And very stressed out as I must buy a car for my work (full-time auto-entrepreneur working full-time but need my own transport) and haven’t heard anything from Nantes. My Irish driving licence was out of date but I’ve sent all what’s required.
Do you think a registered letter would speed things up? I’m having to refuse work as I have no personal transport and I’m afraid I’ll lose the ‘job’.
Is it possible to apply for a European or International driving licence?
HELP!?!?!?!
Last April? 2017 or 2018? If it was 2017 your application is long overdue, if it was 2018 it’s too early. If you applied recently you would not have had to enclose your old licence and the old licence plus proof that you have applied to replace it will be accepted as proof of your entitlement to drive. The Gendarmes understand the huge delay in processing exchange licences under the ‘new’ system.
Ok thanks David. It was this year I applied.
That seems like a very long time to wait.i got my new licence delivered within 2 weeks! complete with all my old categories which would cost me over 3000e to get on a licence here.
maybe its been caught up in the staffs industrial action over losing jobs and prolonging retirement…like most of the french civil service. though from past experience they’re anything but ’ civil '…on one occasion we had a french freind with us who went ballistic over the way she treated us and REALLY tore a strip off the shame-faced official. along the lines of “these are English people,they are good people, unlike my arab neighbours who try and stop me sitting in my own garden…how dare you speak to them in this way”
A prefecture in Normandie have had a memo telling them not to talk to people in english, in case of any ‘misunderstandings’. many officials act like ss guards to all their ‘customers’ french or english…
Was that under the new system based in Nantes. If so, we’ll done as the predicted waiting time at the moment is about nine months. No face to face people involved, civil, Civil or otherwise.
Can I ask you if your licence was out of date? Perhaps that’s the reason they take ages with mine?
If you have a licence, and presumably you still have the original, and can prove that you sent off for a replacement french one then it’s quite possible you are ok to drive. I don’t know this for a fact, but it seems logical to me and possibly worth checking into. I seem to recall I had to send my licence in to get a change of address one time (before online stuff) and I still drove while it was out of my possession.
And why should not having a licence mean you can’t buy a car?
If you applied in April 2007 you will have to expect to have to wait up to nine months to receive your French licence, unfortunately that’s a fact. I applied in February and I too am still waiting but I’m not concerned because I’ve been following news items and website threads on the subject.
I recently helped a friend re-register a UK car, we used an "agency " and they needed copies of the insurance as well as the owners driving licence. BTW, it cost 20 euros and was extremely efficient. We got the temporary CG the next day.
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Yes so many of us are waiting…we probably have got 3 more months to wait ……Bordeaux Prefecture.
It has nothing to do with Bordeaux prefecture Barbara. All driving licence exchange applications are posted to Nantes.
So you do need a licence to buy a french registered car then? Just curious…
Looks like it to get it registered.
Also, a less than 6 month old UK MoT is no good, need French CT, and CoC even though in this case all the info was on the V5.
A UK MOT or any other European roadworthiness certificate with more than six months to run can be used in lieu of a CT for an initial registration. The OP’s date expired driving licence and proof of her application for a French licence should be accepted for the immatriculation as well as, although here current licence is out of date, she has not lost her entitlement to drive.
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Yes need to buy a car for work.
I have a question about the IDP: International Drivers’ Permit. I have one of those, but that’s not the same as a France driver’s license, right?
My US driver’s license expires in November 2018. I have the IDP through next June 2019. I’m hoping to get a car when I arrive in France this October, but now that I read this I’m feeling like the IDP isn’t gping to cut it, is it…? I can’t expect the IDP to be the same as a driver’s license issued by France, right?
I wasn’t talking about changing from UK reg to French, but just about buying a second hand car that is already registered in France. As that was part of the OP’s problem, not even being able to buy a car…
mine WAS actually out of date,the old green paper one…i changed it
for an EU plastic card one,rather than messing about replacing the UK
one,then doing it all again to french…
You need to hold a licence when you change ownership on a second hand French registered car.
As far as I know regarding European driving licences - you can reside in the foreign country for up to 2yrs but after 2yrs you must change to a French driving licence.