Today Tim and I set out to confront one of the most feared government bodies in any country. That's right we went to the DMV so that I could get a driver's license.
Fear not for my lovely wife and I are not neophytes when it comes to dealing with machinations of the Thai bureaucratic system. Obtaining an international driver's license is not supposed to be a very difficult process. Assuming that one has a valid driver's license from another country, you much go to a doctor and have a cursory exam which consisted mostly of a blood pressure test. I paid my $15 and had my exam results in hand well in advance of our trip. In addition to the medical exam, applicants have to take a color blind test and a breaking test.
We did not venture down to the dmv without experienced help. A long time employee of Tim's had connections down at the DMV that would allow us to circumvent the queue and hopefully make the process easier. As we found out with immigration experience, having an insider helps a lot, but it does not ensure a smooth and painless process. That lesson was reiterated today.
Things started a bit auspiciously when we had a mix up between Tim and her contact. After we waited for him for 30 minutes at Tim's office, she called and found out that he was already at the DMV. By the time we arrived it was 9:30 a.m. We wanted to get this completed before everyone goes to lunch at 12:00, lest we have to sit around for an hour until the lunch break has ended.
Tim's employee went up and talked to his contact, and within ten minutes Tim was seated in front of an official's desk, much quicker than if we had drawn a number for the queue. For some reason, my presence was not yet required, so I sat next to her employee who spoke to me in Thai. I understood only a small portion of what he said.
After fifteen minutes, Tim came over and told me that we couldn't finish it today. Apparently, we needed a letter from either the Thai immigration authorities or the U.S. Embassy confirming my address here in Thailand. This is not an issue for people who work here, as their work permits have their address. Tim tried without success to argue that my one year visa was proof that I had a permanent residence (indeed, we had to prove that to obtain the visa).
Tim was able to win one argument with the DMV official. Upon examining my driver's license, the DMV employee said that my license was expired. In reality, my license expires on my birthday, June 1st. The problem is that Thailand, like most of the world, writes dates as day/month/year. In the U.S. we write them month/day/year. So the employee interpreted the 06/01/2008 as January 6th. Tim tried to explain the difference in writing dates, but the dmv employee would not believe her. He wanted proof. Tim finally pointed out that I had renewed my license on May 28th, written as 5/28/2004. The fact that there are not 28 months finally convinced the employee that my license was not expired.
We were going to get the letter from the Thai immigration authorities. About ten minutes after we left the DMV, Tim's contact in immigration called her back and said that we would need a letter from the dmv to immigration explaining what they needed. When we drove back and asked the DMV, they said they could provide no such letter.
I called the U.S. Embassy which put me in touch with their American Services department. I explained what I needed, and they understood immediately. All I have to do is bring my passport and $30 and they will write the letter.
We decided to wait until Wednesday to go to the U.S. Embassy. This was in part due to the fact that Tim has to go there anyway to pick up the document approving her stay outside the U.S. As a green card holder, if Tim stays outside the U.S. for more than six months, the government presumes that she wishes to relinquish her green card. When she attempts to re-enter, they would deny her entry. There is a process whereby you can inform the government that you intend to leave for a certain period of time but intend to return. Its largely a formality, but an important one. Tim's application was approved, and she can pick it up at the U.S. Embassy. She didn't have her passport or green card with her, so we decided to just go do both on Wednesday. I hope that we are successful.
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