exchanging EU Licence for Irish licence....2-3 Months why so long?

UN Ops Cyprus

Hi,

I am planning on exchanging my Full EU drivers licence for a full Irish one but looking at the NDLS website they say this process takes 2-3 months :woot:.

is it really that long?. also during this process i need my licence as i travel for work so is it possible to submit a copy for them to start the process and then handover the EU licence when they will hand me an Irish one?.

cantdecide

UN Ops Cyprus wrote: »

I am planning on exchanging my Full EU drivers licence for a full Irish one but looking at the NDLS website they say this process takes 2-3 months :woot: is it really that long?

It can vary quite a bit and the main holdup that you are likely to encounter is that the NDLS will have to contact the foreign licencing authority and a response may take some time. The processing time itself shouldn't necessarily take any excessive amount of time and hypothetically, if the foreign authority respond quickly, you could request your application be prioritised as you need your licence for work; this should keep any unnecessary delays to a minimum.

UN Ops Cyprus wrote: »

during this process i need my licence as i travel for work so is it possible to submit a copy for them to start the process and then handover the EU licence when they will hand me an Irish one?.

I'm afraid not. All original documents will be required when exchanging a foreign licence.

MascotDec85

Why do you want to?

"If you have a driving licence issued by an EU/EEA member state you can drive in Ireland as long as your existing licence is valid."

Is yours expiring?

UN Ops Cyprus

Hi guys,

thank you for your replies. I now work in another country and i need to obtain there licence and Ireland is one of the straight swap countries on there list and the EU (Where my licence is from) used to be but for some reason it is not now so i would be trading for an Irish licence then obtaining the other countries licence without having to go through there lessons and testing process if i am making sense.

My only issue is the time frame in which Ireland needs to go back to the issuing country and confirm and present me with an irish licence. it also seems silly that they would take your original licence from you instead of a copy. i know you get a piece of paper to say that you are swapping your licence and is in process but what happens when you travel for work and need to hire a car in another country?. cant really turn around and give them the receipt which you got off the NDLS!!!!.

cantdecide

It would be 100 times easier if you stated where your licence is from and where you wish to go.

No matter where you go, the most important fact is where you earned your licence entitlements. You may find that the licencing authority in one country won't exchange because of where the entitlements were earned. This would be recorded against your exchange with Ireland and when the licencing authority in the new country contact the NDLS, that is where the story would end.

mdebets

UN Ops Cyprus wrote: »

Hi guys,

thank you for your replies. I now work in another country and i need to obtain there licence and Ireland is one of the straight swap countries on there list and the EU (Where my licence is from) used to be but for some reason it is not now so i would be trading for an Irish licence then obtaining the other countries licence without having to go through there lessons and testing process if i am making sense.

My only issue is the time frame in which Ireland needs to go back to the issuing country and confirm and present me with an irish licence. it also seems silly that they would take your original licence from you instead of a copy. i know you get a piece of paper to say that you are swapping your licence and is in process but what happens when you travel for work and need to hire a car in another country?. cant really turn around and give them the receipt which you got off the NDLS!!!!.

Where do you live at the moment? The above post does sound as if you are no longer living in Ireland. If this is the case, you don't qualify for an licence exchange to an Irish licence anyhow.
It's probably better, if you explain what you are trying to achieve.

donkey balls

2/3 months to exchange a licence :eek: from one country to another, Over 10 years ago while working as a operations/transport manager I had some of our lads exchange their licences to Irish ones it took about 10 days from memory with the motor tax office doing their checks and contacting the relevant people in the applicants home country.
At the time there was something in place that anyone driving on a foreign licence (apart from the UK for some strange reason ) and who resided within the state had to exchange their licence after 12 months of working & living here.
As for exchanging licences to another country due to them having reciprocal agreements with your country it happened all the time, From memory we had reciprocal agreements with Australia but not New Zealand yet the UK had agreements with both countries.
So the Kiwi would pick up an UK licence which they could exchange for an Irish one if needed be.