Driving on non-irish licence

Traumadoc

Does anyone know the rules regarding driving on a non-national licence- I have returned from Australia ( where I had to surrender my Irish licence) and now drive with an Australian licence. I feel it must be legal as tourists/ Northern Irish are allowed to drive here.

kluivert

I think you will have to surrender it again unless its international.

I know this is what happen to my dad, he had a GB license and swapped it for an Irish one.

seamus

The Australian licence is recognised over here, so you are permitted to drive on an Australian licence indefinitely.

You are not required to surrender your Australian licence unless it has expired.

Seth Brundle

kluivert wrote:

I think you will have to surrender it again unless its international.

I know this is what happen to my dad, he had a GB license and swapped it for an Irish one.

When did he do this? It is a voluntary option - not a forceable one

MrPudding

I have kept my NI license. In fact I actually got it replaced recently which is a bit naughty, but hey.

MrP

Stephen

Keep the australian licence, they can't put penalty points on it

MrPudding

Stephen wrote:

Keep the australian licence, they can't put penalty points on it

Oh yeah. I never thought of that.

MrP

Darando

Intersesting point about giving up his english one for an irish one. Just wondering if someone had say 8 points on their UK licence and came here and swap for an irish licence- i assume they get a irish with no points. What happens if they go back to the UK? points go back on licence? ask if ever held UK licence etc..

Just wondering.

(and no, I'm not asking becuase it applies to me!!!)

seamus

As it is over here, points aren't just attached to a licence. They're probably attached to the UK equivalent of the PPSN and will be put back on just the same.

murphaph

Edit: seamus was right, according to oasis anyway. My bad.

ambro25

murphaph wrote:

EU model licences are valid until they expire (or the 10 year mark is reached) and do not require surrendering.

Can I ask for a source, please?

(NOTE: I'm not being anal about it, as is Boards fashion - I have a genuine interest as I have a FR license which doesn't expire and have never yet encountered word of this '10 year limit' anywhere in relevant EU provisions )

murphaph

Ambro, I'm not 100% sure Ireland imposes this but under the 2nd driving licence directive, any member state with a time restricted licence can impose this restriction on non time restricted licences from other EU states. I wouldn't worry about it.

Alun

murphaph wrote:

Edit: seamus was right, according to oasis anyway. My bad.

Not sure about that, actually The wording on the oasis website in the past concerning this issue was always a bit vague and self-contradictory in places. They've hacked it around a bit recently, but it's still not that clear IMHO. The Dept. of Transport also has a section on this issue, and this is what they have to say on the matter ...

http://www.transport.ie/roads/licensing/licence/index.asp?lang=ENG&loc=1836#Exchange_Driving_Licence

Exchange of Driving Licence

Mutual Recognition
The holder of a driving licence issued by the competent authority of another member state of the European Union or of the European Economic Area (i.e. EU + Norway, Liechenstein and Iceland) may drive in Ireland on that licence for the duration of its validity. However, if you wish, you may apply for exchange to an equivalent Irish licence. Application for exchange must be made within ten years of expiry of the licence.

Recognised States
Australia, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, South Africa, South Korea and Switzerland have been designated as recognised states for the purposes of Driving Licence Exchange along with those of the European Union and the European Economic Area. Upon taking up normal residence in the state the holder of a driving licence issued by the competent authority of one of these countries may drive here on that licence until the expiry of
(i) the period for which such licence has effect or
(ii) one year from the date of taking up such residence,
whichever first occurs.
Application for exchange to an equivalent Irish licence must be made within one year of expiry of the licence.
All applicants for exchange must complete an Exchange of Driving Licence form (D.900) and an Application for Driving Licence form (D.401).

Our man in Havana

Is there anything to stop an Irish person obtaining a UK licence?

Darando

Bond-007 wrote:

Is there anything to stop an Irish person obtaining a UK licence?

Bond-007- are you thinking get an english licence and then no penalty points?

I'm sure you have to prove that you are living in the country of a licence for a certain period (185 days?).

Our man in Havana

DVLA NI wrote:

Rules for exchange
The following conditions must be met before a licence can be granted in exchange for a NI one:

you must be normally resident in Northern Ireland and have a permanent address here;
if you are a Community licence holder applying for a Northern Ireland test at the same time as exchanging your licence and you have moved to NI having recently been permanently resident in another state of the EC/EEA, you must have been normally resident in NI for 185 days in the 12 months prior to your application for a full driving licence;
licences from the designated countries must be current at the time the application for exchange is received at DVLNI. Licences issued in Great Britain must have been issued after 1.1.76. Licences from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands are acceptable for exchange if valid within the last 10 years. Those issued in any EC/EEA country may be valid for exchange even if they have expired;
you must surrender your foreign licence which will be returned to the issuing authority;
International Driving Permits are not exchangeable;
test pass certificates are not exchangeable except for those issued in Great Britain or Gibraltar when the test was passed within two years of the date of the licence application.
Japanese licences must be accompanied by an official translation, available for a fee from the Consulate General of Japan at 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1V 9FN or 2 Melville Crescent, Edinburgh, EH3 7HW.

Don't say you have to prove the 185 days though.

Traumadoc

Thanks For that, I think Alun is most correct, ill probably apply next year for my irish licence again (and carry both).

ambro25

Alun wrote:

Exchange of Driving Licence

Mutual Recognition (NDE: EU)
The holder of a driving licence issued by the competent authority of another member state of the European Union or of the European Economic Area (i.e. EU + Norway, Liechenstein and Iceland) may drive in Ireland on that licence for the duration of its validity. (...) Application for exchange must be made within ten years of expiry of the licence.

Thx for that Alun

VVNice - so my FR license (which has no expiry date) is good to go until I'm 125 or so

On the points thing, as far as I'm aware, points 'earned' on a foreign license in IE are 'accumulated' someplace until IE gets some sort of harmonisation/reciprocity-thing with other EU countries (and GB to begin with). That's of course provided the Gardai can be bothered with all the paperwork if/when they nab you (in my GB experience, they don't - just don't be an @rse with them though)

As for getting a GB license, I wouldn't bother then - I'd get a license from a country which has no expiry date on it (get-out-of-jail-card springs to mind, somehow )

One point to note to 'interested parties', however - you'll get murdered with insurance, so bear that in mind if/when calculating economies (premiums probably just as high as with an IE license with points).

Traumadoc

I had no problem with insurance.

Litcagral

Bond-007 wrote:

Is there anything to stop an Irish person obtaining a UK licence?

I presume if you did another driving test in the UK you would be entitled to hold both. My brother sat the test in ROI and NI and has both driving licences. He uses whichever one he thinks is appropriate at the time. (I'm not sure if that's totally legitimate though??)

Ernie Ball

I have a US license in addition to my Irish one.

I've often thought about what would happen if I gave the Massachusetts one to a guard if I were stopped for a traffic offence. I have an American accent: maybe I could play the tourist?

I assume, though, that the fact that the car is a sports car and is registered in my name would set off all sorts of alarm bells and I wouldn't get away with it.

layke

ambro25 wrote:

Can I ask for a source, please?

(NOTE: I'm not being anal about it, as is Boards fashion - I have a genuine interest as I have a FR license which doesn't expire and have never yet encountered word of this '10 year limit' anywhere in relevant EU provisions )

My Dads British License doesn't expire. He's been in Ireland well over 20 years and still usuing it. Same as my missus who is a Frenchie, she can drive here too.

Pete

ambro25

Ernie Ball wrote:

I assume, though, that the fact that the car is a sports car and is registered in my name would set off all sorts of alarm bells and I wouldn't get away with it.

Your US license is not EU or from a Recognised State, so that may be the main problem if that's the license you 'play' at the time - I'd keep it for when you're driving abroad (EU/non-EU)

Ernie Ball

ambro25 wrote:

Your US license is not EU or from a Recognised State, so that may be the main problem if that's the license you 'play' at the time - I'd keep it for when you're driving abroad (EU/non-EU)

That can't be the issue. Loads of US tourists hire cars here with nothing other than their American licenses.

Alun

Ernie Ball wrote:

That can't be the issue. Loads of US tourists hire cars here with nothing other than their American licenses.

Tourist being the operative word here, i.e. not a resident. There's a big difference.

MrPudding

layke wrote:

My Dads British License doesn't expire.
Pete

That is interesting because all UK and NI licenses are supposed to expire every ten years.

Bond-007 wrote:

Is there anything to stop an Irish person obtaining a UK licence?

The notes on the license application actually give a bit more detail, I just got mine replaced. There are a couple of complications for you getting a UK or NI license. The first is you will have to get someone to certify your photographs. This will have to be one of the usual suspects, a copper, civil servant or priest/minister. It may be difficult for you to get a non-family member from one of these professions that lives in NI or the UK to do this for you.

The second potential difficulty is that they *may* ask you to prove your residential status. They will look for similar proof as the revenue do if you get an exemption from VRT. You will have to provide, on request, bank statements, bill etc in order to prove you are entitled to a license.

mrP

Alun

MrPudding wrote:

The second potential difficulty is that they *may* ask you to prove your residential status. They will look for similar proof as the revenue do if you get an exemption from VRT. You will have to provide, on request, bank statements, bill etc in order to prove you are entitled to a license.

Whether they ask you or not is completely irrelevant. Being a resident of the UK is a condition imposed on obtaining a UK driving licence. If you don't qualify for one because you are not resident there, then you have obtained that licence fraudulently and it is not valid.

MrPudding

Alun wrote:

Whether they ask you or not is completely irrelevant. Being a resident of the UK is a condition imposed on obtaining a UK driving licence. If you don't qualify for one because you are not resident there, then you have obtained that licence fraudulently and it is not valid.

Well yes, agreed. That much is clear form the notes Bond-007 posted him/her self. I was merely pointing out that 1) There was more detail in the notes attached to the actual application form, and 2) Should they decide to apply anyway there is a potential to have to provide proof which again is not mentioned in the notes posted.

MrP

ambro25

Ernie Ball wrote:

That can't be the issue. Loads of US tourists hire cars here with nothing other than their American licenses.

Seconding Alun and somewhat stating the obvious, but - a hire car is rarely if ever IE-reg'd in the name of the tourist, is it?

The_Magoo

MrPudding wrote:

That is interesting because all UK and NI licenses are supposed to expire every ten years.
mrP

The expiry of UK licenses is only a fairly recent thing, my father has a UK license which when he got it was valid for life. Dont know when they started putting expiry dates on them though!

MrPudding

They started putting expiry dates on them in the 80's, mid 80's I think. I remember it quite well as my best friend's mother was hired by the DVLA NI on a tempory contract, along with a bunch of others, to work the project.

From that point on any license granted would have an expiry. The main thing, and this is why they needed all the extra staff for a couple of years, was that all exsisting licenses were to be replaced.

If you father does not have a license that expires it is either because he did not receive notification or ignored notification and did not surrender his license for replacement.

Of course there is a chance I am wrong on this but I am pretty sure I am right. I would have to say your Dad's license is not valid.

One thing they did not change was the catagories you are entitled to drive. If you have a cat they wouldn't take it away.

MrP