It is always good to email Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center to ensure the documents required. They will send you a template on how to translate your driving license (yes, you may do it yourself).
Document to prepare before heading to Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center:
1. Malaysian driving license (original) and 2 copies (front and back on the same page)
2. Translation to English (2 copies)
3. Taiwan ARC (original)
4. Malaysian Passport (original)
5. Malaysian IC (original)
It takes 2 working days to complete. If you do not live in Taipei, you may prepare and envelope with sufficient paid postal (recommend registered mail) and they will mail the documents back to you.
It is advised that you should visit Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center to submit the application as they will want to view the original ARC, passport, IC and driving license, it is not advisable to do it via mail, unless you have a third party whom you trust to assist you with the procedures.
Once you have the stamped document from Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center, you would need to have a Driving Test Body Checkup at a REGCONIZED hospital by Taiwan 監理所 (similar to JPJ). You may visit their website to see which hospital is near your area for you. The test is simple, colour blind check, visual test, audio test, so no worries and it cost around NTD150.
Next, with your stamped Translated Malaysian driving license and Driving Test Body Checkup, you may head to the nearest 監理所's 國際駕照辦事處 with:
1. Malaysian Passport (original) and photocopy a copy of the detail page of the passport and the page of you recent arrival stamp to Taiwan
2. Taiwan ARC (original) and a copy of both side on the same page
3. Three (3) passport size photograph (blue or white background, it does not matter)
4. Malaysian Driving License (original) and the translated copy from Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center
5. Driving Test Body Checkup (passed)
6. NTD200 for the application
You can collect it on that day itself. I had it done on a Saturday (please check which Saturdays does the 監理所 is opened and whether 國際駕照辦事處 is operating), hence it only took me less than half an hour, there was no one.
