Si vous comptez vous installer en France, après la fin de la période de transition, ou que vous n’avez pas échangé votre permis de conduire britannique avant la fin de la période de transition, ce dernier sera reconnu sur le territoire français pendant le délai d’un an. Vous devrez en solliciter l’échange dans ce délai si un accord de réciprocité est conclu entre la France et le Royaume-Uni.
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Really Mark? I thought that had all changed completely…where does it say that?
The current advice from Service-Public (last updated 01/12/2020) is here -
It then goes on to say -
"If you live in France and have a licence obtained in a European country, this licence is valid in France.
However, you must meet the following 5 conditions:
You must be at least 18 years old to drive a vehicle in the equivalent category of your licence (at least 18 years old for licence B).
Have a valid permit
Respect the medical prescriptions noted on your licence. For example, glasses must be worn.
Not have been sanctioned with a suspension, restriction or cancellation of your right to drive in the country where the licence was issued.
Not having obtained your licence during a period when you were forbidden in France to apply for a driving licence
If you meet all these conditions, you can drive in France with your licence as long as it is valid.
Otherwise, you are not allowed to drive in France with this European licence.
You must wait until you meet all the conditions (for example, wait until you reach the required age or the end of a licence suspension) or retake your licence if it is cancelled.
If you wish, you can request the exchange of your licence for a French licence.
The exchange is possible even if your foreign licence is no longer valid.
The exchange is only compulsory in the following 2 cases:
You are applying for a new category of licence (extension)
You commit an offence in France resulting in loss of points, restriction, suspension or cancellation of your licence.I think the grey area may be that after Jan 1st a UK licence is no longer a European license? There’s been talk of holders of UK licences needing International Driving licenses from Jan 1st. Maybe a skinny deal would fix that, I dunno.
I don’t think the UK is going to move to another continent is it?
UK licences were issued by a European country & the title actually includes “Royaume-Uni” so certainly at the moment there is no requirement to change just because the UK issued it.
See above the posting from Jane Jones.
You must change your British driver’s license to a French one before end of 2021.
The old mutual recognition will fall away on many things on Jan 1st. Mark. I don’t then people in the UK realise just how much yet.
I agree, but at this moment there is no requirement to change. If & when it changes I will of course comply.
I remember the CDS fiasco of 2019 where there was a stampede to get one when not only was it not required but the one available was for EU residents. They now need to be exchanged while the one now required for Brits is correct & a lot easier to obtain.
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How long is this process currently taking? How long would I be without a license having posted it off?
When you fill out the online system Mat and attache all the scanned documents they review them. If they pass muster they send an email asking you to forward your license and a one page provisional licence you can print off. It lasts thee months if my memory serves me well. My new license took less than three weeks to get to me so, in effect, I wasn’t without a license at all.
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That’s interesting…OH has been waiting for about 3 months!
Actually no. All we had to do was send a scan of the CdS, and we expect to receive new one in post without having to go to préfecture as all the fingerprinting and so on has been done.
Just checked with the Missus (she actually remember things) and yes it was about three weeks.
Interesting that you think yours lasted 3 months. Having just sent mine off the information on the ANTS site all said it would last 2 months, but the actual document itself says it lasts 4 months! I wondered if they tweak the length depending on how busy they are to ensure people remain covered or such, but if you got your new license back in a few weeks I hopefully won’t get into months anyway!
I guess I split the difference Kirstea 
I have no doubt that their process isn’t sophisticated enough to vary the validity based on workload.
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Can you report back when you receive your licence.
Of course!
I just checked for information, and I sent the old license on 15th Dec. I was quite expecting it to be delayed being this time of year obviously, but we shall see!
Just checked, OH sent his in on 7th October and have had nothing since…
(I’m beginning to feel there is a conspiracy against us…
- have had nothing back re CdS when others are getting RDV and cards,
- applied on first day new EHIC website opened and have had nothing when others have received their new EHICs
- still waiting for response from Fisc to claim for overpaid social charges in 2018, it still shows as being “en cours”.
*still waiting for a piece of art I bought/won in March to be delivered (and now possibly a problem getting out of the UK), - still waiting for a free packet of seeds promised in November.
- the list goes on…)
Can I just check - have others needed to have a doctors note (cerfa_14880-02) to show ability to drive?
Isn’t that usually only required if certain groups are included on your licence (ie HGV etc) which you can automatically elect not to include by not having the medical?
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