Chinese Driving Licence Translation Service in Singapore

An official English translation of the card. Drivers from most other countries carry a permit from home, but mainland China does not hand out one that works here, which is why the translation route exists for Chinese drivers. Keep it folded with the licence at all times. On its own it proves nothing, because it only explains the original.

Short stays usually let you keep driving on the Chinese card, as long as an English translation travels with it. The grace period is shorter for some pass types, and it is shorter again if driving is your actual job. Rules change, so check the Traffic Police page for your own pass rather than trusting a forum post. What does not change is that the card alone is not enough while it stays in Chinese.

No. A page you typed yourself will not be taken, however good your English is. It has to come from an independent translator or from your embassy. Since a conversion file can sit with Traffic Police for weeks, a home made version does not save you money, it costs you a month and a half.

C1 is the ordinary car class for a manual small vehicle, and C2 is the automatic only version. We print the code, the Chinese wording beside it, and a plain English line saying what the holder may drive. We do not decide which Singapore class you end up with. That call belongs to Traffic Police, and any company that promises you a class is guessing.

Usually yes. WhatsApp a photo of both sides and say the pickup time. On the same day plan the PDF often lands within a few hours, and most counters and sharing apps accept the PDF on your phone while the printed copy follows. Tell us the company name too, since a few of them want the page laid out a particular way.

Deal with the expiry first. Nobody here will act on a licence that runs out next month, and paying for a translation of a dying card is money wasted. Sort the renewal at home, then send us the new one. If your counter slot is already booked and the dates are tight, tell us and we will say honestly whether it is worth translating the old card in the meantime.

Yes. A licence carries your full name, date of birth, an ID number and your home address, so we treat it the way we treat any identity paper. Only the translator on your job and the checker open the file. Ask us and we will put the arrangement in writing before you send the photo.

A clear photo of both sides does the job. Lay the card flat, kill the glare from the plastic, and make sure the small print and the red seal are readable. The card never leaves you. If a notary has to sign your file, we will tell you in advance whether he wants to see the card itself.

Three things cover almost every case. The reverse of the card was never translated. A second class was missed. Or the name reads one way on the licence and another way on the passport. Send us what came back along with the old page, and we will tell you which one it was before we redo anything.

Drivers are usually asked to hand the foreign card over when the swap goes through, and some embassies later want it back. Ask Traffic Police what happens in your case on the day. Whatever they do with the card, keep our translation and take a photo of both sides for yourself before your appointment.

Commercial classes such as B2 or A2 get a closer look, because the office wants to see you really drove those vehicles. Employers often send the licence together with an experience letter and a medical report. Ask your HR team what they are uploading and send us the whole set at once, which is cheaper than one paper at a time.

Most drivers do not. A certified page from a proper translation company covers the ordinary swap, and the notary belongs to work pass and vocational files where the office has asked for it in writing. Show us the instruction you were given. If a notary is not mentioned there, we will not put one on your bill.

Yes, the older booklets come to us often, along with driving record extracts and endorsement pages. Photograph every leaf that has writing or a stamp on it, even a faint one. Where a word truly cannot be read we mark it as unclear rather than guess, and officers would far rather see that note than an invented word.

Yes. Logistics firms, bus operators and manpower agencies send us batches every month. Each card still gets read by a person and checked by a second one, and you get one contact, one invoice and one delivery date for the batch. Tell us how many and by when, and we will say honestly what we can hold to.