Dashie

How is she resident in the UK when she's been here for 6 years? A TWP gives her Canadian residency for the duration of the permit surely?

scootb

Such a charming and charismatic response,bet you're popular!

Gozit

I dont know if you were responding to me but if you were; then yeah i know it'll be illegal to have two licenses in ON once I get the MLT license , but the MLT authorities arent gonna take my ON license away, and i'm not flying back here to give it to the ON ones!

And if i ever come back to ON the ON authorities wont know about my MLT license , so it wont be an issue

dbd33

A woman I knew well drove here for 10 years or so on a Swiss license (knowing that the license was not valid for use here for nine years and some months of that) then got around to having an Ontario one. She maintained her Swiss license using an Ontario address then, after nearly 30 years in Ontario, went home and now drives on the Swiss license except when visiting Ontario; then she uses the Ontario one. I think this sort of case is very common.

Another example from direct experience is that of a woman who came as a visitor, driving on a US license, then became resident as a student then, some years later, gained PR. During this period she imported two cars all while driving on the US license. At one point she did approach the authorities, by walking into a licensing office, to ask what the proper course was as regards the license but they didn't seem to know so she didn't bother again. I expect she still has the same US license.

I'm afraid I take the view that it's a bit of a muddle and not something to which one need pay much attention. Individual police officers and, indeed, the licensing authorities don't know all the ins and outs of terms of validity of specific foreign licenses in conjunction with various statuses of residency. Possession of an Ontario driving license in no way indicates an ability to drive so we might reasonably say that, if a person is licensed anywhere, it's as good as being licensed here. If you have a foreign license just seem confident of its validity and, if called upon, be prepared to speak foreign and no one will doubt that the license is good.

Blossom23

Okay i wasn't going to add any more to this debate, but I'm now unsure when there's all these statements flying around about what you have and whether it's 'legal or illegal'.

Thanks Siouxie (hey there my friend ) i know you can always be relied upon to provided the most relevant and current information to any debate

But this article refers to licence 'exchange' which I admit may be the only option available to obtain a CDL nowadays... I don't know

But when I first arrive in Ontario it was permitted to drive on a full UKDL for 90 days... (it may have been 60, but I think it was 90) during which time you were to obtain a CDL by taking both a written and driving exam. There was no requirement to surrender or even produce any other DL to do so .. and certainly no option to 'exchange' any other licence you held for a Canadian one.

Hence, I still hold my UK licence, it doesn't expire until I'm 70 and I never broke any 'laws', as it was back then, by holding onto it.

So am I actually committing something 'illegal' now because I still 'hold' two licences.

dbd33

No (I'm in the same position, btw, I took the test here) you're not doing anything illegal but the UK license isn't valid for use in Ontario or in the EU. The former because you have an Ontario one and the latter because you don't live there. You can drive in either location on the ON license.

In other jurisdictions you may be able to use either or both of them. If you move to the EU then, I imagine the EU one becomes valid and the ON one not.

Blossom23

Thank you ... I think that's what many have been trying to say.

I never obtained either licence illegally and I'm not breaking any laws by 'holding' both of them either. Nor, I'd like to add ... do I continue to hold both of them in an attempt to circumvent the law.

Like I hinted on in a previous post. You can legally hold two passports but it is my understanding that you are not permitted to fly out on one and back on the other on a return flight. But it doesn't make either document illegal or against the law for you to hold them.

dbd33

I don't think that's a helpful comparison; you can use random combinations of UK and Canadian passports to come and go between those countries (I use the one of the country I'm entering at that end and the one of the country I'm leaving at the other so as to minimise bother). Other countries have different rules, for example, the US requires that, if you have a US one, you use that to enter the US but you can use another one at the other end of the trip.

I will say that the comparison stands inasmuch as it's all a bit confusing and different people will do different things without the authorities being much ruffled either way.

Novocastrian

For clarification; no mistakes or oversights were made in my case. Here's the chronology as far as I remember it.

1967: UK driving test taken and passed.
1977: Moved to California, no swapping arrangements in place so I took & passed a CA test and was issued a CA licence.
1982: Moved to Toronto, swapped the CA licence for an ON one.
1986: Moved to Germany, swapped UK licence for a German one.
1993: Moved back to ON, renewed existing ON licence to show new address.
At present still in ON (same address).
2015: Move to France: future swap of German licence for a French one showing new permanent address in France.

Dashie

That's what I thought. However, when we travelled through the US to New Zealand, my son travelled on his Canadian passport, we used our UK ones. When we got to New Zealand, we were advised by their immigration official that he should enter NZ on his British passport as that gives him a 6 month stay, whereas the Canadian one only gives 3 months. They didn't care which he had been using in transit.

dbd33

Bit silly to mix the passports up anyway, innit? If Canada declared war on NZ while you were there, the son would be interned while the parents were conscripted to fight for NZ (the UK being an ally of NZ). Better to be in it together.

Dashie

And the likelihood of that....? I think it's more likely that you'll stop crashing into things in your car...

Canadian passport was cheaper and easier through the US. It's what they wanted to see there.

Former Lancastrian

Not sure how all Provinces work but Ive been here 26 years and at that time no swapping of licences was mandatory and I had to pass the driving test written and road test.
Several years ago when renewing my licence I was asked verbally if I held any other driving licence. Being the honest person I am i told them Yes I still had a valid UK licence that was issued in the 1970s. Valid until aged 65 IIRC.
Well needless to say a big discussion took place about this and that they were not going to renew my licence.
I told them my licence was still in the UK being held by a relative on the off chance that if I ever returned to the UK to live I had proof of a driving licence

Now when I go to renew my licence I now have to attest on a form that I don't hold another licence from any other country to which I now tick NO
Legal or illegal, relevant or irrelevant the laws change during our times. I have held my Provincial licence for 26 yrs and never used my UK one so I don't believe it to be an issue. I can use my Provincial licence to drive here, the US or the UK and the EU so again its a non issue.

Blossom23

HMMM! ... thats really interesting... I was always of the understanding that you couldn't use different passports on both exit and entry and exit and retry... If this is not the case then .....sweet ..

Blossom23

...