First off, if you absolutely need your Israel driver license, be prepared for the process to take anywhere from a week to a month. To begin, you have to get the license form from an approved vendor, then take it to an optometrist, then you must have signed up for and processed the paperwork at your chosen health care provider, so you make an appointment to see a Doctor. After the Doctor gives you a physical, the form is stamped by the Doctor for you to take to the "DMV"-aka Misrad Rishui. We went to the "DMV" offices 4 different times, and did not know that that Olim can only convert their American licenses to Israeli licenses at certain offices, which in our case would have to be in Haifa! Next, we received the address of the "DMV" in Haifa and tried to find it without the help of a GPS. Big, BIG! mistake. We asked several folks for directions to the office and ended driving in circles for a couple of hours, until we got the bright idea of having a taxi driver lead us to the office. But by then the office was closed for Olim conversions.
Note that the "DMV" offices have late afternoon hours BUT Olim cannot convert their licenses in the afternoon only during the morning hours. So while the Aliyah websites list afternoon hours, I'd recommend going in the morning.
Now, every driving instructor that we've contacted says that their lessons are booked up, due to the summertime Aliyah immigrations. Some say we will have to wait 3 weeks for lessons. This is problematic because we have a down payment on a car and need to finish buying it before a price increase goes into effect for the next model year.
I'll update you on our progress.
Update: 25Sept.11
Well we found a driving instructor through the "Go North" NBN coordinator. Mr. E. Shalev was our instructor, out of Tiberias. We cannot say enough good things about this fine man and his patience for English "only" students. After 3 lessons a piece, he scheduled us for the all important driving test at the Misrad Rishui, (Israeli DMV). There are many differences in the driving here, so don't feel bad if it takes you 2-3 lessons to catch on like a local. I am pleased to report that my wife and I passed the driving tests and we received our paper licenses from our instructor, a day later. Mr. Shalev even invited us to his home, to give us the licenses and "celebrate" over some cold drinks! NOW THAT is service with a smile! Seriously, we feel as if our instructor is now a friend that we can rely on for guidance and support here in Israel. Baruch H''.
A few tips. Take your lessons from an instructor in the town that the "DMV" testing office is located in so your instructor can show you the "usual" routes that the official examiner may have you drive. The experience beforehand is invaluable. We saw students taking lessons in the Golan, and believe me, the driving in a crowded, ancient city like Tiberias, is nothing like driving the country roads in the Golan Heights. Secondly, be prepared to eat some crow, even if you've been driving for "40 years" like my wife claimed, even that was a slight exaggeration, at her tender young age! The instructor will want you to drive VERY slow and VERY deliberately, so that you don't cut corners, or lines, as it were. BECAUSE, if you do that in the test, you'll fail. Failing the test costs a lot of money and time. And besides, you only get 2 chances at the test, so you might as well do it right the first time, (If you fail the driving test twice, you have to take the driving test again after many lessons and a written exam! YOU don't want to go there!). Be prepared to go to the Israel Post Office twice during and after the process of getting your license. You have to pay for the test there and then get your paper license "stamped" after you pay another fee to the Post Office upon receiving the license. Approx. one month from now we should get our "credit card" style licenses in the mail, complete with our pictures.
On the car front, we've decided to go with a new Toyota Space Verso. This process involves paying the entire purchase price and taxes for the car up front. Then you have to hand over your US passport, Israeli driver license, and US driver license to the car dealer. They send these original documents to the Israeli Customs Officials, who check them over and decide if you are eligible for the Oleh tax discount on the car. IF they approve, then you get the documents back several days, to a week later. AFTER that, your car is released from the port, sent to the dealership, prepared, and you get the car about 14 days after you have paid for it in full.
(Update: 27/09/11- As promised, our documents were returned, safe and sound, by the dealership. The car delivery date is still up in the air, due to the Holidays, here).
Well we are off to a Rosh HaShana celebration in our Kibbutz, so Shalom ya all for now! ( A little self-deprecating humor- my accent makes my spoken Hebrew almost unintelligible to Israelis!).
Car Update: 05/10/11-
Today we picked up our new Toyota Space Verso. It was ready on time and it was in perfect condition! The sales folks explained the workings of the car, gave us a bottle of wine, and we were off to fight the traffic back to the Golan. We are very happy with this car. Its gets great gas mileage, and it should only get better as the engine breaks in. We decided to go with AIG insurance here, as our friends said it was the lowest priced car insurance they had found. For anyone over 40 to be fully covered when driving our car, it was about $1,300USD which is about $400USD more a year than in the states. Not bad, considering....
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