Of course , it's not true that black goes with everything

Indiebird - I've been looking into this and thought I'd relay some info that I ended up having to call the DLVA be have clarified.

Despite the fact that my photo licence doesn't expire until October 2012, I'd planned to renew it at a post office the next time we're back in England in December (we still own a house in the UK, so an address is not a problem). It's possible to renew the photo and/or address at any time, as the DVLA site makes clear.

However, what's not clear is that if you renew the photo on the licence before you've received the reminder for the expiry of the photo part, the licence will come back with a new photo but the original expiry date. So, there is no advantage in renewing the photo early.

Hope that's clear. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had a different experience, as even getting such info from the DVLA horse's mouth isn't necessarily conclusive.

I'm trying to remember if I had my renewal thingy or not.... I'm not sure if I did but mine came back with ten years on it from when they processed it i think. I might have lost a few months but that was fine with me.

Erm, I did exactly that in 2006, and the photocard did indeed come back with an expiry date ten years from the date of issue of the new photocard. I even have a letter from the DVLA confirming that this is how it works. Do you have information to suggest that this policy has changed?

Thanks for the response Brioche. No, I don't have confirmation that anything has changed, but I do suspect that the person I spoke to might have got it wrong, because it makes no sense to me that the 10 years wouldn't be re-set if you renew the new photo (not that sense, logic and government departments necessarily go hand in hand).

I also emailed this question to the DVLA and so by tomorrow I should have written confirmation either way, and I'll post it here.

Perhaps they meant the expiry date on the paper counterpart remains the same, i.e. the expiry date could be 2031 for the counterpart and 2021 for the photocard?

The paper one stays the same and expires when you reach 70 years old. The plastic card with your photo has to be replaced every 10 years, presumably to keep the photo relatively current. The DVLA send you a reminder to do this. However, as I said earlier, you are at liberty to change the photo on your licence at any time - you don't have to wait for the ten year reminder, but what no official site (that I've found) clarifies, is whether the 10-year period starts again whenever you renew your photo, or whether it remains in place regardless, meaning that if I renewed my photo a year before the 10-year expiry, it would come back with a new photo but only a year left to run before I had to do it all again. Verbally, the DVLA told me that the latter is the case, though Brioche seems to counter that. I'm waiting now for written confirmation by email and will let you know.

OK, so this morning I received a written response from the DVLA, which says:

"Your new photograph would only be valid for a further 10 years from the date of issue. Not 10 years plus the difference."

I never suspected that it would be valid for 10 years plus the difference. And maybe I'm being pedantic, but that's still not 100% clear to me, though it does suggest that WHATEVER time I renew my photo, it will then be valid for another 10 years.

I'll be doing the deed in December so by the New Year I'll know for certain and will let you know, unless someone else resolves this in the meantime.

Mick, their response suggests to me that it would be ten years from when they renewed the photo and not from when your ten years was due to be up. I am sure I didn't have the renewal when I went to the post office in the UK and did mine because I was about five months early really. The man at the po did query it but I just said that I travel a lot and wanted to get everything sorted whilst I was off work and didn't want to forget to do it and he accepted this but really it was none of his business.

I don't know what issue needs resolving here. In fact, before you posted there was never an issue

What's the big thing about the photo? Is it a EU thing? It can't be. I have just renewed my Italian license after 10 years. I had to pay for that and the so called medical but not a soul asked me for a new photo. I got sent a pink little sticker at home to stick on the back of my plastic, photo license and that's it.

So you look like a sweet, young and innocent virgin in your licence?

You know how much drinking and smoking ages you, it wouldn't be a bad idea if Italians had to change theirs every 5 years then!

FYI That's 5 years from the expiry date on your existing photo licence if you get a reminder or 5 years from issue date if you apply before the expiry date

Duffer - there was an issue, if you read my entries carefully. On any of the official sites, the information is inconclusive, ie, it's not clear whether the 10-year period is extended whenever you renew your photo or not. Add to that the misinformation I was given by the DVLA over the phone and there was certainly an issue.

Anyway, this concludes the matter, as received today from the DVLA:

"I am sorry that you have been given contradicting information. I can however confirm that irrespective of when you renew the photograph it will remain valid for a further 10 years from the date that the application is processed."

That settles that then!

[QUOTE=If you need to renew an expired licence it does cost a bit, you can either do all the work yourself and save a bit or get the local branch of the italian autombile association (aci) to do the work for you and pay more. If you do it yourself you first go to the post office to pay the italian Dvla called the motorizzazione and then the hospital for the eye test. Then you make an appointment for the eye test and once thats done you take all of the paperwork to the motorizzazione with id and old licence and ask for a new one, which is valid for ten years. QUOTE]

I hope no-one minds if I keep this thread alive. I have found it interesting - I had never heard of the 10year rule for photos - and it may continue to help new arrivals. And I am coming up to the 70 point!
First, if Yellowdog will indulge me, you were referring to a UK licence? It surprises me, but pleasantly, that an Italian authority can extend a UK licence; my only brush with the Motorizzazione was the most unproductive meeting I have ever had with anyone, anywhere. (OK, I made a mistake to chose Marghera.)
On the validity of the UK licence in Italy, my daughter was recently bagged for speeding: 3 points, a fine and 1 month suspension of licence. She has been in Italy since '94 (hadn't heard of the 10 year photo rule either!) and handed over her UK licence backed up by her Italian Identity Card, in effect confirming her long-term residence. The Carabinieri accepted the licence, accepted that the points could not apply and returned the licence at the end of the suspension without comment.
Has anyone recently did the 70 thing from Italy? The DVLA site is not very clear, particularly if you want to change your photo and address at the same time!