Have they closed the Raro license loophole?

[skipah]

I've searched and only found threads about this that are about a year old, is it still possible to convert the raro bike license into a full class 6 NZ one?
Every time someone asked this in the threads I read someone got on the preachy band wagon, no preachy answers about how one should do the whole 9 month thing please, I've been on all sorts of motorbikes for years don't need to hear it, just would like some good advice or recent experience with this.

Thanks heaps.

[CookMySock]

no. </10 characters>

Steve

[p.dath]

Check out the Wiki article on Overseas Drivers Licence Conversion.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/wiki/Overseas_driver_licence_conversion

And then post the answer back here for everyone else to read.

[skipah]

Is that a no, they haven't closed the loop hole or no you can't take it in and do the tests and get a full license?

p.dath, thanks for the link, from what I can gather from reading the Land Transport pages, is that the Cook Islands are not on the list of recognised countries where you can be exempt from taking the theory or practical test. Therefore if you have a license from another country not on the list (ie. Rarotonga) you can take it in and convert it but you have to do the theory and practical test, and so long as you pass job done. ???

This is my take, anyone is welcome to correct if I'm wrong.

[CookMySock]

No, you can't your full that way.

Steve

[peasea]

Is that a no, they haven't closed the loop hole or no you can't take it in and do the tests and get a full license?

p.dath, thanks for the link, from what I can gather from reading the Land Transport pages, is that the Cook Islands are not on the list of recognised countries where you can be exempt from taking the theory or practical test. Therefore if you have a license from another country not on the list (ie. Rarotonga) you can take it in and convert it but you have to do the theory and practical test, and so long as you pass job done. ???

This is my take, anyone is welcome to correct if I'm wrong.

Just a suggestion; ring the local AA or whatever authority does the license tests these days. I'm picking they'd have the answers.

[Road Guardian]

After returning from Rarotonga over autum, I went for my Restricted Licence, casually I asked if my Raro licence can be converted over to a Full 6 licence, the answer is......

No!

[90s]

After returning from Rarotonga over autum, I went for my Restricted Licence, casually I asked if my Raro licence can be converted over to a Full 6 licence, the answer is......

No!

Whoever told you this is incorrect. As I have posted here before there is no "loophole", just the usual process of overseas licence conversion. But the confusion might be over the fact that you cannot "exchange" one for the other.

If you have a full Cook Islands motorbike licence you can convert this to a full NZ licence, but will need to take both the NZ practical and theory. The benefit to a new rider (no preaching) is you skip waiting however long with just your learners / no licence / restricted and jump straight to full testing.

You can still fail these tests.

You have 1 year from entering the country to convert your licence, and as I have discussed in previous threads after speaking with the AA and LTNZ on this issue, this year is reset every time you enter the country. As Cook Island licences are for specific times (ie. 1, 2 or 5 years) they can expire quite quickly.

And yes, I have done this process myself as I choose to convery my CI licence to a NZ rather than my old UK licence as I had misplaced it.

[Lucy]

Just a suggestion; ring the local AA or whatever authority does the license tests these days. I'm picking they'd have the answers.

Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. They'd have answers alright, but different ones depending on who you talk to, which way the wind is blowing, and how good their reading comprehension is.

[Lucy]

Whoever told you this is incorrect. As I have posted here before there is no "loophole", just the usual process of overseas licence conversion. But the confusion might be over the fact that you cannot "exchange" one for the other.

If you have a full Cook Islands motorbike licence you can convert this to a full NZ licence, but will need to take both the NZ practical and theory. The benefit to a new rider (no preaching) is you skip waiting however long with just your learners / no licence / restricted and jump straight to full testing.

You can still fail these tests.

You have 1 year from entering the country to convert your licence, and as I have discussed in previous threads after speaking with the AA and LTNZ on this issue, this year is reset every time you enter the country. As Cook Island licences are for specific times (ie. 1, 2 or 5 years) they can expire quite quickly.

And yes, I have done this process myself as I choose to convery my CI licence to a NZ rather than my old UK licence as I had misplaced it.

I've done it too. Skipped the restricted part. It's not a straight conversion like 90s says, you still have to do the practical test, (and the scratchy if you don't already have your learners). If you had a licence from one of the approved countries, you wouldn't have to do a test.

Makes sense really, when I did my BHS in Auckland, there was a guy on the course who had a full motorbike licence from Mexico (from memory). I was wondering why he was bothering doing the BHS, till he said he couldn't ride, got his licence from an automatic moped.

[sportsbabe]

As the last post was in Jan this year, I was just wondering if anyone has converted their Rarotongian License recently? I called the LTA and was advised that they had to receive a letter from the Cook Islands describing what tests were used to determine whether I could receive a license over there & only once received by the LTA would they consider converting my license. I have had my NZ learners for 16 months now & would like to convert the CI one to the full. My Rarotongian license expirers in August so slowly running out of time & I would be very appriciative if someone could please confirm whether I can still convert the Rarotongian to NZ full.

[Swoop]

I called the LTA and was advised that they had to receive a letter from the Cook Islands describing what tests were used to determine whether I could receive a license over there & only once received by the LTA would they consider converting my license.
You have answered your own question. The LTA want a letter that states what actual test you took over there.

If visiting Rarotonga and alread holding a licence, you only need to take a simple test. If you have no riding skills and need a licence, their test will be more involved and probably represent a "full" licence.

I guess you need to provide the letter which clarifies your situation.

[Retep5]

Has anyone gone or been through this process of late.
If so what happened?

Since I may be going to Raro for holiday and while I'm there I may as well get my raro license.
So I can cut off some of my time waiting to pass my full motorcycle test.

[strata]

Has anyone gone or been through this process of late.
If so what happened?

Since I may be going to Raro for holiday and while I'm there I may as well get my raro license.
So I can cut off some of my time waiting to pass my full motorcycle test.

Hi, I recently made a thread asking this same question and also checked it out myself. It sounds like they're trying to force people to have the Cook Islands police send documentation that isn't legally required (This started in 2009 according to some threads). I suppose you might be able to get around it depending on what agent you get at the AA, but I wouldn't bank on it. Not worth losing a potential couple of thousand on an off chance in my books, but if you're going anyway.....

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/146735-Rarotonga-licence?p=1130255965

Edited to add that the actual law is here. (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/1999/0100/latest/DLM281980.html#DLM281980)

[GingerMidget]

There is no way around it, and don't bother wasting your time. Trust me.

This is the most useful thing I can post right now.
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/factsheets/72/overseas-driver-licences.html

If your licence is not in english, it must be translated by an official translator approved by NZTA (internal affairs is best) and all documents must be original, and photocopies provided for conversions too as we keep the copies.

Any more questions, PM me.

[Retep5]

Cheers guys for the info.

I'm getting the feel that it's very much dodge, miss and mostly miss now due to the change in 2009.

I may just give it a shot anyway if I'm over there anyways. Then report back exactly how it went or didn't go :).

[psykonosis]

The Rarotonga loophole is closed. For Raratongan residents coming into New Zealand they can get a letter from the local police which they bring to NZ and can get their license converted to a New Zealand licence. However, that still requires the rider to sit both the theory and the Full practical test. For New Zealanders visiting Rarotonga on holiday and obtaining a Rarotonga bike licence and bringing it back to New Zealand you will not be able to convert it directly to a full as you would also need to obtain the letter from the Rarotonga police. They are very aware of what people try to do when they request these letters and you will get a continual no. There are a few people in the Police station that used to work for NZTA so good luck trying to reason with those ones. ie. you could apply for the conversion in NZ, but the NZ transport will ask for this letter. You won't get this letter from the Rarotonga police thereby you won't be able to sit the tests.

[psykonosis]

Has anyone gone or been through this process of late.
If so what happened?

Since I may be going to Raro for holiday and while I'm there I may as well get my raro license.
So I can cut off some of my time waiting to pass my full motorcycle test.

Refer to my previous post but I would just enjoy your holiday and save the $$ and time. I'm back and forth to Raro quite frequently so always get a good update on what things are going on over there.

[90s]

The Rarotonga loophole is closed. For Raratongan residents coming into New Zealand they can get a letter from the local police which they bring to NZ and can get their license converted to a New Zealand licence. However, that still requires the rider to sit both the theory and the Full practical test. For New Zealanders visiting Rarotonga on holiday and obtaining a Rarotonga bike licence and bringing it back to New Zealand you will not be able to convert it directly to a full as you would also need to obtain the letter from the Rarotonga police. They are very aware of what people try to do when they request these letters and you will get a continual no. There are a few people in the Police station that used to work for NZTA so good luck trying to reason with those ones. ie. you could apply for the conversion in NZ, but the NZ transport will ask for this letter. You won't get this letter from the Rarotonga police thereby you won't be able to sit the tests.

There is no "dodge" and there never has been. Refer to my post here from several years ago. Follow the links peopel have posted recently to the law. There is no requirement for a letter from the Cook Islands Police or any other country. You still need to fulfil the requirements to convert your licence and take the theory and practical tests - you always have (conditions vary for some countires where you would not have to sit the theory etc).

The one "dodge" for a rider is that you can convert a full CI licence to a full NZ licence after passing both tests without having done NZ resticted etc. I am not saying this is a good or bad thing, but this is simply the law and there have been no "2009 changes."


Whoever told you this is incorrect. As I have posted here before there is no "loophole", just the usual process of overseas licence conversion. But the confusion might be over the fact that you cannot "exchange" one for the other.

If you have a full Cook Islands motorbike licence you can convert this to a full NZ licence, but will need to take both the NZ practical and theory. The benefit to a new rider (no preaching) is you skip waiting however long with just your learners / no licence / restricted and jump straight to full testing.

You can still fail these tests.

[davereid]

The loophole is closed as the NZTA require a letter from the Raro Police before they will even consider a conversion.

However, if you dont hold a NZ licence, and you never apply for one, you can drive on your Cook Is licence as long as it remains valid, and you leave the country at least once a year.

Heres the law..

Recognition of overseas licences and licensing of drivers from overseas
88

Recognition of overseas driver licence or permit

(1)

A person, on arrival in New Zealand, is deemed to hold a New Zealand driver licence of a class that entitles the person to drive the motor vehicles that the person is entitled to drive under—

(a)

a valid and current driver licence or permit issued overseas to the person, after the person has produced proof of the person's driving competence, by an overseas authority, or an agent of that authority, authorised to issue a driver licence or permit; or

(b)

an international driving permit.

(2)

However,—

(a)

subclause (1)(a) does not apply unless—

(i)

the overseas driver licence or permit is written in English; or

(ii)

the person who holds the overseas driver licence or permit also carries an accurate English translation of the licence or permit:

(b)

subclause (1)(b) does not apply unless the person who holds the international driving permit also carries the overseas driver licence on which the permit is based.

(3)

A person who is deemed by subclause (1) to hold a New Zealand driver licence may continue to drive under that driver licence until the first of the following situations occurs:

(a)

the person has remained in New Zealand for a continuous period of 12 months; or

(b)

the document that enabled that person to be deemed to hold a New Zealand driver licence under subclause (1) expires, is suspended, or is revoked; or

(c)

an order is made disqualifying the person from holding or obtaining a driver licence, either in New Zealand or in the jurisdiction that granted the overseas driver licence or permit; or

(d)

the person obtains or renews a New Zealand driver licence.

(4)

In this clause, international driving permit means a valid and current international driving permit as specified in Annex 10 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic signed at Geneva on 19 September 1949 or Annex 7 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic signed at Vienna on 8 November 1968 and issued overseas in accordance with the provisions of the appropriate convention.

Clause 88: substituted, on 1 October 2011, by clause 36 of the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Rule 2011 (SR 2011/306).