My wife will be applying for her UK citizenship soon. She currently holds a full drivers licence in Hong Kong. Based on the DvLA web site she can apply for a full uk drivers Licence only after she becomes a British citizen.

My question is will she have to wait the whole five years before she can start driving again in UK?

....? I never knew there was a rule like that... i know many foreigners who hold FULL UK driving license why the hell would your wife wait 5 years to drive ??? seems like a lot of gibberish to me.


Just phone up DVLA man, she'll be fine.

You can exchange your Hong Long licence as soon as you became resident in the UK. Your citizenship is irrelevant. If you wait longer than 5 years you won't be able to exchange a Hong Kong licence.

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-...tain/hong-kong

Thanks for clarifying that for me. Must have misunderstood the word British citizen and British resident!

Thanks Britinparis