UK - Irish DL Exchange

mattaiuseire

Hello,

Before anyone makes any judgments or want to give me the moral thing to do, please don't, because I already know.


Before I left the UK a few years ago I was caught speeding at 36mph in a 30mph zone.

I have recently found out that my licence has been revoked - I have not been banned - because of this unpaid fine which if I have to I will ensure is paid soon.

What I want to know however if anyone can help me is - would I be able to exchange my UK licence for an Irish one easily and therefore bypass any accumulated points on my UK licence thereby starting afresh with a new Irish licence and avoid the effort of having to sort this out by post with the relevant office in the UK?

I'm thinking surely the Irish office would check with the UK office to see if I am banned/licence revoked etc but it's a bit of a grey area because I know points amassed in the UK cannot be transferred to Ireland and vice-versa...

Thanks for any advice.

Marcusm

I'm not sure what authority the DVLa would have to"revoke" your licence for a single speeding offence even if the fine is unpaid.

mattaiuseire

Marcusm wrote: »

I'm not sure what authority the DVLa would have to"revoke" your licence for a single speeding offence even if the fine is unpaid.

Because my licence was never sent off to the DVLA for the 3 points to be added so I'm sure between them and the police they have revoked it.

I still have the licence both photo-ID and paper counterpart (counterpart now being obsolete in the UK).

I wrote to the office in the UK and gave them my Irish address and they never wrote back, but instead passed it onto certified court bailiffs who attended the cars registration address, my parents. When they realised I was not in the country they gave up.

I know it's my own responsibility to ensure this is resolved and not up to them to chase me.

My query is whether I can simply attend a meeting with the motor tax office, have my licence exchanged and be done with it quickly and easily.

Or alternatively couldn't I just take my test again here and get a licence anyway?

dpe

Marcusm wrote: »

I'm not sure what authority the DVLa would have to"revoke" your licence for a single speeding offence even if the fine is unpaid.

They can. DVLA has an enormous amount of power, and they've automated most of the fine generating apparatus.


As for the original query, is your UK licence still in date? If so, you might be alright, but if its out of date, forget it, you have to get documentation from the DVLA which is a right pain (I foolishly didn't realise my UK licence had expired because the notice went to my flat in the UK and wasn't passed on to me - getting it sorted so I could get an Irish licence took months).

Best bet is just to take your licence to your nearest NDLS centre and play dumb.

mattaiuseire

dpe wrote: »

They can. DVLA has an enormous amount of power, and they've automated most of the fine generating apparatus.


As for the original query, is your UK licence still in date? If so, you might be alright, but if its out of date, forget it, you have to get documentation from the DVLA which is a right pain (I foolishly didn't realise my UK licence had expired because the notice went to my flat in the UK and wasn't passed on to me - getting it sorted so I could get an Irish licence took months).

Best bet is just to take your licence to your nearest NDLS centre and play dumb.

Yeah it's well in date it won't expire until 2023.

Marcusm

mattaiuseire wrote: »

Yeah it's well in date it won't expire until 2023.

I've just looked it up a do can see that if it's not surrendered for endorsement that it's simply revoked. If that was prior to November 2010, the revocation was automatically suspended for 12 months, you could drive for 12months before sorting it out. Since then it has been automatic. It looks like you currently do not have any entitlement to drive in the UK or anywhere else. Any driving you do is unlicensed and subject to further penalties.

If you surrender it in Ireland for exchange, they are required to verify your UK entitlement. This will bring the whole matter to a head. It seems like you would be better trying to sort it out with the DVLA.

There seem to be people available to help. Obviously in the interim you should not drive!

http://www.licencebureau.co.uk/revocation-revocation-revocation/

mattaiuseire

Thank you very much for this. I struggled to find any info so thanks for your effort.

So I think I will write to the DVLA and maybe the police or whoever it is who might be dealing with it and ask if I send my licence off along with a cheque will they endorse it and return it to me. Or alternatively take another theory and practical test here - might not be a great idea though as I've been driving for 13 years so probably picked up bad habits!

I'm not currently driving however, and I haven't since I came to Ireland, I live and work in the middle of Dublin so I have no requirement for a car.

cantdecide

You won't be able to hold a full entitlement for the same category in the UK and in Ireland. The NDLS will ask you to provide the foreign letter of entitlement and and will correspond with the DVLA. The NDLS are very much on the ball with foreign exchanges and handle oodles of UK licences. As far as I know, if you have an exchangeable licence, you start here with a clean slate here from a points and convictions point of view.

I can guarantee you the best way to sort it out is to take it on the chin from the UK side and when the dust settles, exchange the licence. The major disadvantage to not exchanging after migrating is that you often can't fix things remotely; there's a good change you'll have to travel in order to fix things but if you're not under pressure to get back on the road then you might be as well to get the ball rolling and sort it out. It would make things easier if your licence records were connected to your parents address but if your address is the last flat you lived in before you moved then that might complicate things.

mattaiuseire

cantdecide wrote: »

You won't be able to hold a full entitlement for the same category in the UK and in Ireland. The NDLS will ask you to provide the foreign letter of entitlement and and will correspond with the DVLA. The NDLS are very much on the ball with foreign exchanges and handle oodles of UK licences. As far as I know, if you have an exchangeable licence, you start here with a clean slate here from a points and convictions point of view.

I can guarantee you the best way to sort it out is to take it on the chin from the UK side and when the dust settles, exchange the licence. The major disadvantage to not exchanging after migrating is that you often can't fix things remotely; there's a good change you'll have to travel in order to fix things but if you're not under pressure to get back on the road then you might be as well to get the ball rolling and sort it out. It would make things easier if your licence records were connected to your parents address but if your address is the last flat you lived in before you moved then that might complicate things.

Many thanks. Although I don't understand what's meant by I can't hold full entitlement for the same category in the UK and in Ireland. Ahh do you mean I can't have both an Irish licence and a UK licence at the same time? Why's that?

keithclancy

mattaiuseire wrote: »

Many thanks. Although I don't understand what's meant by I can't hold full entitlement for the same category in the UK and in Ireland. Ahh do you mean I can't have both an Irish licence and a UK licence at the same time? Why's that?

EU Rules, it was to stop people dodging driving bans

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/driving/validity/faq/index_en.htm

Is it possible to have two driving licences issued by two different EU countries at the same time?

NO — nobody is allowed to hold more than one driving licence – not even if your driving licence has been withdrawn, you cannot be issued a second driving licence by another EU country.