rogsheff

Hi guys

Quick question, officially landed last July, only stayed for 8 days, had to return to the UK to sell house. Due to fly out, initially to Calgary 9th October and then the intention is/was (depending on the answer to the question !) to drive over to Vancouver.

However, as the title indicates, because of the date we landed, are our UK driving licences, now invalid ?

Thanks
Roger

MR79

I believe the 90 days officially start from when you actually start living there, in theory it does start from the moment you land but alot of people land then go home and come back and im sure they sort it out with icbc.....have a look on the wiki..........i may be wrong so lets see what other posters say.....

el_richo

Lots of ambiguity on this subject throughout this forum i think so i personally will be taking my driving test immediately after residing (not landing) in Vancouver. I'm landing in November but only popping out for a few days and moving permanently next year.

I'd rather not take any chances.

Aviator

Call ICBC and ask them, as it is they who will decide if your insurance is valid or not if you are driving on an invalid license. Never can be too careful with insurance, they don't need much of an excuse to get out of it.

4d32ftw

its from when you officially reside there. your passport will show the date you flew back to calgary, so the 90 days start from the moment you enter BC to live.

(but saying that most have no idea as the insurance side of icbc told us 6 months to get the liscence, and the driving centre people didn't know i had 90 days , i had to show them the section, as they thought i could just swap it over lol)

moley39

Hi everyone! Hubby and I landed in July in Ontario, and returned back to UK. WE were probably a bit naughty but we exchanged out licences with Drivetest after a couple of days, so we wouldn't have to take a test!! We are moving March 2010!!!

Hubby said to UK driving license that he lost his in Canada and got a replacement. Even more cheeky!

Cookie

Your 90 days will start from when you reside not visit or land on holiday type trip that sees you flying back to the UK within weeks. UK is still your place of residence if you do that, not Canada.

Also, you would be extremely lucky to fit in a written and driving test in the 2 weeks.

Aviator

Just re read your post and if you are landing in Calgary, Alberta rules apply, once you take up residency in BC, BC rules apply.

Alberta can cancel a driver’s licence or identification card if it is determined that the application contained misrepresentation, false information or inaccuracies:

• If you are a new resident in Alberta, you must obtain an Alberta driver’s licence within 90 days of moving to the province, regardless of whether you travel outside Alberta during those 90 days
• If you are working in Alberta but have your residence outside the province, you may continue to use the valid licence from your home jurisdiction
• If you are visiting Alberta, you may use your valid licence from your home jurisdiction as long as you have a legitimate residence there and do not take up residency in Alberta
• If you are visiting Alberta from outside Canada and using an International Driving Permit (IDP), you may drive in Alberta for up to 12 months using the IDP in conjunction with your valid home jurisdiction licence

From this one could assume that if you have landed, but no taken up residency ie arranged accommodation or worked in AB then you may be considered a visitor. You could always get an IDP (from the AA or RAC I believe).

rogsheff

Thanks guys for the useful info.

We were looking forward to the car journey from Calgary to Vancouver and it would have been disappointing to learn it was not possible.

rogsheff

Thanks guys for you replies. This is the official response to my question from ICBC.

The 90-day exemption period you refer to starts from the date you actually become residents of BC, so it will begin in October.

Jo.Ru_onway

I don't believe you have to take a test in Ontario anyway, you just take your licence in pay about $75 and they exchange it. Has this changed now ? i had checked in January when i was there.

purple80

I arrived in August 2008, paid $75 had small eye test handed in my UK license and walked away with temporary Ontario license.

http://www.drivetest.ca/en/license/E...eciprocal.aspx

ExMetCop

You are quite correct. In Ontario its a straight swap over. Usual money grab and thats it.

J-A-UK

Originally Posted by moley39
Hi everyone! Hubby and I landed in July in Ontario, and returned back to UK. WE were probably a bit naughty but we exchanged out licences with Drivetest after a couple of days, so we wouldn't have to take a test!! We are moving March 2010!!!

Hubby said to UK driving license that he lost his in Canada and got a replacement. Even more cheeky!

Woooo ...... telling DLVA that you lost your license when you exchanged it could be a bad move (maybe) ~ Canada will return you exchanged license to DVLA ~ Ours deffinately went back to Swansea as wifey had a letter to question it from DVLA !!

moley39

I told him should leave it!! Still he won't listen to me!!!b