Timbonagasaki

Hello all. I am a newbie to the forum and having bought our dream Italian home in Tuscany last year, my wife and I plan to move there permanently in the coming years.
However, I am being put off becoming a permanent (tax paying) resident due to new Neopatentado driving restrictions, which would appear to restrict the driving of any of our currently owned vehicles in Italy, even after the indignity of having to take an Italian test after decades of driving in the UK. This is frustrating for me personally, given that I own a few classic cars (some of them Italian) and none of which I could drive for up to 3 years after taking residence.
But for my wife this is also an issue, as she would continue to work and needs frequent access to airports to fly Internationally for work.
I addition, due to the 100kmh restriction it would appear to stop us from driving back to the UK via any Autostrada, while additionally limiting my travel to a <75hp car. Quite unsuitable for a 1000 mile journey across the continent.
Am I understanding this correctly and does anyone have experience in this area?

PSG2014

Blimey !

Having lived and driven here for many years, I will be stunned if this is anything less than a misunderstanding. I'm not able to help with any advice but I'm sure others will clarify this one,



PSG

C.2s

Presumably you exchanged your licence years ago PSG?

I believe that what the OP says is correct... currently... the two governments are supposed to be negotiating a deal to recognise and exchange licences, but unless/until that negotiation is completed people have to take a test and when/if they pass they become neopatentati , which means that all those restrictions apply

PSG2014

Yes my licence was exchanged some 7 years ago, I'm intrigued with this one !

PSG

C.2s

​Pre-Brexit it was possible. In Italy you exchange any EU country licence for an Italian one. But now that Britain is outside the EU that no longer applies. There's a long list of countries that do have exchange agreements with Italy, but the last I heard (January) there's been no agreement between the UK and Italy, and the two governments are discussing it.

​​​​I guess that this conversation (which has been going on for several years) probably passed you by because it wasn't really relevant to your situation? As the OP explained it's a bit of a nightmare for those who didn't exchange their licence before the deadline and/or those who've moved/are moving here now. Google it and you'll find lots of conversations in chatrooms and social media, and very few updates on what's happening from the embassy or any other official sources

PSG2014

Well I can FULLY understand and sympathise with the concerns of Timbonagasaki and presumably others. Thanks C.2s

I would expect that this would be a major fly in the ointment for a lot of brits thinking about moving here or anywhere else in Europe.

PSG

philat98

UK citizens who were resident before 2021 can still drive with a UK licence until the end of this year. May be they will agree a licence exchange by then to avoid the Italian driving test. They did if for Italians returning from the UK.

C.2s

I don't think this problem necessarily exists in other countries. As far as I know it's just that Italy and the UK don't have an agreement. And even if there weren't agreements in other countries, the rules surrounding taking a test and the new driver rules are all specific to Italy... they would be different in other countries

Seldomseenkid

I don't know if this would work for you but if your wife is working internationally at the moment will she be spending so much time in Italy? You could take up residence and she could remain extra comunitari and drive on her UK licence. She would of course be limited to 180 days per year so it depends on your personal circumstances.

37100

Not so simple. Unless things have changed recently, it is illegal to drive a car that does not belong to you or a member of your family resident with you for more than 30 days - consecutive, I think. No idea how they check.
To the OP. Hopefully, an agreement will be reached whereby licences can be just exchanged before you move.

Seldomseenkid

I could be wrong here but I thought it was sixty days and that rule applies to residents. If the wife is non resident then she is free to drive but limited on the amount of time she can spend in Italy.

modicasa

With the introduction of the REVE it is 30 days in a calendar year as far as I can make out.

Barriej

Same thing in Spain. No agreement.
Here any 3rd country immigrant from a country not on the exchange list has to take a test.
Thats US, Canadians etc and that may (and the UK and Spain have been in talks for over a year now) include Uk drivers.

It would appear that the Uk gave a better deal to all EU residents and didn't bother to push for the same from the EU countries (this like many other things is was an EU issue, but a country by country one, so was not included in the agreement)

SanNico

I think we're missing the OPs point that he will be restricted to driving a low powered car and avoid the motorways for 3 years after obtaining his Italian license. It's actually 55KW/T for 1 year according to New drivers (patente.it) . So as long as you have a small low powered car you're ok.To whom the limits of new drivers
are applicable The limitations of new drivers apply from the achievement of the license:

• in case of new italian driving license
• in case of new license issued following revocation of the previous one (except if the revocation took place as an ancillary sanction art. 219 cds)
• for foreigners who have converted their driving license
• for soldiers who have converted their license

As I read it, although it seems unbelievable, even if the exchange programme is re-introduced you would still be bound by those rules.

C.2s

I'm not completely sure that will be the case, for a couple of reasons:

​​​​​​1. If you literally mean "reintroduced" then it would be the same as system prebrexit ... and prebrexit we could exchange licences without the imposition of new licence holder restrictions (size of vehicle etc). I guess this would be a new agreement which might not simply reintroduce the exact same terms and conditions... but I believe the idea is that it will allow 'like for like' swapping

2. The website you are quoting (patente.it) from isn't the official govt website (it looks quite official but it isn't). I can't find anything suggesting that the new licence holder restrictions are applied to all foreigners on the Ministry website (https://www.mit.gov.it/conversione-patente-estera).
​​​​​​ And I'm not sure I trust the unofficial site you linked to because it talks about outside-EU foreigners in general "converting" their licences, and yes there are rules that apply to all outside-EU citizens BUT there's another list of countries that are exceptions to those rules on the govt website that patente.it makes no mention of.
So I think the OP won't have these new driver restrictions IF the UK and Italian governments pull their fingers out and agree an exchange agreement


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