reading_1979

Hi All,

I have recently relocated back to the UK after living 7 years in the Middle East. I have the following two queries:

a) Drivers License- My plastic card UK licence has expired while I was located overseas. The DVLA online application form for renewal ask for past three years of address. I believe I can provide my overseas address, and that there will be no issues in getting the license renewed.

b) Personal Loan- I know that for home mortgage a minimum of six month waiting is required before making an application. Does it also apply for Personal Loan application. One of the bank says, Personal Loan applicant have to be UK resident, have minimum income of £10k, and must be 18. My new employment in the UK will start from January. Do I need to wait until I receive my first salary in the UK.

Appreciate your response on the above points.

Thank you in advance.

hsmppune7

Hi Reading_1979,

Hope your move went smoothly, all the very best for the future.

I am in the same boat as you, starting in February. Your concerns are very valid, and quite relevant for me as well. Did you get any inputs on these, would be useful to know what you found.

Although I am not looking for a personal loan, I would be actively looking for a mortgage as soon as I find a suitable property, so my question is more around credit score. I was in the UK for a period of 6 years earlier so must have some credit history from back then, will that help? What else can I do to build up a positive credit history again? Also does moving houses affect credit rating, as I will be moving into a temporary accommodation initially.

Cheers

durham_lad

Renting a house will improve credit rating, provided that you regularly pay your rent, council tax and utilities bills. We found that we had to pay several months rent in advance when we first rented out a house here.

ArekDeBoss

Did you have to surrender your UK driving licence whilst living abroad?
I did and now I have no idea how to get my UK driving licence back or how to apply for new one or just apply for the change of the address?
because I just tried to renew on line using my UK driving license number and the system doesn't recognise it. Looks like it has been cancelled the moment Canadian authorities sent it back to the UK.

durham_lad

I moved to the Texas, USA and surrendering my UK licence was not needed to get a Texas licence When I returned I was able to send it in as part of applying for a new one. (It was an old paper one)

hsmppune7

Thanks so much for your inputs! As mentioned, I would initially be in some temp accommodation for the first couple of months, hope it will be OK to get the licensed renewed. Also there are many ways of renewing the license, online, via a paper form, or through the Post Office. I wonder, which is the easiest and fastest way of getting this done?

I moved to India, and have kept my photocard license. It has expired though so will need renewal after arrival in the UK.

durham_lad

I find online is easiest, particularly if you have the ability to take your own photo and upload it which is what my wife and I did recently to get our free bus passes. This feature was not available when we renewed our UK passports a few years ago but we still did everything online and then sent the final documents including old passport and photos via mail.

BritInParis

You’ll need to exchange your Canadian licence to get your GB licence back. So long as you quote your GB driving licence number you should receive all your correct entitlements.

hsmppune7

Thanks so much for your inputs durham_lad.

Just one more thought which came to me today. My spouse is also a DL holder, but she is going to join me in the UK later in the year.

Once I have an address proof, could I apply for her DL renewal as well? This would really help with some paperwork back in India, where they require DL as foreign address proof.

Please advise.

christmasoompa

No, she’s not eligible until she’s resident in the UK.

HTH.

durham_lad

I agree.

hsmppune7

Thank you both! Will wait till she is resident before applying.

Nypool1e

I was looking online for advice on how to get a new drivers license when I return to the UK. My UK license is still valid BUT it’s a paper one & I guess I need the new one with a photo. After looking into it, it says that I should have notified the authorities that I wasn’t living in England (been an exile for 32 years) & should have surrendered my UK license & apparently I have done an illegal act by not notifying them. Does this happen to be the case? How do I circumvent any issues of illegality & getting a new license?

durham_lad

My wife and I were in a similar position but after almost 30 years we returned and simply applied for new licences, sending in our old paper ones. No problem in getting new picture DLs.

Nypool1e

Thanks durhamlad, sounds easy enough.