pwnet

Friend of mine fellow expat is living in Holland for over 30 years. Is in possession of a British international driver’s license for over 25 years. Should she change this to a normal British driver’s license (with photo) or can she still change this into Dutch driver’s license?
I overheard somebody talk that she could drive in Holland with an invalid driver’s license.

Pulaski

An "international licence" is only a translation of a national licence, therefore the international licence is worthless on its own, so she absolutely needs a national licence but if she is living in the Netherlands she needs a Netherlands licence, not a British one.

Gozit

I don't know what a "British International License" is, but if you have a valid British driver's license, it is an EU license so you can use it in the Netherlands which is an EU country. If it is expired, obviously you cannot use it. It is valid in the Netherlands until it expires at which point you are expected to exchange it for a Dutch one but if you really wanted to you could go home and renew it, and it would be valid. Exchanging it for a Dutch one is like a one for one, since all EU licenses have to be considered equally across the EU. And if you were to return to UK, you could exchange the Dutch license for a UK one again.

Pulaski

It's usually known as an International Driving Permit (IDP).

Gozit

Gotcha, once I read your post above I realised s/he just meant the translation that is usually meaningless.

Red_Wine_Fairy

Do you mean she has the green paper one that lasted until the 75th birthday *if you never changed address*? A British EU licence (10 year validity) is valid until it expires (for as long as we're in the EU, nobody can tell you what will happen after that but for the sake of thirty euros, it makes sense to swap it sooner rather than post-Brexit), at which point you go to the town hall and swap it, with a new photo.

She should check RDW website, but should be prepared for the fact that she might need to retake her test. Living here is different to visiting here - and although she might be ok visiting with one, I wouldn't want to be in her shoes if, heaven forbid, she was ever in an accident.

I admit to being curious - did she get a green licence from the UK with a Dutch address on, pre-EU? I know that with the EU driving licences, you can't get one from a different country to the one in which you live.

Edit: On checking, it seems there is nothing to say a green licence isn't valid - she just needs to be able to prove she had been living in the UK for 185 days before the licence was issued. But then on another page...

Driving licence issued in EU/ EFTA
If you have a driving licence that was issued before 19 January 2013 in one of the countries of the EU or the EFTA, then you can normally carry on driving with the foreign driving licence for up to 10 years after issue. If your driving licence is already over 9 years old, you can continue to drive with your driving licence in any case for another two years (counting from the date of registering in a Dutch municipality). However, this is on condition that your driving licence is still valid.


https://www.rdw.nl/englishinformatio...ving%20licence
https://www.rdw.nl/englishinformatio...therlands.aspx

mikelincs

This refers to the photocard license which is only valid for 10 years, the person should get a Netherlands license as the DVLA can only post new licenses to UK addresses. The green paper license is still valid until the 70th Birthday, not 75th, and then has to be renewed every 5 years

Red_Wine_Fairy

That's what I thought, but doesn't specify that though: it's just implied.

In terms of Dutch bureaucracy that means that the correct answer will be whatever pops into the admin staffs head when confronted by a dilemma: they won't bother to check, if it saves them the hassle of investigating, they will just talk bollox with extreme confidence so you assume they must be right

There is information on the site about exchanging an old 'linen' (pre-EU standard) Dutch driving licence, but nothing about pre-standard other-EU countries.

I would tend to side with the view that as any green licence would be 35 years out of date because it has a UK address, she's been lucky to get away with it.

Pulaski

What does a passport have to do with this discussion, or is that an error?

mikelincs

I think she meant to put 'license' instead of passport'

Red_Wine_Fairy

Considering everything else in the post, did you really need to ask?

Pulaski

Well considering you ignored my PM, yes.

Gozit

She will not need to re take her test. EU licenses are valid throughout the EU and you can exchange it one for one. It would be illegal under EU law for her to have to re-take her test.

BEVS

To be clear from what you guys have posted.

1 - This lady has the old style UK paper licence ( same for me here as it happens) which has not yet run out .

Can she continue to use this in Holland if she wishes ?
If yes - could the fact she is & has been resident in Holland for decades with a UK license impact in some way in the event of a road traffic accident ?

Is it best to exchange for a Dutch license which may or may not involve a test ?

2 - This lady has the old style UK paper license which has run out. However she lives in Holland and intends to remain so cannot renew a UK license.

This means exchanging/uplifting a Dutch license which may or may not involve a test. Yes?

Red_Wine_Fairy

Pulaski, as the only person to send me a PM in years, forgive me for not checking. As the word 'licence' - often preceded by the word 'driving' - appeared a further nine times in the post, I'd have thought my error was rather obvious and forgivable. Seems not.

BEVS, I've provided the website (equivalent of our DVLA), which is one of the few government websites translated into English in such detail. I've looked for an answer, I couldn't find one. Perhaps others can see something that I've overlooked.