Problem with French licence!

[Chantemerlière]

I have a

little problem with my licence that one of you regular Motards may be able to

help me solve.

 

Some years

ago I exchanged my UK licence for a French licence; and on

my old UK licence I was qualified to ride motorcycles

and had been for many years.

 

Unfortunately

I didn’t notice immediately; my fault I know; that on my new French licence I appear

to be no longer qualified!

 

Under category

A1, ie 125cc, I have Depuis le 01/07/1996 but under ‘A’ I have just a row of asterisks

like this *********.  

 

When I did

notice I did nothing about it because I had already decided that my

motorcycling days were over and I would not need it anyway.

 

However!!!!!

Now that I have more time on my hands the old yearning is coming back; surprise

surprise!!

 

So, is

there anyone here who has had a similar problem and sorted it, or is there

anyone who can suggest how I can “re-qualify”?  

 

For

instance will Swansea have a record of my old qualifications and

provide me with a copy so as I can approach the authorities here to have my French

licence updated? Or would that lead to complications and be too much hassle?

 

Perhaps the

easiest way would be to get some refresher training and take my test again!

 

What do you

think? 

Cheers,

William.

[AnOther]

Sounds like a problem which could give you endless hours of fun trying to sort out.

I think a crucial question is what sort of licence did you have to exchange and how long had you had it ?

If it was a paper one and you'd had it for some years then you could be on a non starter with DVLA. They are not above making this mistake themselves when upgrading from the old paper licence to a photo one - recent Telegraph article HERE

If you decided to go the retest route you'd have to do it in France of

course because without a valid UK address the DVLA will not

re-issue a UK licence, with or without the MC entitlement.

Good luck, and remember, if it is too much hassle and all comes to nought you can still have fun on a 125 [;-)]

[woolybananasbrother]

Take up cycling?

[Sunday Driver]

Hi William

I suspect you may be faced with a problem getting the DVLA to pull your old records and provide the information that the prefecture will need to amend your licence.  This situation has come up previously and has remained unresolved.

That said, given that you probably haven't ridden for some time, it would be clearly sensible to get some refresher training.  It'd be no big deal to organise a French riding test here.  You need to know the code for riding/driving  in France anyway, and the practical should be pretty straightforward.

 

   

[Chantemerlière]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]

Hi William

I suspect you may be faced with a problem getting the DVLA to pull your old records and provide the information that the prefecture will need to amend your licence.  This situation has come up previously and has remained unresolved.

   [/quote]

This is what I though when I said that it would lead to complications and be too much hassle.

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]

That said, given that you probably haven't ridden for some time, it would be clearly sensible to get some refresher training.  It'd be no big deal to organise a French riding test here.  You need to know the code for riding/driving  in France anyway, and the practical should be pretty straightforward.

   [/quote]

You are right here too. It is some years since my biking days and a spot of refresher training would do no harm.

[quote user="ErnieY"].

Good luck, and remember, if it is too much hassle and all comes to nought you can still have fun on a 125 [;-)]

[/quote]

I am sure I can Ernie because I suspect their performance has come on somewhat since I last rode one.

Thank you all and if all else fails I can always take 'woolybananas' advice and take up cycling!!!