New Driving Licence - Major Delays

MeIsGod

Posted mine into the Ballymun office on 11/12th of feb and when i rang them 2 weeks ago they said it went into the system on the 6th of march and should be another week or so, still waiting.

DEVEREUX

I posted my application for the new licence three weeks ago and I'm due to drive to SE England next Wednesday.
Chances of me being pulled are slim but still a chance.
UK police won't look too favourably at someone without a licence on their roads.
Will they be okay with a Letter or something stamped by the gards?

CiniO

DEVEREUX wrote: »

I posted my application for the new licence three weeks ago and I'm due to drive to SE England next Wednesday.
Chances of me being pulled are slim but still a chance.
UK police won't look too favourably at someone without a licence on their roads.
Will they be okay with a Letter or something stamped by the gards?

I don't think so.

Deise Vu

GiftGrub100 wrote: »

Sent mine into Cork on Feb 15th, they took payment Feb 18th, no sign of the new licence yet, last licence took 1 hour from getting pictures to having licence, its a sure sign of progress that what used to take hours now takes weeks.

You are lucky, I sent mine into Waterford about the 5th of March and they haven't even cashed the cheque. This has me worried that the application is lost / being ignored. I don't know the answer because when you ring the Motor Tax Office you just get an answering machine telling you they are too busy to answer the phone and 'try again later'.

ABajaninCork

DEVEREUX wrote: »

I posted my application for the new licence three weeks ago and I'm due to drive to SE England next Wednesday.
Chances of me being pulled are slim but still a chance.
UK police won't look too favourably at someone without a licence on their roads.
Will they be okay with a Letter or something stamped by the gards?

No.

joetoad

Deise Vu wrote: »

You are lucky, I sent mine into Waterford about the 5th of March and they haven't even cashed the cheque. This has me worried that the application is lost / being ignored. I don't know the answer because when you ring the Motor Tax Office you just get an answering machine telling you they are too busy to answer the phone and 'try again later'.

I drove all around England and France on a provisional Irish license, I was driving a yellow reg at the time though and didn't have the L plates up. It all depends on the police man you meat and if you get caught or they the type of dicks that will do ya!

CiniO

joetoad wrote: »

I drove all around England and France on a provisional Irish license, I was driving a yellow reg at the time though and didn't have the L plates up. It all depends on the police man you meat and if you get caught or they the type of dicks that will do ya!

Did you get pulled over? What did police say?

In France though I believe their police could have not had a clue that provisional actually wasn't real licence.

I remember reading articles that back in 2004 and 2005, some Polish lads got Irish provisional licence, and managed to get it swapped for full Polish licence in Poland.

Supposably polish offices dealing with licences, had no clue what provisional licence is, and therefore they thought it was normal licence.

ABajaninCork

joetoad wrote: »

I drove all around England and France on a provisional Irish license, I was driving a yellow reg at the time though and didn't have the L plates up. It all depends on the police man you meat and if you get caught or they the type of dicks that will do ya!

Is it horse? sheep? Cow? NO - it's BULL! :rolleyes:

joetoad

CiniO wrote: »

Did you get pulled over? What did police say?

In France though I believe their police could have not had a clue that provisional actually wasn't real licence.

I remember reading articles that back in 2004 and 2005, some Polish lads got Irish provisional licence, and managed to get it swapped for full Polish licence in Poland.

Supposably polish offices dealing with licences, had no clue what provisional licence is, and therefore they thought it was normal licence.

Got ferry to UK, Went through a checkpoint in Uk but just checked tax, insurance and the mot. Got the tunnel to France and drove around there for a few days and nothing was said. Got Ferry home then to Ireland from France. Was ****ting it we'd get done though! Its really up to yourself if you want to chance it. I'm from Northern Ireland though and Wud probably check an Irish car a lot more!

CiniO

joetoad wrote: »

Got ferry to UK, Went through a checkpoint in Uk but just checked tax, insurance and the mot. Got the tunnel to France and drove around there for a few days and nothing was said. Got Ferry home then to Ireland from France. Was ****ting it we'd get done though! Its really up to yourself if you want to chance it. I'm from Northern Ireland though and Wud probably check an Irish car a lot more!

So it's not like that police never bothered you about provisional licence, but they actually never checked if have a licence.
That way anyone can drive even when disqualified, or sth.

I went through UK (Holyhead to Folkestone and back) 5 times over last 3 years, and no one ever looked at my discs or asked me for a licence.
But I still wouldn't chance driving without one, as in case of a road check, I'd be screwed.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Donegal county council have stated there is a 6 week delay in processing applications for new licenses but they do issue you with a receipt to show you have applied for a new one and to show if your stopped the guards.

Karen23

CJC999 wrote: »

Donegal county council have stated there is a 6 week delay in processing applications for new licenses but they do issue you with a receipt to show you have applied for a new one and to show if your stopped the guards.

Same in Dublin but I got mine in 12 working days.

The receipt is not acceptable for driving abroad though.

joetoad

CiniO wrote: »

So it's not like that police never bothered you about provisional licence, but they actually never checked if have a licence.
That way anyone can drive even when disqualified, or sth.

I went through UK (Holyhead to Folkestone and back) 5 times over last 3 years, and no one ever looked at my discs or asked me for a licence.
But I still wouldn't chance driving without one, as in case of a road check, I'd be screwed.

Yea that's all they checked. Was ****ting it though! Was a great experience.

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Is it horse? sheep? Cow? NO - it's BULL! :rolleyes:

Care to elaborate?

ABajaninCork

joetoad wrote: »

Care to elaborate?

Certainly. I don't believe you. It's as simple as that. Whilst it is possible that the police at home didn't check your licence, (unlikely though)I simply don't believe you drove all the way through France and the flics didn't check your licence ONCE. That I do not believe.

I've driven through France several times from Le Havre and Boulogne to the South via the RN 7. I've also driven through Bordeaux and the Langedoc. I've also been to Champagne. We've been stopped several times over those journeys and the flics ALWAYS ask for your documents. i.e. DRIVING LICENCE, passport, proof of insurance, and they will check your boot as well for your hazard triangle, and first aid kit.

So that is why I said what I said.

joetoad

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Certainly. I don't believe you. It's as simple as that. Whilst it is possible that the police at home didn't check your licence, (unlikely though)I simply don't believe you drove all the way through France and the flics didn't check your licence ONCE. That I do not believe.

I've driven through France several times from Le Havre and Boulogne to the South via the RN 7. I've also driven through Bordeaux and the Langedoc. I've also been to Champagne. We've been stopped several times over those journeys and the flics ALWAYS ask for your documents. i.e. DRIVING LICENCE, passport, proof of insurance, and they will check your boot as well for your hazard triangle, and first aid kit.

So that is why I said what I said.

Probably just got lucky so

ABajaninCork

joetoad wrote: »

Probably just got lucky so

Like I say...

CiniO

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Certainly. I don't believe you. It's as simple as that. Whilst it is possible that the police at home didn't check your licence, (unlikely though)I simply don't believe you drove all the way through France and the flics didn't check your licence ONCE. That I do not believe.

I've driven through France several times from Le Havre and Boulogne to the South via the RN 7. I've also driven through Bordeaux and the Langedoc. I've also been to Champagne. We've been stopped several times over those journeys and the flics ALWAYS ask for your documents. i.e. DRIVING LICENCE, passport, proof of insurance, and they will check your boot as well for your hazard triangle, and first aid kit.

So that is why I said what I said.

You know it all depends.
You might do 20km in France and get pulled over twice, but you might do 4000km and not be pulled even once. Especially if you are travelling mostly on motorway.

TBH I've never been stopped by police in France. And over last 10 years, I must have done around 4000 maybe 5000km in there.

GiftGrub100

GiftGrub100 wrote: »

Sent mine into Cork on Feb 15th, they took payment Feb 18th, no sign of the new licence yet, last licence took 1 hour from getting pictures to having licence, its a sure sign of progress that what used to take hours now takes weeks.

Got my licence today !!! Feb 15th - March 22nd, thank you Cork County Council, road legal again, well worth waiting for, now I have to get an international driving permit, should be much easier.

helimachoptor

Hey folks a quick question, if you have lost your license and apply for a replacement, do you get the new format CC size licence?

Karen23

helimachoptor wrote: »

Hey folks a quick question, if you have lost your license and apply for a replacement, do you get the new format CC size licence?

I'm sure you would, as far as I know the old style is no longer being issued. Cost you €55 though.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

GiftGrub100

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Going to Florida in a few weeks, lots of shenanigans about IDP in state law over there, police won't be looking for one or enforcing the requirement, but if you are in an accident (touch wood I won't be) then it could be a loophole for the insurance company to avoid paying out, don't want to give them any excuses for the sake of €15.

magic_murph

Got mine back today.
Dublin Tax office received application on 19th Feb.
Licence received from Ballina today.
Bit of a wait but bang on with there estimated processing times.

Anytime I called the motor tax office they were able to tell me what stage my application was in so thats something to keep you informed.

Dilbert75

Dilbert75 wrote: »

This is bad news. Mine expires at the start of March and I posted my application off yesterday, standard post, thinking it'll be grand. Now I'm worried.

Eventually took just under 3 weeks for mine to arrive, though the cheque was cashed within the first week and it was confirmed by phone as having been approved and queued for issue.

Don't know how much use it'd be but if I were doing it again I'd be taking a photocopy of my old license before sending it off. It'd be something to show if you were stuck. Of course it'd be no good for hiring a car or for foreign travel.

D_murph

I found a flaw (or a few) on the new driving licence when I was applying for new car insurance this past week.

On the list on the back, it says number 5 is the licence number so I gave it the guy on the other end of the phone. I have since (this morning to be precise) gotten an email and a text from them asking for my licence number and my proof of no claim cert (that I was waiting for the previous insurers to provide me).

When I rang them about it, the lady on the phone told me that this had been happening a bit and that it was number 4d on the front that was the actual licence number.

There is no mention of 4d on the list on the back, and nothing from 6 - 8 either. Most of these are self explanatory anyway but there is no actual fig. 6 on the front either as it happens . Looks like a botched effort if you ask me TBH :rolleyes:.

Either way, if you are giving your licence number to a new insurer from now on with one of these licences, make sure you give them the one on 4d instead of 5 because the list on the back is wrong!!!

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

D_murph

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Thanks. It is not very clearly stated though. "Licence number" should mean "licence number," should it not?

Bullseye1

It's ridiculous that you have to include your old license with your application for a renewal especially as the documents are so different. At least then people wouldn't be forced to drive for days or weeks without the document. You would also have to question why it takes so long to get these in the first place. You should be able get them same day.

akura

magic_murph wrote: »

Got mine back today.
Dublin Tax office received application on 19th Feb.
Licence received from Ballina today.
Bit of a wait but bang on with there estimated processing times.

Anytime I called the motor tax office they were able to tell me what stage my application was in so thats something to keep you informed.

Hi, What number did you ring them on?
Thanks

jennytightlips

Has anybody got an idea of how long the waiting list for a new licence is in Portlaoise at the moment?