Changing driving licence address
 

As you all know by now, your photo ID driving licence will expire every 10 years and you need a UK address to apply for a new one.

Just to let you know, I googled DVLA driving licence change of address and phoned the number to ask how long it would take to get a new licence issued with a new address. They took certain details off the paper and plastic card whilst I was on the phone, and then issued me another one without having to fill in the forums. The licence arrived 7 days later to my UK address with the new address. I had to send back the old one immediately.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Thanks for the info, need to change mine soon.:thumbup:

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Did you not have to supply a new photo? I thought that was the point of them expiring...

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

You do when you apply for a new licence, but as this thread is entitled "changing driving licence address", the procedure I described is fine

I edited the post just to make sure there can be no misunderstanding

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Don't want to annoy you guys, but when you apply to renew your UK D/L you sign to say you live in UK. Yes that live not that you are there at the time or have a postage address. If you lie about that it amounts to the criminal offence of perjury.


Also, if one has residencia status and uses a foreign D/L it is only valid for the period which a Spanish licence would have been valid for, not until you are 70.

Also, if you have residencia status you MUST have a medical certificate to say you are fit to drive. It says on the cert that it is valid for only 3 months, but as a holder of a foreign D/L it is valid for the period that licence is valid (i.e. the same period as a Spanish one).

This is the same as a Spaniard as they must have a medical cert from their very first licence.

Not to have the cert means you do not have a D/L as far as Spain is concerned and of course to be insured you must have (have or have had as in UK) a valid D/L.

I know some of you guys will say you do not have the cert and have been stopped by the police and nothing has happened, well that's your choice, but is it worth the risk? I don't think so.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Err, this thread is about changing your address on a licence, not renewing an expired licence. Yes, you have to adhere to local laws such as medical certificate, and you will find its been discussed here many times .. so yes, we are aware

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

OK but I think you are splitting hairs.

If you have residencia status in Spain you CANNOT LEGALLY change your address on a UK D/L.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Mitzy, did you phone from the UK or Spain? Would it have mattered?

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Technically, depending on local interpretation, you may be correct, logically, you’re wrong.

I own a property both in the UK and Spain. Whether I spend more than 183 days in Spain one year, and a couple of weeks the next, is my affair. With more European integration this is being recognised, hence the new photo-less residencia which means nothing to anyone.

It’s the same with the driving licence, it contains an address where I live, but I may choose to live somewhere else tomorrow, or the day after, but the authorities will have an address to send their fines to, and, being an Honest Joe, I will pay them.

Trafico are as confused about the new laws as the rest of us, I usually opt to pay the fine on the spot and if it saves them unnecessary paperwork, I get a salute. It’s the same in the UK, but they don’t salute.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Do you make a habit of braking the law HBG? :p :rofl:

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

maybe it's the braking he has trouble with:rofl:

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

No, my speedometer doesn't work.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

HBG
Try telling the DVLC when you want to renew/change address on DL that you are resident in Spain. They will not renew/change address. Of you lie about your address/where you live its perjury in UK

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

To commit perjury, I would have to take the Oath first, the only oath I remember that lasts for a lifetime, is the one you take to certify your allegiance to the Queen.

You misunderstand: I own a house in the UK and in Spain. There is no law to compel me to live exclusively at either.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

The speedometer on the car we are using dosent work much either.
Yesterday we travelled 400+kms and the car only registered about 5km.:lol:

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

At least it'll look good when you sell it as a nice low milage / kilometerage car. ;)

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

The Perjury Act 1911, does of course criminalise lying on oath but it does not stop there. Amongst the other things included are making a false statement on certain government forms. Believe me it does include making a false statement on a form relating to D/Ls. That is why I changed my mind about applying for a change of address a few years ago. Having read the form very carefully I decided I could not argue my around it (even with 30 years experience of criminal law).


'Where you live' is determined by rules set out in both Spanish and UK law, not as many people think, how they would like to interpret it. Where you own property, per se, does not determine your place of residence.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Im not splitting hairs. Your post was off topic. I phoned DVLA on a UK landline. I have a home in the UK which I spend time in. I told the lady I was over from Spain and wanted to know how long it would take for a change of address to my UK address as I needed the licence for when I returned. I wasnt asked if I was a UK resident. I didnt lie to her. I didnt perjur myself as you claim. I was issued a new licence. I dont know if this is the norm, but it happened.

Clearly DVLA are quite aware that Uk licence holders live in Spain

I dont think it would have mattered

Again, I didnt lie. I wasnt asked, therefore if it is that importantr to them you would think that it would have been made clear to me

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

IF you are out of the UK on holiday of course you can change address etc on your UK D/L. If you have moved out of UK, then you cannot.

But fine, shoot the messenger as you don't like the answer.

PS I have just emailed, if I get a reply I will post it. the DVLC

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

I think you have to make your mind up how you live your life abroad. Of course you have to abide by the country’s laws, they’re much the same as back home. But there is a limit, otherwise your life will be unbearably miserable. If I had to sit down and read the fine print on all those daft forms that pervade our lives, I would be in a strait jacket.

My driving licence bears the address where I normally live, but I like the freedom of trying other places, granted to me by all sorts of laws and a heap of common sense.

Some people sit in their legal houses surrounded by every form they could think of, all stamped and signed, they probably sleep with their driving licence and residencia, when the bulldozer appears on the street and knocks their house down.

You would have to scarper along to Trafico then to change your address a bit smartish, the form filling would take forever.

(I’m so tempted to say something about the Perjury Act . . ., but no, let common sense prevail).

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Im not shooting the messenger, nor am I doubting what you said, I'm simply just telling you what I did and how they reacted

Oh, and I'll save you the trouble on the DVLA thing
I saw this elsewhere:


I am sorry, but if you are no longer resident in GB, it is not possible to
reissue your British licence.
As you have lost your licence, please make enquiries with the Licence
Issuing Authority in the country in which you now reside regarding advice on
driving there.
Should the Spanish licensing authorities require confirmation of your driving
licence details, please telephone the Centre to request a certificate of
entitlement.
Switchboard Telephone No. 01792 78 2341
Opening Hours - Monday to Friday 8.15am - 4.30pm
A fee of £5.00 is charged to cover the cost of issuing a certificate giving
licensing details (a D737 certificate).
When you telephone the Centre you will be asked to provide your full
personal details or driver number and details of your credit/debit card
number (we accept Visa, Eurocard, Mastercard and Maestro). If the
credit/debit card holder is someone other than yourself we will also need to
speak to them.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

I emailed the DVLA sometime ago about the question of UK addresses on UK licences used by non residents.

They explained that if you were non UK resident they were unable to put a non UK address on your licence. However they also pointed out that it was perfectly OK for a non resident to hold a UK licence with an incorrect address on it and that it was acceptable to them and under EU law.

I further asked what would happen if I returned to the UK temporarily, how would I stand as I would be driving on a UK licence in the UK with an incorrect address which is against UK law.

They confirmed that this was acceptable if I was just visiting but that if I returned permanently I would then have to change my address.

This suggests that if you are non UK resident then there is no point in worrying about getting the UK address changed to another UK address as the address is no longer relevant (at least to the DVLA). There may be other circumstances where it is relevant.

When your 10 years is up and you have to renew the licence and fill in forms that may well be a different scenario but that is not the one that Mitzyboy was raising.

Unless you have some compelling personal reason to do otherwise, exchanging your UK licence for a Spanish one is the easiest solution to avoid the many potential problems of retaining your UK licence.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Scroll down to the bottom of the free beer thread for a copy of a DVLC email to one of our members in Italy. ;)

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

JDR, Thanks, that confirms what I said, one cannot change their UK address to a c/o if they have moved to Spain.

Incidentally, I hope no one missed my post which said if you are resident and drive on a non Spanish licence then you MUST have a medical certificate to certify you are fit to drive, and that the foreign licence is only valid for the same length of time that a Spanish one would have been.

(Sorry if this is off theme but its important info)

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

As I read it it just says they can only put an address on it from the issuing country, meaning they can`t put a Spanish one on it. Also it is valid to be used in Europe despite having the wrong address on it until it expires.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

Just a slight sour note: The DVLC do not say its legal to use in Spain but that its not illegal in UK to use it in Spain. (example, its not illegal in UK to speed in Spain etc).

They do say that one cannot change the address (to a foreign one or another UK one) if one has moved abroad.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

What? You're saying its not legal to use a UK licence in Spain?:confused::confused:

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

You are just nit picking again.

If the DVLA (as the issuing authority) say it is legal in the UK then it is legal anywhere in the EU - subject to local provisions such as medicals etc.

Why should Trafico be worried about the address - Spanish driving licences don't have your address on them.

Re: Changing driving licence address
 

:confused::confused::confused:
Are you reading the same email as me.

Quote....
"National licences may only carry an address from the country which issued that licence. We are therefore unable to re-issue your British licence with a foreign address. It is accepted that drivers who move to another part of the EC/EEA could be holding driving licences showing an incorrect address. This is permissible under the terms of the EC Directive on Driving Licences."