UK license, French resident..Driving in UK??

[Frank]

Hi all, sorry if this has been covered but can't find the answer to my question. i have a full UK license and I am thinking of taking a trip back to blighty. Am I able to drive legally with my UK license or do I need to change to a French one. All the info I have found seems to contradict itself, ie if the license was issued in European union etc then it is not neccessary to change (had a look at the posting further down the page re the Rhone), yet DVLA says different (unless I am looking in the wrong place!) I have also emailed the Embassy, but no one has yet replied!! If anyone has a definitive answer and the links to the relevant website etc it would be greatly appreciated, many thanks in advance

Jetlag

[cooperlola]

[quote user="jetlag"]. Am I able to drive legally with my UK license Yes or do I need to change to a French one. No[/quote][:)]

[Sunday Driver]

Is this for real......[:D]

 

[Âme]

Hi Coops, Would it depend on the car being driven? 

I thought I read, somewhere on this forum, that a UK resident may not drive a foreign registered car in the UK.

Jetlag may be a French resident, but their UK driving licence will, most likely, have an out-of-date UK address on it.

[gosub]

"Jetlag may be a French resident, but their UK driving licence will, most likely, have an out-of-date UK address on it. "

If he/she, is a French resident then the out of date UK address is of no concern.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Âme"]

I thought I read, somewhere on this forum, that a UK resident may not drive a foreign registered car in the UK.

[/quote]Well if you did, then whoever it was was talking through the wrong end of their anatomy, as S/D would no doubt attest if he weren't in one of his cheeky moods![:D]  European Union licenses mean just that - valid throughout the European Union.

[Âme]

I see your point personne.

In that case which document(s) would show/prove French residency?

Edit: crossed post. Merci, Coops

[Frank]

Many thanks for your prompt replies, I won't be going to the prefecture on Thursday to change it over then!!!!

Jetlag

[Pickles]

[quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="Âme"] I thought I read, somewhere on this forum, that a UK resident may not drive a foreign registered car in the UK. [/quote]

Well if you did, then whoever it was was talking through the wrong end of their anatomy, as S/D would no doubt attest if he weren't in one of his cheeky moods![:D]  European Union licenses mean just that - valid throughout the European Union.[/quote]

There are two things going on here: which country issued the driving licence, and where the car is registered.

1) A UK-issued Driving Licence is valid for a French resident until it needs to be renewed.

2) A French resident (even one with a UK-issued Driving Licence) can drive a car registered in France/UK (or wherever) within the UK. This is the case for the OP, I believe.

3) A UK resident cannot drive a foreign-registered vehicle on UK roads (apart from certain specific circumstances that are not common).

Thus if you are French resident, driving a French-registered vehicle in the UK on an old (but still valid) UK licence, it would be a good idea to carry some documentation with you that indicates that you are French resident in case you are stopped. 

Regards

Pickles

[cooperlola]

When I moved to France five years ago, I wrote to the DVLA to ask them if they could put a French address on my UK license.  This was their reply:

"Drivers who take up residence in another EC/EEA country no longer have to exchange their driving license, but may continue to drive using their own national license for as long as it remains valid.  It is accepted that drivers who move to another part of the EC/EEA could be holding licenses showing an incorrect address.  You can complete the back of your license with your current address.  This is permissible under the terms of the EC Directive on Driving Licences."

No doubt if you googled "EC Directive on Driving Licences" you could find the reference you want and print it out to carry with you just in case.  For my part, I carry a copy of the letter quoted above when I drive in the UK, for the reasons Pickles states, but it is not a legal requirement to do so, that's for sure.

[Frank]

Thanks Cooperlola and Pickles, just the info I was looking for, greatly appreciated

Jetlag

[woolybanana]

SD, have pm'd you

[bigears]

hi

Pickles last post may be technically correct but in practice how does an ex pat prove they are french resident?  We have vehicles on both sides of the channel and fly as much as we can, at the moment we have our gb reged car at our french maison secondaire.  If I want to move bulky items to france I would (and have) driven my french reged transit to the uk and back.  In practice you will not have a problem as long as you are not abusing the system i.e. living in the uk with a foreign reged vehicle to avoid car tax, congestion charges.  One or two other points, I think if you are french resident and intend to stay, its best to change your licence.  If you are as a uk resident taking a french registered vehicle to the uk on a short trip make sure you have proof of a return ticket.  If the worst case senario were to happen, you could say 'we are in the process of becoming french resident'. 

[Pickles]

[quote user="bigears"]Pickles last post may be technically correct but in practice how does an ex pat prove they are french resident?[/quote]

This was exactly the point that I was trying to hint at. If you have a UK licence and (for whatever reason) are stopped in the UK whilst driving a foreign-registered vehicle, technically you could be asked to prove a negative - ie not that you have a foreign principal residence but that you DON'T have a UK principal residence. I think that this was one of the issues concerned in the arrest and detention of a former forum member the other year. As you note below, it may be wise in view of this to exchange your UK licence for a French one on becoming French-resident, even though it is not a legal requirement.

[quote user="bigears"]We have vehicles on both sides of the channel and fly as much as we can, at the moment we have our gb reged car at our french maison secondaire.  If I want to move bulky items to france I would (and have) driven my french reged transit to the uk and back.  In practice you will not have a problem as long as you are not abusing the system i.e. living in the uk with a foreign reged vehicle to avoid car tax, congestion charges.  One or two other points, I think if you are french resident and intend to stay, its best to change your licence.  If you are as a uk resident taking a french registered vehicle to the uk on a short trip make sure you have proof of a return ticket.  If the worst case senario were to happen, you could say 'we are in the process of becoming french resident'.[/quote]

The other issue is that there seems to be some confusion in the UK - particularly amongst the enforcing authorities, where it matters rather a lot - about the time limits during which a foreign-registered vehicle can drive on UK roads before it is deemed to be UK-based and therefore not properly registered. There are a couple of cases where police officers using ANPR cameras have stopped foreign-registered vehicles for overstaying their 6-month allowance when in fact what has happened is that the vehicles have visited the UK on several occasions for short visits, over more than a six-month period, eg a week in January, a week in March, a week in June, a week in August ... In August the ANPR system assumes that the car has been in the UK continuously since January - and should therefore have been re-registered in the UK.

Regards

Pickles

[Motorhead]

Pickles said "I think that this was one of the issues concerned in the arrest and detention of a former forum member the other year"

I think missed that one but I can tell you as one who has been both arrested and detained by HMC that one cannot suffer both at the same time.

[Beemer1150]

On my infrequent visits to the UK in our French registered vehicles I had always assumed that my Carte Vitale would prove French residence - if you're not resident you can't have one (and even if you are it can be a bit of a struggle to get one!).

But isn't it bit concerning that in the UK you may be called upon to prove that you haven't commited an offence? What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?

[AnOther]

Frankly I don't think there is any single item you could carry which would conclusively prove that you were French and not UK resident and I certainly wouldn't pin any hopes on a Carte Vitale proving diddly squat to UK plod for a variety of reasons.

A: It's written in French.

B: It has an issue date but no expiry date.

C: You could legitimately leave France and return to UK the day after you received it.

Whilst some forces and individual plod do seem to be prone to misinterpretation and jumping to wrong conclusions, a medly of small pieces of evidence should normally be adequate to convince a reasonable person.

A French driving licence would be a strong starter I'd say (good reason to get one), coupled with ferry tickets, maybe a letter or bill addressed to you, yes, Carte Vitale too, remember in this circumstance the onus is, IMO, rightly on a driver to prove that he is entiled to be driving in UK and in truth it's no different than a UK resident having to prove he has a licence insurance and MOT etc. if stopped.

[Sunday Driver]

Whenever I go over to the UK in my French car, I just keep it simple. 

As regards proof of French residency, my CEAM contains my French social security number which is only issued to persons resident in France.  As it's in an identical format to the UK EHIC,  I expect it will be perfectly recognisable to the UK authorities. 

My Eurotunnel booking e-mail which shows my out and back dates provides evidence of the duration of my visit.

Plus I've always got my local kebab shop fidelity card as backup.......  [;-)]

 

[Bugsy]

I've always found that a 'string of onions' and a 'beret' works for me.

.

[AnOther]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]Plus I've always got my local kebab shop fidelity card as backup.......  [;-)][/quote]Wouldn't have put you down as a kebab man but it just goes to show I guess [:D]

Wish I hadn't handed over my pizza card now but I had to because I hit the magic 10 for a free one [blink]