LTO Driver’s License Certification and Certificate of No Apprehension

As an immigrant there are lots of important documents to prepare and bring to Canada. One of these are the LTO Driver’s License certification and the certificate of No Apprehension.  If you are currently driving here in the Philippines and have a valid and current Driver’s License you should not forget to bring the said documents.

Acquiring a New Brunswick driver’s license is included in our first two weeks to do list as we land in Moncton. An immigrant is allowed to drive in New Brunswick or Canada as a whole using an International Driver’s License or foreign driver’s license for up to three months from landing. But new residents in New Brunswick are advised to obtain a driver’s license as soon as possible.

Why we need the LTO Driver’s License Certification?

Immigrants coming from the USA, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Isle of Man, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands (Holland), New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Wales are exempted to take a full driver’s license examination. They may exchange their valid and current foreign driver’s license to a Class 5 or Class 6.

Being from the Philippines if we want to drive in New Brunswick or any part in Canada we need to take the full driver’s license examination which include a road test, vision test, and written examination. But as per experiences of some Filipino landed immigrants, with the use of the Philippine Driver’s License Certification from LTO one can obtain a G5 driver’s license as long as all the test have been passed. One don’t need to start with a learner’s license anymore.

What is the use of the Certificate of No Apprehension?

Normally, car insurance premiums in the Philippines is solely dependent on the amount of coverage. But in Canada the cost of the insurance is depended on the extent of the coverage, age, driving record, living location, and driving experience. With these, in most cases as an immigrant the Certificate of No Apprehension will help lower down your license and car insurance premium in Canada.  But it is still within the discretion of the insurance company.

Where can I get the Driver’s License Certification and Certificate of No Apprehension?

The Driver’s License Certification will be issued at the Central Office Licensing Section while the Certificate of No Apprehension is at the Law Enforcement and Traffic Adjudication System Office building. Both offices are located at the LTO Central Office Compound, East Avenue, Quezon City. But if you are coming from the Province, you can still request the same at any licensing center or any District Office with DL transactions. The only drawback is the processing time will take from two to three weeks.

Our personal experience in securing the the said Certificates

Since we are already in Manila, we took advantage of securing these two important documents in preparation with our plan to migrate to Canada soon. On February 26, 2017, we went to LTO Central Office to secure the Driver’s License Certification and Certificate of No Apprehension. In going there, we took the bus going to Fairview at the Robinsons Pioneer bus stop since we stayed at the GO Hotel Cybergate Mandaluyong which is beside the Robinsons Pioneer.  It took us almost an hour because of the traffic and the fare is only Php 16. We drop off right in front of the LTO Central Office compound.

We have not photocopied yet Fritz Driver’s License so we went straight at the photocopier stand outside at the far end of the licensing building. With the original and photocopied driver’s license on hand, Fritz went to window 10 which is in the right side of the chapel. The chapel is inside the first building in the left side as you enter the LTO compound.

There are only 3 people ahead of him in line and in less than 5 minutes he was attended. He was given a form to fill out and was instructed to proceed to Window 9 after filling out the forms. At window 9 he paid the Php100 processing fee. Afterwich, he went back to window 10 to submit the forms where he was given a claim stub. We were asked to return at 2pm of February 28, 2017 to claim the certification.

Time To Get the Result

At first we thought that we cannot claim it on the said date because we have a scheduled MAP session (My Action Plan session of Planning to Canada) on that day and we don’t know the time of the session yet. But luckily our MAP session scheduled in the morning so we still have time to go to LTO.

Our activities for the week will be in Makati so we transferred from Go Hotel Cybergate in Mandaluyong to Artina Suites in Makati City for accessibility. February 28, 2017, it’s already past 1pm when we arrived at Artina Suites from our MAP session and lunch. But we are still confident that we will have ample time to go to LTO and do our errands. It’s 2pm already and we can’t successfully booked our ride from the hotel to LTO central office. So we decided to have a short walk to JP Rizal Street but still to no avail. It’s almost 3pm and we started to worry.

Fritz and I decided to commute thru MRT to avoid the traffic. We went back to the front of the hotel to ride a jeepney going to Guadalupe MRT station. Then took the MRT going to GMA Kamuning Station. And took a short walk from GMA Kamuning MRT station to LTO office.  It’s not yet rush hour since it’s still 4pm but there are lots of passengers at MRT. We were stuck in the door area and I was surrounded with big people.  I thought I would faint since I can hardly breathe and I can already see flying stars. Good thing I was able to manage to move to the middle area.

Luckily We Made It!

To make the story short, we arrive at the LTO office at 4:30 pm. At first we thought it was already closed since the gate was already closed. But we tried to enter at the vehicle entrance and the guard just let us in. In less than 1 minute Fritz claimed his certification. We are not sure if we will still be entertained since it’s already almost 5pm but still we tried our luck. Right away went to the 2^nd floor of LETAS building to request for the Certificate of No Apprehension.

Normally, there is a photocopier inside the LETAS building. But maybe it’s almost 5pm it was not available anymore. So Fritz went outside to have his DL certification photocopied first.

The staff was kind and efficient enough to entertain us still even though it’s almost 5pm already. Fritz just gave his photocopied Driver’s License Certification to request for the Certificate of No Apprehension. After 5 minutes, his name was called and was asked to pay the Php97.63 processing fee at the cashier in the 1^st floor. Finally, the certificate was released around 5:10pm already.

We commend the efficient service of LTO. Thank you.

We already have on hand Fritz’ Driver’s License Certification and Certificate of No Apprehension and have made some preparations. We are almost ready to go. But we are still waiting for our Passport Request (PPR). Hope the golden email will arrive soon.