Nell Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 The OH and I followed the forum link to change or UK driving licences to French ones. Both UK licences (EU versions) need to be renewed next year anyway as will are 10 years old , so we decided to go French. Went to the prefecture with all relevant documents, but were told we needed a medical if we wanted to keep our towing rights. We half expected this, but thought we would try anyway. We now have appointments to see a designated doctor for the medicals with the view to returning to the prefecture with all paperwork complete.Today - we were talking to a French neighbour and asked him why was a medical required. He said, for him it was not necessary, but also asked "Why do you want a French driving Licence? Surely it would be better to have an International driving Licence!!"Has anyone gone down this route? Would it be a better idea to go International? All advice and suggestions would be appreciatedRegards - Nell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Your French neighbour clearly misunderstands the basis of the international driving permit.The International Driving Permit (IDP) (sometimes erroneously called the International Driver's Licence) is a booklet which is an authorized translation of a driver's home licence into many languages (especially languages with different scripts such as Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc). In some cases, it is obtained from a motoring organization such as the Automobile Association or the equivalent in the driver's home country. In other cases, it is delivered by the same government services that issue ordinary licences. The IDP has no validity except when used in conjunction with the driver's own licence. The existence of the IDP is necessitated by many countries refusing to recognize driving licences written in foreign languages without accompanying translations.If your UK licence is due for renewal, then you have no choice but to apply for an exchange French licence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nell Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 Thanks Sunday Driver, I was hoping you would be logged on. It's good to know your "broken bones and haggis with fingers" are not interfering with your sound advice.I hope you are both making good progress and all will be back to normal soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.