The Government is temporarily extending the amount of time people can drive on overseas licences from 12 months to 18 months in an effort to tackle driver licence test wait times.
It follows previous changes announced in July which includes Class 1 driver licence test applicants now being required to pay for any additional tests after one free re-sit.
The change is expected to reduce demand for practical driver licence tests to help NZ Transport Agency get through the backlog of tests.
The extension for converting an overseas driver licence from 12 months to 18 months requires a change to driver licensing rules and will take effect from November 2024. It will be in place for two years before reverting to the 12-month requirement.
“The previous government removed fees for re-sits of theory and practical tests which led to a huge demand on driver testing officers and unacceptable wait times,” Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.
“People applying to sit their licence tests were left waiting for more than 60 days, and a backlog of over 70,000 waiting to sit a practical licence test soon developed.
“The Government has taken several actions to reduce wait times and progress is taking place, but there is still more work to do,” Brown says.
Following recent actions, the wait times have eased to an average of 35 days for a full driver licence, and to 46 days for a restricted driver licence test. However, this is still above the target of 90% of practical tests being taken within 30 days of booking.
“One of the challenges alongside the unlimited free re-sits, has been the surge in the number of overseas licence conversions with overseas licence conversions outnumbering domestic tests since November last year.
“Cabinet has agreed to temporarily extend the time that people can drive on their overseas driver licence from 12 months to 18 months from the date of their last entry into New Zealand. After that time, they will need to convert to a New Zealand licence or stop driving altogether,” Brown says.
Actions by the Government and NZTA to reduce driver licence wait times include:
- Introducing a limit of one free re-sit for Class 1 driver licence tests
- Putting a 10 day stand down in place following a second failed theory test attempt on the same day
- Removing free re-sits for overseas licence conversions
- Recruiting 52 additional Driver Testing Officers and 19 temporary Driver Testing Officers to increase the number of tests able to be completed each week
