I had an indian (MH) DL and had to go thru the whole spiel in Germany. Learning to drive again at 26 was great in retrospect because I'm a much better driver now. I took a trial test with the driving school and we worked on the mistakes I made over 3-4 lessons. I used the instructor to learn more difficult moves (like turning 180 with the handbrake and snow driving). Total cost 1200DM.

In Michigan they just 'comped' me based on my german license. My wife with her swedish license had to go thru the whole ordeal of testing.

Oz has a provison of DL transfer with the UK. If you have a relative there, you could use his/her address and transfer it to the EU via that route. All my aussie cousins who came to Germany got an EU license that way about 5 years ago. YMMV.

Resident foreigners in germany who only have a one year staying permit can extend the 6-month tenure to one year once.