As a Chartered Building Surveyor undertaking pre-purchase surveys I cover fair distances on French roads; in the past month, for example, and although based in Herault, I have carried out surveys in Pyrenees-Orientales in the west, Haute-Savoie in the east, and Haute-Vienne in the north - as well as others in between.
I have held a full licence for very nearly 50 years, and like to think I am a "sensible" driver, but there is no denying I exceed the speed limit from time to time - which is so easy to do, even inadvertently, on French roads, particularly motorways. I was recently fined €45 for travelling at a calculated speed of 114 kph on a dual carriageway with a limit of 110 kph.
Our local gendarme, who turns up for the village do's, and who knows me as a resident, has wagged his finger at me from time to time and says that as I now live in France permanently I must exchange my UK driving licence for a French one. Other ex-pats say they have been told the same thing. Our gendarme was very insistent (and I can understand why, because the French and English systems are not yet sufficiently co-ordinated for "points" to be put on a UK licence for indiscretions committed in France) so I wrote to DVLA in Swansea earlier this year for a definitive answer. You might be interested in the following extract from their very helpful reply:
"... your country of normal residence is taken to mean the place where you usually live and have personal and/or occupational ties. If you wish to have your French address as your residence then drivers who take up residence in another EC/EEA country no longer have to exchange their driving licence, but may continue to drive using their own national licence for as long as it remains valid. It is accepted that drivers who move to another part of the EC/EEA could be holding driving licences showing an incorrect address. You can complete the back of your licence with your current address. This is permissible under the terms of the EC Ddirective on Driving Licences."
So there you have it. Check the expiry date on your UK licence; according to DVLA you are not obliged to change to a French licence until then. I don't for one moment condone reckless driving, but neither do I like French policemen telling me something which simply isn't true.
Hi there Brian and thanks for that. I think we're all close to getting it right. James corrected me on there not being a "European" licence per se, when I obviously meant (but didn't state literally) a "European Union" licence, but I think, as we'd say in Ireland, "sure ya knew what I was goin' on about"! In fact, lucky for us, I noticed Henry's was about to expire (we had four days left!) which resulted in a mad dash to Carcassonne to request the French ones as we no longer have an Irish address. James has also clarified when points are added, etc., as in Ireland you start at zero, and when you reach 12, you are off the road! I think it's the same in the UK. So thanks James for clarifying that.
An explanation of how the points system works in France:
Everyone holding a French driving licence has a "points account" which is stored on a central computer (FNPC). You start with 12, and points are removed for offences.
If you are not on the FNPC, you cannot lose any points. So anyone yet to get a French licence who is worried about "having points" stop worrying - you have not lost any.
When someone is caught speeding, the information about the number of points to be removed is sent electronically to the FNPC. If no record is found, no points are removed.
Fixed speed cameras are managed by the CACIR centre in Rennes. They process thousands of point removals every day, and the process is more or less completely automated. So, although the law says you should change your licence if caught speeding, no-one follows it up because there is no system in place to do so.
The situation is different if you are stopped on the spot. The officer is supposed to give you a ticket with the "échange obligatoire" box ticked. They are then supposed to create a file on the FNPC which will be linked with your new French licence once the exchange is carried out. If you don't, you can be fined 90 euros.
Again, this is followed up with varying degrees of dilligence, depending on the police or gendarmerie unit responsible for your case. Sometimes they will phone or visit to remind you of your obligations.
There is actually no such thing as a "European licence".
What people actually mean is "licence issued by an EU member state".
If you hold a licence from an EU member state, then all other member states must recognise it. That is all that is "European" about the licence - its recognition throughout Europe.
There is a condition in that recognition agreement whereby member states may force you to exchange your licence in certain circumstances, such as where points are to be deducted.
I hope I don'd add to the confusion here, but as far as I understand it, the position is:
1. If you're an EU citizen, you can drive on the licence of your country of origin until it expires.
2. Therefore, you do NOT have to obtain a French licence, unless you want one, or you acquire penalty points, at which time, the Gendarmes are within their rights to instruct you to obtain a French licence so that the points can be adjusted.
3. Our Irish licences (being EU) were perfectly valid and were often accepted as a form of identification too. However, Irish licences must be renewed every 10 years, so when OH's licence was due to expire, we went to the Prefecture and applied for French licences, which were issued to us within a week.
4. To contradict Brian English, our French licences ARE European licences, containing the words Permis De Conduire" in 22 different languages, including Irish! "Ceadúnas Tiomána".
Need help please - I have a UK driving licence which runs out when I am 70 in a few years, Is it better to have French licence, as I drive a motor home which is over the 3.5 tonne limit (which needs med. cert.@ 70 years old). We will (I hope) a French address by then.
Thank you Brian. One point. AS I understand it I have to change my license to a French one if I get points. I have points So I guessed that as my UK license has been stolen now might be a good time to do so. However as I should have changed t sometime ago I’m wondering if the French authorities will hassle for or just turn a blind eye.
This post has been very useful for me, thank you very much. I hope i’m not too late to the party but I wondered if anyone had any comment or advise on my predicament.
I’m British and have lived in Paris for the last 5 years. Since arriving here I have been driving on a UK license and unfortunately I’ve picked up a few points along the way (I don’t know how many but I’m guessing 6)
Yes I now know (mainly from this blog post in fact) that I should (have) change my license to a French one but so far I have not. Not until an event this week.
This week my bag was stolen and in addition to other valuables was my British driving license. As it is not possible for DVLA to issue me a UK license with a French address and it seems that I need a legal abode in the UK in order to get a license with a UK address I need to change my license to a French one. In order to do this DVLA will send me a 'certificate of entitlement" which I can apparently use as s real license substitute in order to get my shiny new French license.
Given all of that information here are my questions I was wondering if anyone may like to comment on
Points. When I get a new licence will the points be transferred to the new licence? I was told by DVLA that in the UK if a French driver gets points on a French license the points cannot be ‘attached’ to the license by default. So what happens is that a new ‘file’ is opened and when/if the French driver switches to a UK license the points will be transferred to the French license. Im wondering if that is also the case in France.
As I was ‘supposed’ to transfer my license to a French one once I obtained points will I be punished by the French authorities in any way?
Will I need to get a Sworn Translation of the 'certificate of entitlement? in order to make the transfer.
How long does it take to transfer a UK to a French license?
Can I use the ‘certificate of entitlement’ to drive in the interim period? If the flicks stop me are they just going to look at the paper, give a gallic shrug and compound my car?
Many thanks for any tips or comments you folks can offer.
The law is that your UK licence is perfectly legal in France, however, it’s a pain in the bum having to explain that to every gendarme, official etc. If you need to replace your licence, below is a useful interactive link from the direct Gouv website, specifically relating to living abroad. If you phone up I think it depends on who you speak to - that’s when you eventually get through!
When I went to change mine at the prefecture (71) when the photocard expired, I had to argue that mine was about to expire (along with my PCV entitlement) as the Prefecture didn’t want to change it.
With my husband’s lost licence the Gendarmes have given him a declaration that his is lost and he is entitled to drive with this declaration for 2 months, luckily we have found a photocopy of his licence so hopefully, with all these bits of paper, we’ll get somewhere.
confused - I am!! I called the DVLA last week on same topic and was told that I should let them know my french address and although they cannot put it onto my UK licence they would hold it on record. I was told that if a french person moves to UK they do not now need to change their licence but that she did not know the position vice versa. Having read these comments particularly Brian English’s I am concerned now that by giving the DVLA our french address when our licences expire we will only be able to renew with a french one? I was also told here in France at the Prefecture that we should exchange our licences within a year of moving. Also I had heard that if we change after the year we have to take a french driving test? Any advice gratefully received. Tracy - I will watch your attempt closely!! We live in Haute Savoie (74)
You also have to bear in mind if you have a photo card licence, this expires after 10 years and will need to be renewed, this can not be done with a French address. you also have to renew at the age of 70, whereas French licences are valid indefinitely!!! Whether or not this is a good idea is questionable.
Also, my husband lost his wallet this week - with a veritable collection of French/UK bank cards, UK (old style driving licence), Carte Vitale, mutuelle, Titre de Sejour, etc - fortunately not much money in it. The DVLA have refused point blank, to send him a replacement licence, as he is not resident in the UK. They have sent a statement’ concerning his entitlement to drive, which we are going to attempt to change for a French one, watch this space everyone!
hi
If you apply for a french driving licence "they ’ will keep your British one !!! this sooo annoyed several folk we knew w that they applied to swansea for a new one saying the old one was lost and got one -so had both - not that this was certain to be a legal move!!!
I’m wondering Ian if you could scan your letter from the DVLA (if it’s not too personal) and make a copy available to those like Andrea who could use it to make hiring a car easier.
another time that this becomes an issue is trying to hire a car for return trips to the UK, impossible as the address on the licence doesn’t match the billing address for our carte bleu…
Thanks for that. We have twice been told at our prefecture in Cleremont Ferrand that we don`t need to change our licences but following recent comments by people on twitter I was becoming a bit unsure again about the legal position. That answer from the DVLA seems definitive enough for me!
Hello Ian, the information you need is here: http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/F1758.xhtml
In a nutshell, there are only two reasons for needing to change a UK (or other EEC member state) driver’s licence into a French one: if you receive a fine resulting in lost points or if your UK driver’s licence was obtained through converting another one from a country with which France has no reciprocal agreement (e.g. NZ).
So your local gendarme is both wrong and right. He’s wrong in that you don’t need to convert yours to a French licence just because you are a permanent UK national living permanently in France, but he’s right if you lost any points after your speeding fine, as you now do need to change your UK licence.
I try to keep a page of my website up to date with sort of legal information, and Vos Droits.Service-Public is a good source of information.
Which means that you’ll need a sworn translation of your UK driver’s licence…
So I guessed that as my UK license has been stolen now might be a good time to do so. However as I should have changed t sometime ago I’m wondering if the French authorities will hassle for or just turn a blind eye.