Exchange foreign automatic-only license to full Norwegian license
Last activity 06 July 2017 by Canned_Tuna
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Hi all,
I'm moving from Australia to Norway this autumn, bringing with me my Australian driving license.
The problem is, my license only allows me to drive automatic vehicles and after searching for a while on finn.no, it appears to me that most of the cars in Norway are manual.
I plan to exchange my license for a Norwegian one. Here in Tasmania, I can simply take a driving test on a manual car and have my license immediately upgraded to a non-restricted one. I don't know if I can do the same in Norway with my foreign license.
I have searched through the Statens vegvesen website and could not find the answer. I will be grateful if anyone of you here can help me out with this query.
Thanks 
Hi Canned_Tuna,
I am about to take my driving test in about a month and I am only familiar with automatic, as well. In Norway, unlike in the US where you use your own car, you need to arrange to drive a car from an approved driving school. I don't know if that's how it is in NZ, but that added a little extra layer of planning. All the schools I called didn't seem like it was a big deal that I would be driving automatic - just make sure you let them know that that is the situation. Automatic cars are becoming much more popular, so I wouldn't be too worried about it.
But if you are planning on having a manual car, I would definitely make sure that you take the test on a manual car, so that your license has the right designation. I don't believe there is anything more advanced than that in terms of getting that designation - just as long as you pass
Also, something that I didn't know - you are supposed to hand in your foreign license within THREE months after arrival. They'll give you a piece of paper saying that you've handed your license in, and then in about a week or so, you'll get a temporary paper license. Make sure that you arrange to take your test within a year of getting your residence, because after that it becomes extremely difficult and EXPENSIVE to get it, because you have to take basically the full Norwegian driving course load, which is a lot!
Hope this was helpful!
Sorry! Thought you said New Zealand, not Australia. My mistake
Hi, clupe212
Thanks a lot for helping me out. Everything is basically the same between AU and NZ; we can use our own car to take the test.
So all I need to do now is get to Haugesund, take some driving lessons on a manual car, hire that car, take the test, pass the test, and I'm good to go. Doesn't sound too bad It's good that I don't have to wait some years to remove the "automatic only" restriction.
One follow-up question, though. Do the driving instructor and driving examiner speak to you in English or Norwegian?
Again, thanks for the help, mate
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