What sort of age is acceptable, Kim? (Just thinking that @mark is getting on a bit 
)
70 
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Thanks KIm! I think heās a bit further behind me than thatā¦ 
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got a few (only a fewā:roll_eyes:) years yet.
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Ok, no worries. Iāll try to give them a call - do you have a number/is it 3400? Or do they respond to emails?
Tel 3400
Hello Kim,
I hope youāre well and you can help/advise. Iām afraid I don"t have Facebook.
I applied to exchange my UK licence for a French one on the 15th November following a call with ANTs, in which the guy told me that I needed to send a screenshot of my DVLA rights without any translation. I doubled checked all this with him and said that in my experience the French ask for a lot of official documents for any kind of administative process. He confirmed thatās all I needed to provide. Four months later in March I got a message saying they couldnāt accept a screenshot. I then immediately uploaded a PDF of my driving right/s/Check code. That was nine weeks ago and I still have no news. No mention in the message in March about needing translations either. Iām worried because by the time they get back to my file the check code will have expired anyway. My UK licence expired in January and Iāve been unable to drive since then. I also applied in 2021 after Brexit and after 9 months got a message saying that Brits should apply again whenn their licences expire. I never thought Iād need to allow more than two months. Is there anything you can do/advise for me? Many thanks for your help. Johnathon
Hello Johnathan, unless you are 70 or have a medically restricted licence for 3 years, I doubt that your licence has expired but only your photocard 4b date has expired.
If this is the case, then you can continue to drive here if column 11 is still valid, also providing your insurance company are happy with that, they should be as only your photo has expired.
I have no idea why the operator at ANTS told you a screen shot was acceptable as no screen shots of anything are acceptable.
If you live outside of Paris then there are no translations of anything for a UK exchange.
If you are still waiting and itās your card that has expired, I recommend that you call ANTS and ask for an update and ask if all the documents provided are accepable.
Your DVLA Check Code pdf is valid for 6 months but itās often asked for again if the application is taking a long time to process. If youāre talking about the 21 days, thatās irrelevant as that is for hiring a car in the UK which is what this document is actually for.
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Hello Kim,
Thank you so much for your quick reply.
ANTs told me over the phone that as the photocard has expired Iām not allowed to drive. We just renewed the insurance and they have no problem with the licence. I havenāt driven since January for fear of getting in trouble (Iām also applying for citizenship and canāt afford anything to derial it). The gendarmes told me by web-chat that they can only find information relating to the driving rights of a licence, and nothing refering to the photocard. I will try and go to the station tomorrow to see if I can get anything in writing from them. Iām in Eure et Loir, so good to know that no translation is needed. The problem with the check code is if they take so long to open the applications then it surely often expires and the whole thing starts again (them asking for a new one but not accessing is fast enough). ANTs did say that when it gets to 8 months it goes into a high priority pile.
Thanks again for your help 
Yes ANTS frequently tell people this and although theyāre sort of right, your driving rights are still valid if column 11 are still valid.
Legally you are supposed to have a valid photocard in any country, but as long as column is still in date then you have a valid driving licence and can continue to drive whilst waiting to be processedā¦ You wonāt find anything in writing, but itās what the prefectures used to tell people because exchanges took so long. Go to your Gendarmarie and run it past them is the advice I normally give, show them you have an application in the system, 99% of the time they will say itās fine.
And donāt ask ANTS for any advice they frequently get it wrong for a non-French licence. Keep questions for them about the progress of your application.
I was involved in the new UK agreement and got the time line lifted in Sept 2024, to 12 months before expiry to start an exchange due to the fact exchanges were taking so long.
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Thanks again, Kim! Iāll definitely go to the gendarmarie. I now see that my check code is expired in my DVLA account. Hopefully ANTs will just read the PDF I sent them and not try to connect using the code.
Thanks again for your help!
You canāt upload the code number, it can only be the pdf document you generate yourself from that code. So if youāve done that then youāll be fine.
CERT donāt access the code they will only view a pdf.
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Thanks again Kim. Just checked and it seems thatās what Iāve done, so should be ok. The check code is visible on that document, but so are my driving rights. Although itās just a table of my rights for each vehicle type, whereas on the actual live page you can expand each section to see more detail - not available on the PDF. Just incredible that they canāt give clear instructions for something that should be so easy. If the Gendarmerie give me the green light tomorrow then I wonāt hesitate to start driving again:) Bonne soirĆ©e !
Then yes youāll be fine. Yes correct the code shows on the pdf which shows the categories you are eligible to drive and when you obtained these.
So now you wait but you can as I mentioned above, ask ANTS if all details are correct, it can sometimes get it kicked on.
Thanks for the tip! Iāll give them a nudge.
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Hi @kim,
Just a quick question. I made an application on 11/08/25 on the ANTS website to exchange my UK driving licence and uploaded all the relevant documents. I received an acknowledgement saying that my online request to to exchange my driving license has been registered. However, there was no registration number. I checked today about the progress of my application, but there are no applications in progress. Should I be concerned? Whats the best way to follow this up? Grateful for any advice.
Regards
Yogesh
You just have to be (very) patient
Your application should have shown in the front page strapline on ANTS as soon as you validated your application.
However, you should have had a pdf to download with your application number etc.
If itās not showing youāve either gone back in using a different route, ie, simple account or FranceConnect, or you didnāt validate it but that should still show as a draft.
You do need to open the option of my applications on the front screen.
Other than that ā¦
May I please have my 1 allowed stupid question of the month please?
I need to start a licence swop process and not ready to go on Facebook.
Could someone please point me at a post or a link that tells me where to start? Do i need to get a code from DVLA before I start Ć nd at what point is a photo needed ? I am not sure FranceConnect works for me if relevant - it didnāt previously.
= creeps under rock hoping some kind soul will be able to give me a pointer
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If you canāt use the facebook group that Kim runs, this should be a good starting point >>
https://permisdeconduire.ants.gouv.fr/home/all-online-services/exchanging-a-foreign-or-overseas-licence-for-a-french-licence
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