Waiting time to receive German license

Question

I went to the Buergeramt 6+ weeks ago and jumped through the hoops to convert my U.S. license to a German one.

Can anyone who's gone through that tell me how long it took for their German license to arrive?

EDIT: Bürgeramt Tempelhof, Berlin

Answer 1

It takes at least 10 weeks at the moment. I described my own experience here. You can see the current processing times here.

Answer 2

The problem is not from where you apply for an official document, but where it is printed.

The application process is done electronically.

For Passport and/or ID (which can be done together) a form for each is printed out with all relevant data.

The photo is pasted on to the form and the fingerprints and signature taken. The finished application is then scanned in.

After checking that everything was correct, it was submitted.

Using the same photo, the process was repeated for the second application.

Since the Bundesdruckerei in Berlin prints all documents for the whole country, the 1,317 (2007) employees have a lot to do.

Depending on the demand, certain documents are only printed at certain times.

As to the logistics of sending the documents back to the issuing authority, I cannot say.

6-8/10 weeks is normal.

For passports you are often notified when it is ready to be picked up (for drivers license I don't know).

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Bundesdruckerei ("Federal Printer") is a German manufacturer of banknotes, stamps, identity cards, passports, visas, driving licences, and vehicle registration certificates.

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Sources:

• Bundesdruckerei