Jump to content

Exchange UK driving licence


sid
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 127
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

[quote user="Mac"]The DVLA don't want to know if you move abroad and anyway you can't put a french address on a UK licence .[/quote]

+1 Mac. This is covered in the Second EC Directive on Driving Licences (nº 91/439 of 23 July 1991)

It's amazing how new "experts" come up with the same misinformation time after time[:(]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"If you’re moving abroad

You can’t register your new address on your British driving licence. Contact the driving licence authority in your new country of residence."

https://www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence

Rubbish to think that UK paper one is valid if you move - period!!!!

Took 1 minuite looking on the definitive website.

If you are loking at the mutual recognision Article 2 then you still have to apply to the new country for them to get the licence valid!!!!!

Apologise will be accepted., In this caae legislation is pure comon sense.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32006L0126

oops - thats spelling with a couple of glasses of wine in my system.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Richard51, I don't know why you think this is "creating enemies", or why an apology is expected; I'm grateful for any proper information, and links to authoritative sources.

It may have taken 1 minute to find your information now, but in 2004 it wasn't so clear, and it's not as if I've continually re-checked since then, why should I, one check was enough I thought.

My wife has driven on this licence here in France since 2004 and has been through a "contrôl" without any hiccups, having produced the by now very tattered paper licence. I'll do some more research, but if it does mean an exchange, heaven help us with another 4 month wait or more!

Anyway, I suppose the bottom line is that it's my worry not yours. Thanks for the link.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Which part of this says that the old paper licence is not valid ?

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1757

I prefer to try an interpret what the French say is acceptable rather than trying to decipher EU legislation. Isn't this why Brexit is going to take years to sort out ?

EDIT I also found this old thread on here:

http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance-forums/cs/forums/2684229/PrintPost.aspx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She currently has a UK licence which is now invalid as you dont live at the address given to the DVLA in the UK. See the DVLA website.

IMHO what the french document you posted says is that you can still use that to obtain a french one.

I, for one, would not like to be driving around with an invalid licence though it appears that quite a few Brits are.- .
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wasn’t going to enter this bunfight, but I’m now unable to stop myself !

I’ve read both the DVLA and the Service-Public websites and it is clear that the former requires you to contact the licensing authority of the country that you move to (obviously, the rules will vary from place to place)

For France, the Service-Public website states definitively that provided you satisfy several criteria (not disqualified, medical status, use your specs etc, etc) your licence is valid until it reaches its expiry date. Naturally, one would want to start the exchange process some time before that expiry date!

So .......... Sid & Mac are correct.

No apology necessary Richard51.

p.s. I too had a routine controle a few years back and the Gendarmerie were perfectly relaxed about my UK licence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This bit from Sids reference:

"If you reside in France with a driving license issued by a country belonging to the European Union or party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) , this license is valid in France if:

it is valid,

and it is used in accordance with the medical indications listed therein (examples: mandatory wearing of glasses, fitting of the vehicle to accommodate a disability)."

IT HAS TO BE VALID!!!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And this bit

"If you meet all these conditions, you can drive in France with your license as long as it remains valid ."

Both quotes using google translate from Sids reference.

DVLA also states that you MUST change licence if you change address. By contacting foreign agency, I don't think they mean just reading their website!!

How can it possibly remain valid if the address written on it is wrong for goodness sake.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Richard51 .......

To the 1st of your recent posts. Yes ......... precisely what I just said above (and Sid et al have said before).

To the 2nd - yes, you must change your licence, but only if you remain resident in the UK.

Can you please provide your address details so that I can send you a spade? Give up - you’re wrong. A (grudging) apology to Sid etc (and anybody else who you may have scared the hell out of) wouldn’t go amiss. I’m not holding my breath.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NB

Sids reference is very recent and looking at it in further depth it refers to applying points to foreign licences if offences occur.

I would suggest people look at this very carefully.

Thanks Sid.

NB2 Nomoss was the one who gave thw insult, not Sid. Please read carefully.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread just shows, as said in another recent thread, don't rely on advise given here - go and ask relevant bodies.

I assume, somewhere, that Living France denies responsibility for advice given on here.

thanks Sid for giving that reference. I hope people go away and read it and then contact the appropriate authority.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="richard51"]NB

Sids reference is very recent and looking at it in further depth it

refers to applying points to foreign licences if offences occur.

I would suggest people look at this very carefully.

Thanks Sid.

NB2 Nomoss was the one who gave thw insult, not Sid. Please read

carefully.[/quote]

[quote user="nomoss"]

It's amazing how new "experts" come up with the same misinformation time after time[:(]

[/quote]

If the cap fits .............. [:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="richard51"]Gardian -

1st : to be valid there are more requirements than just expiry date.

2nd : see recent post by me - it needs to be valid (in UK) before it can be valid in france.[/quote]

Are you still going on about the address? If so give up, your hole is already deep enough.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't believe how this has taken off ! It's completely irrelevant to the original thread, so if you want to argue about old driving licences I suggest that you do it elsewhere, but let me say this for the hard of hearing:

If you read the thread that I posted you'll see that many of the users of this forum agreed that old licences were still valid and you only need to exchange if required by the gendarmerie after an offence or if the licence expires. If you wish to change before that you are quite entitled but not compelled.

I don't understand what R51 is saying about the UK address on a licence; that has been covered so many times, the licence is not invalid, the entitlement still holds true, and it's the same for the latest UK plastic ones too. The DVLA are not interested if you move out of UK, they can't put a foreign address on your licence, you get a new one in your new country when it expires, at the latest, or if required to because one of the conditions no longer holds true.

I've finished with this old paper licence discussion now, please keep this thread to its original topic:

exchange of licence under the new system and how long it takes. Thank you to those who have been helpful, no thanks to those who are being obstructive, I've got a life to get on with.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think some people here need JCBs rather than spades.

How clear can it be - Its NOT valid with wrong address written on it and that is one of the conditions.

Has any expert here actually contacted the relavant body in France as required by the DVLA and got the definitive answer? Otherwise its your problem!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="richard51"]I think some people here need JCBs rather than spades.

How clear can it be - Its NOT valid with wrong address written on it and that is one of the conditions.

Has any expert here actually contacted the relavant body in France as required by the DVLA and got the definitive answer?
Otherwise its your problem!!![/quote]

Only the DVLA, over 10 years ago. I can't find the reply any more, but here is the text as posted in French News at the time.

[url=https://postimages.org/][img]https://s19.postimg.org/9e8ymdu37/UK_Licence_Address_crop_2.jpg[/img][/url]

Some might say it's out of date, but I used my UK licence with my last UK address for eight years before I exchanged it for a French one just before reaching 70. It was examined by the authorities during that time, when it was quite obvious from the French address on other documents that I was resident here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="richard51"]In 2018 some may definitely say it is out of date compared to Sids 2016 French legislation.[/quote]

Only if the Directive has been amended since July 1991 to make what I just posted invalid.

But I really can't be bothered to look. It doesn't matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The DVLA states that they cannot renew a U.K. licence to a non U.K. address and tells anyone who has moved to another country to check the local regulations.

Move on a step, check the local regulations.

The French regulations state that all EU licences are valid until their expiry date or until the holder is asked to change their licence after a motoring offence.

The address on a UK licence is an irrelevant red herring, UK residents need to have their correct address on their U.K. licence, French residents who legally drive on their UK licences do not. It’s not rocket science.

Hopefully someone will fill in that hole before too long.

https://www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1757
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I apologise to Sid, Mac and (begrudgingly) nomoss as their arguements do have a basis.

Given that the 1991 directive was re-cast in 2006, the french requirement for a valid foreign licence, and current DVLA guidance on their website concerning change of address, I, personally, would seek clarification from the DVLA that the old paper-cutting guidance is still valid if I were to change my residence to france before I reach 70.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="richard51"]I apologise to Sid, Mac and (begrudgingly) nomoss as their arguements do have a basis.

Given that the 1991 directive was re-cast in 2016, the french requirement for a valid foreign licence, and current DVLA guidance on their website concerning change of address, I, personally, would seek clarification from the DVLA that the old paper-cutting guidance is still valid if I were to change my residence to france before I reach 70.[/quote]

A begrudging apology being better than none, I accept[:D]

My French licence is also a paper one, and I write changes of address on it myself.

If it doesn't fall apart before then, it is apparently valid until 2033 or thereabouts, unless they advise me differently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...