Why is it that people offer up points or lost, you really don’t get a licence any quicker, in fact points are often rejected and lost can take months.
Yes you can exchange by a new category added to your licence. If you wish to do the bike test then you can, if you don’t dislike FB try joining my group on Monday and I can help you through this process and what to do so that your school will allow you to take your test.
Thanks, Kim. Appreciated.
That’s rather rude and totally incorrect. Why would I bother doing that? You also seem to be confusing the internet, which is a network and FB which is an application. But what the heck.
Because that was my OH’s experience Kim. He went to Agen to ask if he could change his UK license for a French one. He was told no. Then he said how could the point that he had got be recorded if he had a UK license. The woman behind the desk virtually snatched his UK license from him. 
Mind you, this was all before the days of everything being centralised. When we changed ours it was at the Prefecture and in my case the sub-prefecture.
It’s changed a bit now it’s all online. Prefecture exchanges were so much quicker and easier before Nov 2017.
Unfortunately postal applications were a nightmare taking up to 2-3 years in some cases, when it went online it sped up but many got caught in the 6 months where the agreement was being sorted but since the new agreement a UK exchange can take from 3-6 months and unless you have got more than 2 points, 1 point often gets rejected.
My bro is in Portugal and is having a lot of trouble getting his GB licence swapped for a Portuguese one.
But yesterday the Portuguese authority announced a relaxation of the deadline from end this year to end next year, ie 31/12/2022.
Condescending comments such as this John are why I rarely visit this particular forum. The Facebook Group that Kim runs is excellent and has been incredibly helpful to many people, myself included. Go and be grumpy somewhere else.
But no one has said otherwise? As the phrase goes ‘Don’t hate the player hate the game’ and it seems to me that that was exactly what John was doing. No one is at all suggesting that Kim and her group is anything other than incredibly helpful and a real asset, but despite that it shouldn’t be off the table to also say ‘I really wish it was on a platform other than the evil destructive Facebook’, to say criticising the choice of hosting platform is effectively an attack on the lady, her group and the incredible effort she’s made that we’re all very thankful for is naive, and perhaps a little foolish, to the extreme.
You’ve missed my point completely Richard. There is nothing condescending about my comment on FB. Maybe I used the wrong emoji, but If you researched my views expressed here on the matter you would realise that I am sincere in my dislike of the platform.
I have in no way disparaged the group Kim runs and I’m delighted that it has been of benefit to you. However the platform she has chosen is, in my opinion and the opinion of many others more qualified that I, a dangerous one. It is the well intentioned efforts of people like Kim that help sustain the FB business model, which is a malign one.
Survive France is not a dangerous platform, so it’s a pity you don’t visit more often and participate.
As for you parting shot… a bit unnecessary eh?
Not a condescending comnent at all by John, Richard. John has a very solid, and actually very high-level background in the IT industry. He knows what’s behind Facebook if he chooses to comment on it even if some Facebook users are not fully aware.
As Kirstea says, we are all incredibly grateful to Kim for providing clear content when the official communications and processes have been absent or fallen short. A number of us (and a lot of young very smart people these days) are unhappy with the liberties taken by Facebook. But frankly at the time, to get the message out, who could have proposed a more wideranging medium.
I don’t know whether this would classify aas off topic or not but I don’t think criticising Kim for using Facebook is at all helpful or indeed well founded. Survive France is a good platform but does not and cannot support the kind of “site” that Kim hosts, She has masses of documentation and guides through the system there. They have been put together by her from official sources to deal with a vast number of different countries and situations and do not exist elsewhere.
The only alternative way of doing what she is doing that I can think of is for her (or someone else) to start and run an independent site on a reliable hosting platform. This, as anyone who has done anything similar will know, is neither a cheap nor a simple process.
Kim does not get paid for what she does and has decided to use FB while adding a great many checks on the top.
Now please please please can we stick to the topic in hand rather than have yet another debate about the virtues and vices of platforms such as Facebook as these arguments have been extensively rehearsed elsewhere on this site.
Your group name please?
In case Kim is busy elsewhere (she usually is!) It’s called “Applying for a French Driving Licence” and it’s this one… Applying for a French Driving Licence
Thanks
Hello Kim,
I hope this message gets to you as we could really do with some help regarding our driving licences and having stumbled across this site this morning, it seems you may be the person to ask.
My husband and I have been residents of France for over 10 years. We applied to exchange our UK driving licences in early September 2024 but they have not yet arrived. However, yesterday, we realised that our UK licences actually expired at the end of November ! We are currently spending the holidays in England with our French registered car (we also have an English registered car to use here).
We have the electronic proof of our French licence exchange applications, so the big question is- Are we still legally able to drive the vehicles ?
My husbands suggested we apply to renew our UK licences online whilst we are here. Is that a good idea ?
Your advice would be very much appreciated.
I’m in a “similar” situation. As you only applied in September it’s probably a bit early to hear anything from ANTS/France titres just yet. I applied to change mine in July and I’ve only jyst been asked to send the DVLA check code.
The important thing is not the date in 4b (photocard expiry), but in column 11 on the back which is the licence expiry date.
If you use FB, @kim runs a section for driving licence exchange help
It was explained to me that date 4b indicates the expiry of the document whereas the date in column 11 indicates the end of the right to drive.
I think Kim is replying to you and she is certainly the expert!
Meanwhile, I just wanted to say “Welcome to Survive France”!
Hello Monique, unfortunately applications are taking at least 5-7 months so you should have applied sooner.
It depends on what has expired, your licence, column 11, or 4b your photocard. If it’s your licence you can’t drive anywhere, if it’s your 4b date then you can continue to drive in France, see my reply to Mark with regard to legality of your licence and what to do.
You absolutely cannot renew your licence in the UK, you are no longer a resident and it’s offence to make a false statement on an official government site as to your residential status. Having access to an address in the UK is not a legal address.
If it’s just your card you can check with the DVLA as your driving rights are still valid and you have proof of application in France.
4b is the expiry of the card photo, not the licence, that is column 11.