Nowadays because of the money laundering regulations that apply here and in the UK (and most other countries) it is becoming normal even for quite trivial transactions to need two forms of ID, one with a photo (typically driving licence or passport) and one with an address (usually bank statement or utility bill). A driving licence with a photo is unlikely to work if the driving licence is in a different name from that being used for the transaction.
Johnathan, when I came here first a driver's licence wasn't considered a formal form of ID, but it seems to be now. I've used it from everything to opening bank accounts, to creating an SCI, to changing phone operator.
Our UK licences ran out last year and we, therefore, needed to exchange them for French ones. The process had changed a bit from what various friends told us but was straightforward - basically filling in a form available from the internet, and taking it, our UK licences and various other bits and pieces stipulated in the form to the Préfecture (not now the sous-préfecture). They took the UK licences, gave us a temporary French licence (valid for two months but only in France) and the proper ones arrived about three weeks later. If you have a non EU licence or no licence it may well be different.
One thing we discovered was that on the new French plastic licences they only put birth names which may make it less use a form of identity (e.g. for UK bank accounts). Until last year they put both married and birth names if requested.
Actually I had the pink paper licence for 5 years. I exchanged my Ontario Canada licence for the French pink paper licence when I moved here in 2010 at the suggestion of the Mairie. The Mairie helped me deal with the the process but I am certain that the paper work went to Toulon. I picked up the French pink paper one a few weeks later at the Mairie. The Mairie was a welcome and helpful intermediary. When the plastic card became available I went back to the Mairie, they completed the documents for me and sent it off to Toulon. I picked up my new plastic licence in Draguignan 6 weeks later. God bless small town fonctionairres.
David, that has all changed and even sous-préfectures are gradually ceasing to be part of the process. The new EU driving licence involves as special machine to copy in the picture and signature, add the text then register the issue number to all EU countries and to the two central points in France and one in the EU. Presumably the big machine costs and arm and a leg, probably more than the budget of many communes. There are no more paper licences now, not in France, the UK and only remaining in a few member states. The plastic EU card the only one issued. No more help from maires...
I do everything through The Mairie. They are the best. I have the new plastic photo DL. I moved from Canada and had a limited time to change to the French paper licence 6 years ago. People that I know that have neglected to change their licence are now having to go to French driving school and it is a nightmare.
Do you have a License from anywhere else? If you do the process is different.
We are close to Angouleme, so looked up all the papers required and visited the Prefecture. One handy tip, do a set of photocopies of the paperwork for the Prefecture. They have to photocopy everything anyway and it saves them time, which they REALLY appreciate. Our lady just checked the passports and birth certificates against the photocopies and had a little joke with us. We did have to pay a small amount for the new licence but that seems to be different from departement to departement. Our licence arrived within 5 days.
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If you already have a licence issued by another EU country & it is still within date you do not have to change to a french one unless you have been told to because you have committed a traffic offence here. I sill have a paper, non photo licence issued in the UK - perfectly valid here until I am 70!
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Licence, sorry, not passport... obviously you have a passport, haha.
Before going to the prefecture with your forms, you'll need to pass the code de la route, most likely. This usually gets done through a driving school, where oyu revise the questions and they set up your exam, or you can go as a "candidat libre", do the revision in your own time, and apply by yourself. It's a question of how good your French is, because it can be complicated setting it up as a candidat libre.
Do you hold a passport from another country? If so, it could help, as any European licence should get automatically transferred.
We did it all by post, after starting on line, but no visit to the prefecture at all. When all was ready we simple had to send in our UK ones and then the French ones were sent out. We did it two in a registered enveloped, got an emailed message each that it was ready, sent in our cards and paper together then received the new ones individually. No hassles whatsoever.
This website tells you what you need to do. You can print the forms you need from here. Once you have all the documents listed then you need to take the forms, the documents and the photos to your Prefecture. Some people have found this to be a really simple process and others (like me) had an absolute nightmare. It seems to depend largely on the Prefecture that you visit. This topic has been discussed many times on here so I suggest you try to find previous discussions and you should get everything you need from those.
Hi Thanks for the helpful info. I want to change my British licence for a French one what bits of paper do you need to show and where? Is it free?
Sorry not to have replied sooner, and you may have the answers. If you download the form from the French government website it tells you what you need. I don’t think there was any payment needed. One point is that the temporary licence they give you until you get the proper one - maybe a month or two later depending on the préfecture, only covers driving in France, while of course the full license is valid everywhere
Hi all
We are renewing our UK licences for French one’s as we are both now nearly 70. Does anyone know about the changes of categories as our licences are the old paper green ones and have the old categories which includes towing quite heavy trailers. Will the categories on our old UK licences be transferred to our new French licences. Many thanks
I’m 79 and got a French licence in January to replace my UK one which was due for three-yearly renewal this month.
All the UK categories of driver entitlement were reproduced on my replacement French licence. It’s worth noting that, if you ever want to hire a car in France, the date of issue of your French licence (item 4a on the front) does not reproduce the date of issue of your UK one, which is detailed on the reverse side.
The actual bureaucratic procedure involves a trip to your prefecture where it’s wise to have your dossier of required papers ready, and be prepared to wait for the actual licence to be processed. I went back twice to check on progress, and received just a friendly shrug and a smile. The third time (three months after my request) it was ready, issued with a proud flourish and “your new french permit, monsieur!”
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It’s also worth pointing out that your new French driving licence will not bear your residential/postal address, unlike its UK counterpart.
This implies that although it can be used as proof of identity in limited circumstances, it will not stand as proof of domicile.
Peter
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Hii, what do you think, I have UK driving licence, but it’s expired now. And I want to drive in France. What are my options please? Can I exchange expired driving licence?? Or somehow exempted from code de la route. My French is horrible.
Thanks
May I suggest that you have a look at the following thread:
Then perhaps apply to join Kim Cranstoun’s facebook group:
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