4. How to Get a Car or Scooter License in Taiwan

If you’re thinking about driving a car or riding a scooter in Taiwan, here’s our real experience of getting both licenses (car + medium-size scooter). The biggest reason we got our licenses in Taiwan? It’s MUCH cheaper than in Japan!

Getting a license in Japan costs around 300,000 yen, right? But in Taiwan, it’s only NT$7,000–8,000 (sometimes even cheaper depending on the area). So if you’re interested in getting your license here, this guide is for you!

Steps to Apply at a Driving School

① Health Check

First, you need to take a health examination at a clinic designated by the driving school.

You will need:

• Your ID (passport or ARC)

• Exam fee: NT$250

• Six ID photos: NT$100 (Most clinics have a photo booth on-site.)

The whole check-up takes about 15 minutes: height, weight, eyesight, hearing, and a simple flexibility test. I didn’t know I would need a photo that day, so I ended up taking mine with messy morning hair… and now my license photo is something I never want to show anyone. 😅

② Payment at the Driving School

Bring your health certificate, a copy of your ID, and the tuition fee. The price depends on whether you choose a manual or automatic car.

Fees:

• Manual: NT$16,500

• Automatic: NT$16,000

Students can usually get a discount, so definitely ask!

You can choose to take classes on weekdays or weekends. (I chose weekends because I had classes every day on weekdays.)

The Lessons

On the first day, you watch a short video in the simulator room, and then… you actually start driving right away! I was nervous, and my Chinese wasn’t very good at the time, so I barely understood anything and kept getting scolded by the instructor. 😭

After about 30 minutes of practicing with the instructor, he suddenly said “Okay, you can practice alone now!” … and walked away to help another student. So yes, solo driving practice on day one.😂

Honestly, it was such a cultural difference, but also a funny memory. (Other than the accelerator and brake, I kind of had to figure everything out myself!)

Test Day!

After one month of getting yelled at and practicing by myself, test day finally came.

The test has three parts:

① On-site Driving Test (Inside the School Course)

• Reverse parking

• Parallel parking

• S-curve reverse

• Stopping on a slope

• Traffic lights

• Railroad crossing

② Road Test (Actual Streets)

You drive out from the school onto real roads and come back.

③ Written Test

A computer-based test on traffic laws and road signs.

 (Available in several languages!)