Here is the age old chestnut about the N.I.-U.K driving licence. I know that those reading this will know what the problem is, so I won't bore anyone with the details. Suffice to say that I have a friend in Yorkshire who is willing to let me use their address to change my licence to a GB -UK one and thereby get my Canadian licence. Does anyone have 1st hand experience of this, ie is there a fee to pay; do i need more pictures; is it straight forward etc.? Anyone who knows the exact ins and outs, I'd be glad to hear from you! Thanks!

Congrats on having a useful friend

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers.aspx

Hubby has done this recently. It was quite straightforward. He went down in person to the DVLA, filled out a form, handed over some pictures (not sure how many, but certainly not more than 2). He did not need to pay a fee.

He does not remember whether he needed proof of address, but when I asked him he did not think so. I am sure the link has more info, but wanted to say it was painless for hubby, so hopefully the same applies to you.

Only one problem, the OP is already in Canada and needs to know how to do it from here using a friends UK address.

Why do you need to change your NI licence for an English one in order to get a Canadian licence.

Ive never heard of that

I know, but some of the info is still relevant. Suppose it's the same process, he just needs to send it in. Why not call them?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...iving+licenses

Thanks Lorna, I knew nothing about this.

Looks like we are going to have to change our Driving Licences again.

Hi everyone. Just thought I'd tie up a few loose ends for the uninitiated!( you know who you are!)
Ok, the N.I licence is IDENTICAL ( and I mean LITERALLY identical) to a licence issued anywhere else in the UK, EXCEPT it is issued by the DVL NI and not the DVLA. There is an accord between the DVLA (ie anyone who has a licence issued in England, Scotland or Wales ) and Canada allowing for the exchange of UK to Canadian licences and vice versa. HOWEVER, the DVL NI has not signed up to this reciprocal exchange scheme ( due, I believe, to age old politics ) and therefore, although I have held a full UK licence for 25 years, (including HGV1 - which I have made a living out of for the past 20 of those years) mine is not recognised as it has DVLNI stamped on it, and not DVLA. Now what this means in real terms is that I have to do a written test followed by a driving test ( there are 2 driving tests here but due to having what is know as a 'letter of entitlement,' I can skip the first one and go to the G2 exit which is the "full" licence without having to wait the minimum mandatory waiting period of 12 months between G1 & G2 tests - I know it sounds complicated , but it is!!) whereas anyone with a DVLA issued licence (remember this is the identical UK licence as is issued in England, Scotland or Wales) can simply walk in and exchange their licence for a full Canadian licence. I believe there are exceptions to this in BC where ANYONE from the UK ,must re-sit their test.
So after that long winded explanation,(sorry, but it had to be done!) you can see why I am at my wits end to avoid the expense and grief of going through a test all over again!
Now, there are licence exchange schemes with several other countries, including ;
Canadian provinces or territories;
Canadian Forces Europe;
U.S. States; and,
Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Korea and Switzerland.

So unless you fit into one of these categories, I would suggest sorting out your licence BEFORE you head out. I contacted DVLNI before I left, and was told that my licence was exchangable, only to be 'shot down' the day after I arrived. So son't nessecarily believe evrything that Govt., departments tell you, even they dont know their own rules half the time

PS. A useful friend is indeed a rare and very precious treasure!

There is no such thing as a "U.K. driving licence" in the same way that there is no such thing as a "Canadian", "American" or "Australian" driving licence.

In the United Kingdom, driving licences are jurisdiction based. So there is a licence issuing authority for England, Scotland and Wales (Scotland probably would have had its own licences if devolution had existed in the 1930s), another one for Northern Ireland, and separate authorities in each Crown Dependency and British Overseas Territory.

Similarly, in the U.S., Canada and Australia, driving licences are issued by states, provinces and territories. Not the national government.

Smaller countries, like New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland, tend to issue driving licences at a national level.

Thanks for the info. I gather that unlike the information I had requested, you don't have any first hand knowledge of the situation. However would like to state you are incorrect in some of your points outlined above.

Yes, you are correct in the fact that driving licences are province based (in the case of Canada,) and for all I know about Austrailia, or the US probably the same. However you are wrong in stating that there are seperate licencing authorities for each of England, scotland and Wales. They are delt with by one authority, the DVLA in Swansea, Wales. DVLNI is the authority in N.I. They all issue UK licences, as mine ( like any other licence in the UK ) states quite boldly at the top left hand corner of the plastic card part of the licence, "UK." This "UK" is encircled by a ring of gold stars on a blue background, denoting the European Union Flag. So to say that there is no such thing as a UK licence is incorrect. My point being that should a Canadian, from Alberta, manitoba, B.C., P.E.I. etc.,for example, move to England, their licences could be exchanged, but if somone from say Ontario moved there and was told that they couldn't change their licence, this would be a similar situation to that which I am in, and people from N.I. should be aware of this before leaving and get a GB licence first.

Keith this subject has came up alot lately, we encountered the same problem a while ago, moving from Norn Iron to Saskatchewan.

Firstly -in our experience - a NI licence cannot be exchanged for a GB licence as we dont have a GB address and you must live at the address where your licence is issued to - we tried on two different occasions and got the same response from DVLA both times.

However we then discovered that Saskatchewan does recognise NI licences so we were lucky and just swaped ours, however we did have to get our driving record from DVLNI and its just as well as SGI had great fun trying to change ours, but got there in the end, only because we had our driving records.

Hope this helps.

It can be done, but just be aware of one thing. If you're caught in the UK with an incorrect home address on your license it means a big fine. About #2,000 GBP I believe it is. So don't get into a situation before you leave where you have to produce it.

Once again. The United Kingdom, as a nation, does not issue driving licences. No different to Canada.

If the DVLANI is willing to exchange licences from jurisdictions that do not accept the Northern Ireland licence, then they're foolish.

Cut and paste from the DVLA website:

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department for Transport (DfT). The Agency is accountable to the Secretary of State and Ministers and, through them, to Parliament and the public, for efficient and effective management of the Agency and its responsibilities. Our primary aims are to facilitate road safety and general law enforcement by maintaining registers of drivers and vehicles, and to collect vehicle excise duty (car tax).

On the Direct Gov site it uses the term Great Britian (GB) driving licence. Again cut n paste:

Driving in other countries on a GB licence
If you intend driving when visiting or moving to another country, it's important that you understand what is required of you. As a visitor to another country you'll need your Great Britain (GB) driving licence. An international driving permit is also required in certain countries.

From this I understand it to mean that the DVLA issues and administers Drivers Licences on behalf of the Government and people of the United Kingdon of Great Britain (UK/GB) and having lived in England and Wales I know my licence was issued by DVLA in Swansea when at my address in England and again when at my address in Wales.

I know that in Canada, each province issues and administers drivers licences. So I'm confused as to how this is the same as the UK which has one licensing authority for England, Scotland and Wales? What am I and the OP misunderstanding?