E 0397.
– One color passport photo that meets the requirements of the Fotomatrix Model 2007.
– The foreign driver's license.
– The previous Dutch driving license (if still in the possession of the applicant)
– A statement from the tax authorities (the rule of evidence decision) issued by the
tax authorities in Heerlen (target group A 3: „30% tax rule‟).
– A Declaration of Suitability (target group A 2 to 5).
Foreign driver's license
The foreign driving license to be submitted must meet the following conditions:
– The driver's license must be valid.
– The driver's license must have been issued to the applicant within a period of 1 year in which the applicant
has been resident in the country of issue of this driving license for at least 185 days.
The period of validity of an EU/EFTA driving license may have expired at the time of submission of the application. The application must then be accompanied by a certified statement showing that the authority that issued the driving license has no objection to the issue of a Dutch driving licence.
1 Countries belonging to the European Union (EU): Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria.
Countries belonging to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Date: November 20, 2014 3 B 0992m Version: 3.2
️
RDW Manual 'Application for exchange for a Dutch driving licence'
Proof of 185 days
The data on the application form must show that the driving license offered for exchange has been issued to the applicant in a period of 1 year, during which he has resided for at least 185 days in the country of issue of this driving licence. If this does not appear from the information on the application form, the applicant must submit supporting documents. This does not apply to EU/EFTA driving licences.
Translation of the foreign driver's license
If the driving license presented for exchange is only drawn up in punctuation marks that are not used in the Netherlands (for example, in Japanese or Greek), it is necessary to enclose a translation of the foreign driving licence. The translation must be made by a sworn interpreter or by the Embassy or Consulate.
The documents must be original, unless otherwise indicated, and must be submitted by the municipality of registration.
The instruction continues at point 3. Lost your driver's license? Then read on at point 2.
Target group B
What do you need to send with the application?
– The fully completed and signed application form 3 E 0397
– One color passport photo that meets the requirements of the Fotomatrix Model 2007
– The old Dutch driver's license (the so-called 'linen' driver's license on which the passport photo by means of
ring stapling is attached). Driving licenses whose validity expired on or before June 30, 1985
are no longer eligible for renewal.
– In some cases a Statement of Suitability.
The instruction continues at point 3. Lost your driver's license? Then read on at point 2.
2. In the event of a missing/theft driving licence
– If you have a foreign driving license issued by the former Netherlands Antilles, Aruba or an EU/EFTA member state, you must submit the following:
 An official report regarding the loss/theft of the driving license drawn up by an official of the Dutch police and
 a certified statement from the authority that issued the driving licence, attesting to its issue and validity.
– You have a Dutch driving licence:
An official report of the loss/theft of the driver's license drawn up by an official of the Dutch police.
– For driving licenses from all other countries, a valid foreign driving license must always be present with the application.
3. Statement of Eligibility
Your target group states whether you also need a Declaration of Suitability. In some cases a medical examination is required. You must therefore also submit a Declaration of Suitability.
You need a Personal Declaration for the Declaration of Suitability. You buy a Self-declaration on My CBR (https://mijn.CBR.nl). You can also buy a paper form from most municipalities or the CBR. For general information about the medical examination, you can call the telephone number 0900 0210 (from abroad telephone number 00 31 703 90 36 95).
If everything is in order, you will receive a letter from the CBR a few weeks after sending the Self-Declaration stating that a Declaration of Suitability has been registered.
Date: November 20, 2014 3 B 0992m Version: 3.2
 
RDW Manual 'Application for exchange for a Dutch driving licence'
However, the CBR can also decide that you must first go to a medical specialist for an examination or take a driving test with an expert from the CBR. You will then be notified in writing. In those cases, the procedure takes longer. That is why it is important to send the Self-Declaration quickly. The CBR strives to process all applications for a Declaration of Suitability as quickly as possible, with a maximum term of four months.
When you have applied for a driving license and the CBR has registered the Declaration of Suitability, your application will be processed. The registration of the Declaration of Suitability may not be more than 1 year ago at the time of submission of the application.
When to approve?
A medical examination is mandatory in a number of cases:
– when the applicant is 75 years or older;
– when the applicant is 70 years or older and the driving license expires on or after the 75th birthday;
– if the application (also) relates to category(ies) C, C1, D, D1, CE, C1E, DE and/or
D1E;
– if, for medical reasons, the applicant has been issued with a Dutch driving license with a
limited period of validity;
– when a foreign driving license is surrendered that was not issued in another EU Member State or
Switzerland;
– when a driving license from an EU/EFTA member state is surrendered:
 that is valid for a shorter period than the period of validity customary in the country of issue;
 that contains restrictive notes that are not indicated by the codes established within the EU (with the exception of lenses, glasses or automatic);
4. Waiving category(ies)
Do you have a foreign driving license with one of the driving license categories C1, C, C1E, CE, D1, D, D1E and DE and you do not want to be inspected? Then it is possible to temporarily dispense with the heavy categories. This “Foreign Driving License Category(ies) Waiver” can be found on the website http://www.rdw.nl. You can also obtain the statement by calling RDW Customer Service on telephone number 0900 07 39 (€0,10 per minute). From abroad telephone number 00 31 598 39 33 30. If you want to regain possession of one or more categories that you have waived, you must still undergo an examination.
5. Certificate of Driving Ability
A Certificate of Driving Skills is registered by the Central Office for Driving Skills (CBR). The statement must be registered by extension of the category(ies) on a driving licence. The registration of the statement may not be more than 3 years ago.
6. costs
There are costs involved in processing the application. These fees must be paid when submitting the application.
7. Application Form
The application form must be fully completed and signed. The signature must be placed completely within the specified frame. Take a pen that writes black. Start on the left and use the entire space of the frame to create a legible signature. To do this, you must turn on the pen properly and press it on the application form. An application form on which the signature is not within the frame will not be accepted.
Date: November 20, 2014 3 B 0992m Version: 3.2
 
RDW Manual 'Application for exchange for a Dutch driving licence'
8. Color passport photo
Among other things, the color passport photo must be recent and closely resembling and the photo must be taken straight from the front. The conditions for the color passport photo are the same as for the Dutch passport and Dutch identity card. For more information, please visit the website http://www.paspoortinformatie.nl or at the municipality.
9. Procedure
If the application leads to the issue of a Dutch driving licence, the applicant will be notified by the RDW that the driving license can be collected from the municipality where the application was submitted after five working days. When collecting the driver's license, the applicant must identify himself.
Please note: an application for a driving license can only be processed if all the necessary information has been filled in on the application form and the required attachments have been added to the application form. Documents submitted separately cause delays in processing.
10. More information
For more information about the driver's license, please visit http://www.rijbewijs.nl of http://www.rdw.nl.
Date: November 20, 2014 3 B 0992m Version: 3.2

I would say: let them get a Belgian driver's license, just take lessons and take an exam! The driver's license in Thailand is really nothing and is life-threatening. If you care about your wife and the other road users, you will certainly be willing to do so.

Dear Guy,
What I know is that you can drive in the Netherlands as long as the international driving license is valid, but as a new concern, within 6 months they will still have to take an exam to obtain a Dutch driving license in this case. It will probably also be the same in Belgium. The only thing I don't remember is that some time ago there was an arrangement that new residents were something they could get faster, I don't know whether that is still the case now.
gr. evert

For a limited duration of stay in Belgium, an international driving license obtained in Thailand is sufficient. It is best to check with the driving license office of the municipality (or perhaps better with the police) whether this also remains valid as soon as her address in Belgium has been established for longer than the permitted continuous period of use in Belgium of an international driving licence.

Twenty years ago, against all kinds of advice to use an international driving license as a Belgian in Thailand, at least in theory (and then confirmed to me by the Thai ambassador in Belgium in person) the normal Belgian driving license document without an international driving license was sufficient to enter Thailand. to drive as a non-resident. Since such arrangements are usually bilateral, this should also have been possible for a Thai driver's license in Belgium - but no longer if the Thai's address was permanently established in Belgium. I don't know whether that exception still applies; even then it was difficult to find a clear text about it. At the time, a few times during police checks, I only showed my old-style Belgian (which is still valid and never expires, unlike those of bank card format that are now being issued and against which people can already use the old document and will have to in some time exchange) and that turned out to be no problem (although people scratched their hair for a while). In any case, in the meantime I prefer to present an international driving license in Thailand: In practice, people never ask for the normal Belgian one, even if it is required in principle, and so one would only include the international one if there ever was a problem there. would rise…

Twenty years ago my wife got her Belgian driver's license with an exam in Dutch exactly as we had to do here, even though she already had a Thai. This was then necessary to obtain a Belgian driving license and is still possible today to keep both a Thai and a Belgian driving licence. One must then keep an eye on the expiration date of the Thai ticket and then exchange it (which is also possible at the Thai embassy, ​​I believe).

This is no longer necessary because one can simply exchange a Thai (not an international but the real bank card size). For the exact conditions and formalities, it is best to contact the service responsible for driving licenses of the municipality of which she gives her address in Belgium upon arrival. As Khun Sugar said: It's a real trade-off. Each time your wife returns to Thailand, she can bring in her Thai driver's license to get the Thai back, and then exchange it again when she returns to Belgium. For example, if you go to Thailand twice a year for a short holiday for several years, you can probably avoid repeated exchange hassles by buying an international driving license in Belgium after the first exchange. But check in Thailand whether this is valid if she were to present a Thai identity card or Thai travel pass instead of a (normally unnecessary for her) Belgian travel pass. On the contrary and subject to the possible problem I indicated in my first paragraph, those who stay more in Thailand than in Belgium could get an international in Thailand with the Thai. This way you avoid the Belgian driving test lottery. Someone's idea that this would be unsafe is nonsense, but it can of course be useful to follow the theory course (whether or not at a driving school if she already understands the Dutch language sufficiently or else a home course with the help of Thai people who know that traffic-technical Dutch understands well [and will probably also benefit from the course]) and possibly practical lessons at a driving school or a time with, for example, you as an unofficial supervisor and therefore without an L-vignette.

Keep in mind that both the Thai and the modern Belgian driving license have an expiry date. Find out how your wife, for example, has to exchange the Thai at the due date, if the old one is with your municipality. To get it back, she will have to hand in her Belgian and need a driver until she has picked up her Belgian with the new Thai…