Changing UK Driving licence for French one
#46
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Joined: Mar 2008
Location: SE Dordogne France
Posts: 982
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
There are several different codes used but principally the only ones which are relevant to the majority are:
70GB:
70 = exchange licence, GB = original country of issue. Despite the apparently obvious connection the 70 is nothing to do with age.
74 = Category C vehicles up to 7,500kg (equivalent of UK category C1 for light trucks)
75 = Category D vehicles where the number of seats, including the driver, does not exceed 17 (equivalent of UK minibus category)
77 = Category E (D) 17 seaters and towing a trailer whose PTAC exceeds 750kg.
70GB:
70 = exchange licence, GB = original country of issue. Despite the apparently obvious connection the 70 is nothing to do with age.
74 = Category C vehicles up to 7,500kg (equivalent of UK category C1 for light trucks)
75 = Category D vehicles where the number of seats, including the driver, does not exceed 17 (equivalent of UK minibus category)
77 = Category E (D) 17 seaters and towing a trailer whose PTAC exceeds 750kg.
#47
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
Extremely helpful, it makes me less nervous about perhaps being obliged to switch licences.
#48
Just Joined
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
Hello everyone, hope someone can help on this - many thanks in advance if you can.
Have recently had UK photolicence stolen and as I no longer have a UK address I applied to the local Prefecture for a French permis.
Forms have just been returned with the suggestions that a) I apply to UK - DVLA will not post a replacement to non-UK addresses,
b) I sign the forms - they were.
Included in the paperwork were photocopies of licence (previously stored) all duly endorsed with "stolen", utility bills, Certificate of Entitlement (£5 from DVLA - they were happy to send/receive that), photos sae etc etc.
Any advice or is the the real Catch-22?
I do not want to get into the realms of using someone else's address having already suffered ID theft myself, is there a legal way round this?
Have recently had UK photolicence stolen and as I no longer have a UK address I applied to the local Prefecture for a French permis.
Forms have just been returned with the suggestions that a) I apply to UK - DVLA will not post a replacement to non-UK addresses,
b) I sign the forms - they were.
Included in the paperwork were photocopies of licence (previously stored) all duly endorsed with "stolen", utility bills, Certificate of Entitlement (£5 from DVLA - they were happy to send/receive that), photos sae etc etc.
Any advice or is the the real Catch-22?
I do not want to get into the realms of using someone else's address having already suffered ID theft myself, is there a legal way round this?
#49
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
Not sure what you could do, but others here will be able to advise I feel sure. Welcome to the Forum.
If your documents are sufficient for a French licence, then that is the route I guess. Earlier posts indicate you ought not to lose any of the UK driving permissions.
If your documents are sufficient for a French licence, then that is the route I guess. Earlier posts indicate you ought not to lose any of the UK driving permissions.
#50
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 666
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
France has not yet implemented the subcategories C1, C1E, D1, D1E.
So if you have a class C1,
you get a class C with code 74 on the French driving licence according to the 2nd Council Directive of driving licences:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...0080718:EN:PDF
So if you have a class C1,
you get a class C with code 74 on the French driving licence according to the 2nd Council Directive of driving licences:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...0080718:EN:PDF
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...018:01:EN:HTML
#51
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Joined: Aug 2008
Location: 32 Gers ; Between Toulouse and Auch
Posts: 1,395
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
[QUOTE=Daisy2;9007642]Hello everyone, hope someone can help on this - many thanks in advance if you can.
Have recently had UK photolicence stolen and as I no longer have a UK address I applied to the local Prefecture for a French permis.
if they need proof of your uk licence then the dvla will send out a form to show that you had a licence for around 10 euros; this should then get you a french licence easily if you go in with all your other pieces of paper; the only hiccup could be they required us to prove we had been in france for at least a year?
Have recently had UK photolicence stolen and as I no longer have a UK address I applied to the local Prefecture for a French permis.
if they need proof of your uk licence then the dvla will send out a form to show that you had a licence for around 10 euros; this should then get you a french licence easily if you go in with all your other pieces of paper; the only hiccup could be they required us to prove we had been in france for at least a year?
#52
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: SE Dordogne France
Posts: 982
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
There is no reason whatsoever for your prefecture to refuse your DVLA letter of entitlement so go back and insist. The letter is only valid for 3 months but I'm assuming you are well within that limit.
I cannot think of any reason why the French would require proof of how long you have been in the country other than possibly a hangover from the mistaken notion that many gendarmes still harbour that a UK licence must be exchanged for a French one after 12 months.
I cannot think of any reason why the French would require proof of how long you have been in the country other than possibly a hangover from the mistaken notion that many gendarmes still harbour that a UK licence must be exchanged for a French one after 12 months.
#53
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Joined: Sep 2008
Location: Palaja, near Carcassonne, Department of Aude, France
Posts: 518
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
I echanged my old UK licence some years ago as I live permanently in France anyway.
Now if I were to hire a car in the UK - e.g. to drive from a London airport to Torquay and back - and got picked up for any kind of reaon (parking, speeding etc.) in the UK, what would they do with my legit French licence and would it make any difference if I am a British Citizen domiciled in France?
Anyone know?
Now if I were to hire a car in the UK - e.g. to drive from a London airport to Torquay and back - and got picked up for any kind of reaon (parking, speeding etc.) in the UK, what would they do with my legit French licence and would it make any difference if I am a British Citizen domiciled in France?
Anyone know?
#54
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
Its an important point. If you are living abroad, if you have an ability to register your UK licence to a UK address, then do so rather than leaving it registered to an address where you used to live .... for instance a family home or something like that. In that way you can apply for a new one easily.
#55
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Joined: Mar 2008
Location: SE Dordogne France
Posts: 982
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
But why fiddle the system at all when you can just get a French licence and be done with it.
I never could understand what it is that attaches some people so firmly to a piece of paper or plastic which simply says that they can drive a car. Surely it cannot be to avoid losing points as I'm sure that the vast majority are careful law abiding drivers and you'd have to be a raving nutter behind the wheel to come anywhere close to losing all 12 points and getting a ban.
If you got a French licence but subsequently returned to the UK then you can simply reapply for a UK one.
I never could understand what it is that attaches some people so firmly to a piece of paper or plastic which simply says that they can drive a car. Surely it cannot be to avoid losing points as I'm sure that the vast majority are careful law abiding drivers and you'd have to be a raving nutter behind the wheel to come anywhere close to losing all 12 points and getting a ban.
If you got a French licence but subsequently returned to the UK then you can simply reapply for a UK one.
#56
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
But why fiddle the system at all when you can just get a French licence and be done with it.
I never could understand what it is that attaches some people so firmly to a piece of paper or plastic which simply says that they can drive a car. Surely it cannot be to avoid losing points as I'm sure that the vast majority are careful law abiding drivers and you'd have to be a raving nutter behind the wheel to come anywhere close to losing all 12 points and getting a ban.
If you got a French licence but subsequently returned to the UK then you can simply reapply for a UK one.
I never could understand what it is that attaches some people so firmly to a piece of paper or plastic which simply says that they can drive a car. Surely it cannot be to avoid losing points as I'm sure that the vast majority are careful law abiding drivers and you'd have to be a raving nutter behind the wheel to come anywhere close to losing all 12 points and getting a ban.
If you got a French licence but subsequently returned to the UK then you can simply reapply for a UK one.
#57
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Joined: Mar 2008
Location: SE Dordogne France
Posts: 982
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
If you do indeed have a genuine UK address, not just one of convenience such as such as that of a relative, then by all means have a replacement licence sent there but anything else is fiddling the system.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with continuing to use your UK licence for as long as it is valid, it's your right to do so regardless of what address it bears, but in the case of a lost/stolen/destroyed one the hassle of conning the DVLA into issuing a replacement will almost certainly be greater than getting a Letter of Entitlement and a French one.
Not to mention of course that if you lose a UK licence you cannot legally drive in France until you obtain a replacement, lose a French one and you can get a temporary permit on the spot.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with continuing to use your UK licence for as long as it is valid, it's your right to do so regardless of what address it bears, but in the case of a lost/stolen/destroyed one the hassle of conning the DVLA into issuing a replacement will almost certainly be greater than getting a Letter of Entitlement and a French one.
Not to mention of course that if you lose a UK licence you cannot legally drive in France until you obtain a replacement, lose a French one and you can get a temporary permit on the spot.
#58
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 10,551
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
If you do indeed have a genuine UK address, not just one of convenience such as such as that of a relative, then by all means have a replacement licence sent there but anything else is fiddling the system.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with continuing to use your UK licence for as long as it is valid, it's your right to do so regardless of what address it bears, but in the case of a lost/stolen/destroyed one the hassle of conning the DVLA into issuing a replacement will almost certainly be greater than getting a Letter of Entitlement and a French one.
Not to mention of course that if you lose a UK licence you cannot legally drive in France until you obtain a replacement, lose a French one and you can get a temporary permit on the spot.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with continuing to use your UK licence for as long as it is valid, it's your right to do so regardless of what address it bears, but in the case of a lost/stolen/destroyed one the hassle of conning the DVLA into issuing a replacement will almost certainly be greater than getting a Letter of Entitlement and a French one.
Not to mention of course that if you lose a UK licence you cannot legally drive in France until you obtain a replacement, lose a French one and you can get a temporary permit on the spot.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...nce/DG_4022085
#59
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
If you do indeed have a genuine UK address, not just one of convenience such as such as that of a relative, then by all means have a replacement licence sent there but anything else is fiddling the system.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with continuing to use your UK licence for as long as it is valid, it's your right to do so regardless of what address it bears, but in the case of a lost/stolen/destroyed one the hassle of conning the DVLA into issuing a replacement will almost certainly be greater than getting a Letter of Entitlement and a French one.
Not to mention of course that if you lose a UK licence you cannot legally drive in France until you obtain a replacement, lose a French one and you can get a temporary permit on the spot.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with continuing to use your UK licence for as long as it is valid, it's your right to do so regardless of what address it bears, but in the case of a lost/stolen/destroyed one the hassle of conning the DVLA into issuing a replacement will almost certainly be greater than getting a Letter of Entitlement and a French one.
Not to mention of course that if you lose a UK licence you cannot legally drive in France until you obtain a replacement, lose a French one and you can get a temporary permit on the spot.
#60
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 46
Re: Changing UK Driving licence for French one
I just ent to an office in Confolons, asked for a french Licence, supplied them with the photo's etc , returned a few weeks later and there was my liceince waiting for me -- no problems --- and i didn'r speak french very well