Exchanging Canadian driver's license for Dutch license

[gaiter83]

Hey everyone,

First post here... I'm not sure if this is for advice or just a warning for others to not suffer my fate yet, but here goes.

I'm working in Holland and I have temporary residence. I qualified for the 30% skilled migrant tax ruling, etc. Therefore, I should be able to trade in my previous driver's license for a Dutch driver's license without needing to follow driver's ed and any testing; within the first 6 months of Dutch residence... At least, that's what I thought...

I had been living in the US for the past 6 and a half years. Since 9/11, the US does not grant driver licenses to non-Americans for more than one year at a time. (not too sure what this accomplishes, but anyways) So when I moved to Holland, I was in possession of a valid Florida driver's license that was expiring in early November 2009. I moved to Holland in mid-July 2009. So this gives me until mid-January 2010 to exchange my license.

I visited the City Hall here (where you apply for the exchange) in mid-October to get the preliminay paperwork done. (medical waiver, proof of residence, etc.) At this time, I specifically asked them 3 times to confirm that if my driver's license expires that I can still exchange it without any problems as long as I am within the first 6 months of residence. Each response was: "Yes, of course, as long as it's within 6 months". I was traveling every week for work during this time so it was much more convenient to be able to complete the application in November or December; still within the 6 months but with an expired license.

So I go pick-up my registered letter, expecting to find my new Dutch driver's license valid for 10 years, according to City Hall. I open the letter and there is my expired Florida license with all my paperwork and a letter stating that my application has been rejected due to my FL license being expired!!!

I went back to City Hall and they couldn't answer anything, gave a number and asked me to wait. But the wait was about 2 hours and I had some work conference calls so I'll have to return again or something...

When I got home, I decided to call the Driver's License office that provided the rejection. They told me that the City Hall had provided me with incorrect information, that it wasn't my fault; but that absolutely nothing can be done about this since their rules are very precise on this. They said that it would be City Hall's responsibility to call their office to assure that they are giving out the correct information, but that the Driver's License office could not take responsibility for a City Hall employee giving wrong information. They said that I should go back to City Hall. I asked if there was a potential resolution to the issue. They said definitely not, but that I might be able to get a reimbursement on the processing fee of like 30 Euros for their mistake. Of course, this doesn't come close to paying for the 200 Euros in fees that I'll incur taking all the tests, approx. 3,000 Euros for Driver's Ed classes (although I've been driving for 16 years now!) and the 3-6 months it takes to go through all these procedures!!! To add insult to injury as they would say, my 6-month exchange period ends in 6 days so I would have no time to travel back to Canada to get a new driver's license to exchange. (they said I would be able to exchange that one if I can get it)

Questions:
-Has anyone else experienced this?
-Is there any way to get some sort of emergency driver's license via the Embassy? (I've tried calling 3 times now, impossible to get through)
-Does anyone know when you get rejected if any extension of this 6-month exchange period is possible? (I received the rejection 1 week before this period ends)
-Any other advice?

And last but not least, if you do move to Holland, make sure that you exchange your Canadian or American driver's license for a Dutch license ASAP. You need to qualify for the 30% tax ruling to be able to do this or have a Quebec driver's license. So if possible, it would even be a good idea to move to Quebec temporarily to get a QC license before coming to Holland. What's worse is that my last Canadian license was from Quebec so I would've had no problems at all if I just went home for a few weeks, regain residence before moving to Europe, etc.