Unbelievable, but true: after realizing the 12 months exchange period had elapsed on my Portuguese license, I rushed down to Strasseverkehrsamt to get my new CH license. The very friendly staff told me (in perfect English) that I still needed an eye exam to accompany the form, and that I could get one at Sihl City nearby. The next day I went back with my completed form, and the friendly girl helped me fill the rest of the form (all in German - I still don't speak it), and then told me that I'd have to wait about a week for the new license. Since the initial 12 months period had passed, I wouldn't get a temporary license, and that I shouldn't drive in CH until the new one arrived. Well, you can imagine my surprise when, THE VERY NEXT DAY, I received my new license in the mail by morning post!!! Didn't even have to pay anything on the spot, and the 120 CHF bill has not arrived yet!!

Forget Swiss bureaucracy! This was the swiftest piece of admin work I've ever seen in my life! Although I had a Portuguese license, I am also Canadian and lived there most of my childhood. Even there, I have never seen an important document get prepared so quickly (except an emergency passport, of course!)

Has anyone also had a similar experience to this?? I'm still baffled by it all and will never complain again about red tape in CH!