Milhay28

Thanks for any help in advance.

My children are dual nationals of the UK and a country with a license exchange agreement with the UK. We moved back about five years ago but they are now of an age when they can do their driving license. It would be cheaper and easier to do it back in their other country and then bring back and exchange; however, it is not clear if that is possible.

I have called the dvla twice and each time they said something different - once yes and once no.

All the information online is directed at foreigners who come to the UK to exchange and one of the things it says is that you must exchange within five years of taking up residency. This is a problem as my daughter will just be over the five years and so I called the dvla, and they said the information above is related to non-UK citizens.

I then sought some legally-type advice and his issue was that you couldn't be resident of two countries at the same time, hence she wouldn't be able to get her license over there. Let's just say I know that won't be the issue and she will get the license. The only issue is whether she can exchange when she gets back.

It appears to be a grey area but it is not uncommon for dual nationals to take advantage of that status to get benefits in both countries, and so she can't be the first one. Has anyone heard of someone doing the above? Getting flat out refused? Exchanging?

Pulaski

Generally speaking, you can only obtain a licence in a country where you are resident, so if your children are resident in the UK, [1] they probably can't get a licence in another country, [2] the rules on exchanging licences are generally designed to stop someone have two potentially valid licenses AND [3] prevent them trying to game the system by obtaining a licence in one country with the primary intention of swapping it for a licence in another country.

If your children live in the UK, for their own safety and everyone else's, they should be learning to drive, and take their test in the UK.

Twitcher1958

When she moved back to the UK, my daughter did this. She had a full licence elsewhere and could have swapped, but instead went through the UK process, although she only needed a few lessons before taking her test, largely to get used to driving on different side of the road, some different rules etc.

TGFKASE

Quick question, for those who have done this..

My wife holds a UAE Drivers licence, and I believe that the UAE has now been added to the exchange list. However, she does not hold a UAE passport. I know some countries state that the passport and licence must be issued by the same country. Is that the case in the UK?

brits1

From personal experience with my two son’s I would have my children learn to drive in the country of residence the main reason is to be fully aware of the driving rules but the main thing is actual experience driving on the roads etc here in the UK, it would be a lot les daunting than say learning to drive somewhere where the rules are different and the roads wider, less traffic and smaller parking spaces etc