Post Brexit driving licence question!

So I was chatting to a friend today who has kept her US licence and is also the proud owner of a French licence. Now I swapped my UK licence for a French one and had to surrender the UK licence as we are in Europe and all.

But what happens when the UK finally leaves the EU? Can I reapply for a British licence? Would I have to re-sit the test? And if so why? Has anyone in a “Brexit department” even thought about this? Who wants to join me in phoning the DVLA and asking them the question?

Answers on a post card please…

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I doubt if TM and the Brexit department have got that far yet! And until it’s agreed, DVLA can’t answer - it’s not up to them to decide.
But in theory, the only situation when you have two current driving licences is when they are not exchangeable between countries that you need to drive in, ie the US one, for instance, can’t be exchanged for a French licence and vice versa. It depends entirely on what agreement there is between the states/countries concerned. I would be surprised if it no agreement were to be reached between the UK and the EU for driving licences to continue to exchangeable. So if you have a French licence and you move back to the UK, you would simply exchange it for a UK licence, as you could now, or you might not be obliged even to do that. The EU has agreements on licences with a lot of non EU countries, in fact I believe it has arrangements with some US states but not all

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Yep that’s the case re the US.

It shouldn’t become an issue. Interchangeability of driving licences tends to be based on the nature of the driving tests involved and are nothing to do with the two countries being in the EU. Some US state licences can be exchanged for a French licence while others cannot. I would also imagine that even after you have exchanged your UK licence for a French one the DVLA will still hold a copy of your Certificate of Entitlement that lists all the categories that you are entitled to drive after taking driving tests in the UK.

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Your faith in the system is laudable but …

I live in France and have swapped my UK licence for a French one… pink paper with ghastly photo…:frowning:

Surely only those resident in UK need to worry about a UK licence… ??? or am I missing something vital… :open_mouth:

Twenty years ago I emigrated to South Africa and had learned beforehand that I would need to exchange my UK driving licence for a local one. To avoid any future complications, I simply got an extra UK driving licence before exchanging my UK driving licence for an SA one.Though I now live in France, I still visit SA and my local driving licence remains a useful informal form of ID (and more convenient to carry than a passport-sized ID book). If you’re anxious about the future and your French address is on your UK driving licence, you can probably simply let the DVLA know that you’ve ‘lost’ the original and need a replacement.

However, I’m looking forward to replacing my UK licence with a French one.

Hi Mark… it is very straight forward… swapping UK for French… just be careful about the categories…:wink:

I didn’t think it was possible to have a French address on a UK driving licence.
And I don’t think you’re supposed to have several driving licences. Although I did know a wonderful, totally batty old lady, sadly no longer with us - you would have loved her, Stella; she had a collection of classic sports cars and she drove them all far too fast, and when she got another speeding fine she used to look at it through her pince nez and say, “Now how many points will this be, which licence should I put this one onto?” I think she had five.

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Oh Anna … she sounds like my soul-mate :laughing:

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Are you talking about me? If so why shouldn’t I think that way? Experience tells me I’m right to do so.
All the rules and lists of the licences that can and cannot be exchanged are available online on the gouv.fr websites.

You need to check a few facts!

Bonjour

My understanding is that under EU rules once someone has exchanged a licence it cannot be changed again. If that is so, in or out of the EU will make no difference if you want to revert to a UK licence.

Why are we looking at this…anyway… ???

Is it in case someone wants to go back to UK and become a UK Resident… and therefore need a UK Licence ???

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-driving-licence/y/yes/car-or-motorcycle/european-union

and if you are over 70… you will need to renew with medical I think (not sure)

DVLA will not issue you with a licence if you do not have a UK address.

I think we are clear… that no-one needs a UK licence unless they are Resident in UK. And, no matter what… you can drive in UK for 12 months (?) on foreign licence…it is only in excess of that time period that a UK licence would be necessary… how to go about it is very clear on the British Government website…

currently, the site asks where (in which country) you passed your Driving Test. At present… UK comes under EU Country…click that and easy peasy… done just like that. Once Brexit takes hold… the site will offer UK or GB amongst the options… and, once again… easy peasy…

phew… pass the bottle, please … :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

According to this document issued by the EU Commission, in a no deal scenario our UK licences would no longer be recognised in the EU27 and we’d go back to the Geneva Convention rules, where we had to exchange them within a year. Back then, did this mean taking a local test or did they just do the swap?