UK driving licence renewal

ZENER

Apologies if this is the the wrong place for this.

A friend of mine lives in Ireland and works from the UK (Airline). For handiness she has had a UK drivers license for the past 20 odd years - the old paper type.

It's recently expired and needs to be renewed. The problem is in order to do so she has to send in all the forms and her Passport and wait for 3 weeks for them to send back the license and the passport. She works as a flight attendant (trans-Atlantic) week on week off and therefore needs her passport all the time.

We've read through the UK rules but there's no mention of any special circumstances to allow for such jobs.

Is there anyone from the UK here who could advise please ?

Thanks in advance.

Ken

GM228

Does she have a biometric passport? If so you just give the passport number and not the passport itself.

Living in Ireland could be a problem by the way.

jimbev

She will need a uk address first ,if no biometric passport she will probably have to make a appointment to prove who she is and proof of address,also if she tries to exchange for irish licence they will refuse because licence is expired and would have to be renewed first through the uk system

ZENER

Do you know this for a fact ? There's no mention of that on the DVLA website ? It would be perfect if it's that simple.

She has an address in the UK.

Ken

GM228

jimbev wrote: »

She will need a uk address first ,if no biometric passport she will probably have to make a appointment to prove who she is and proof of address,also if she tries to exchange for irish licence they will refuse because licence is expired and would have to be renewed first through the uk system

You can exchange an expired EU driving licence upto 10 years after expiry.

jimbev

My boy just done something similar he also had to have a uk national insurance number you can email them about the passport but leave out about living in ireland the 2nd week

ZENER

jimbev wrote: »

She will need a uk address first ,if no biometric passport she will probably have to make a appointment to prove who she is and proof of address,also if she tries to exchange for irish licence they will refuse because licence is expired and would have to be renewed first through the uk system

Sorry, just to clarify. The paper license is in date until she retires but she assumed that because the UK have changed to the card type license that this invalidated the old paper one. Is this how it works ?

Thanks

Ken

ZENER

jimbev wrote: »

My boy just done something similar he also had to have a uk national insurance number you can email them about the passport but leave out about living in ireland the 2nd week

She is employed by a UK based company so does have a National insurance number and pays UK tax etc. Does this help.

Ken

jimbev

But not if licence is expired from another country you would then have to get written proof from issuing country that licence was valid upto that date no drink driving etc it would take months
I have uk licence with expired hgv on it and Ireland would not exchange licence until hgv was taken off from UK side

ZENER

GM228 wrote: »

You can exchange an expired EU driving licence upto 10 years after expiry.

It says UK Driving License and European Communities Model on the front. So I guess it's a UK license then ?

Ken

jimbev

ZENER wrote: »

Sorry, just to clarify. The paper license is in date until she retires but she assumed that because the UK have changed to the card type license that this invalidated the old paper one. Is this how it works ?

Thanks

Ken

No she is fine to keep driving on it if it has not expired when renewal comes up she will then have to have photo type or if she changed address in between

ZENER

jimbev wrote: »

No she is fine to keep driving on it if it has not expired when renewal comes up she will then have to have photo type or if she changed address in between

Yeah, just found this which confirms what you said.

https://insidedvla.blog.gov.uk/2015/03/24/advice-for-motorists-with-paper-driving-licences-how-theyll-be-affected-when-the-counterparts-abolished/

Thanks

Ken

ZENER

jimbev wrote: »

But not if licence is expired from another country you would then have to get written proof from issuing country that licence was valid upto that date no drink driving etc it would take months
I have uk licence with expired hgv on it and Ireland would not exchange licence until hgv was taken off from UK side

According the her paper license she can drive Car+Trailot, Mini-Bus, Coach, Rigid Trucks !! Everything bar a 16 wheeler ! Hmm ...

Ken

Delacent

ZENER wrote: »

Sorry, just to clarify. The paper license is in date until she retires but she assumed that because the UK have changed to the card type license that this invalidated the old paper one. Is this how it works ?

Thanks

Ken

Nope - I have one. Valid til 2038! Had to produce it a while ago, no problems. No problem with insurers either.

Garda also said it was currently worth its weight in gold as penalty points are not attached yet. However they do attached points to your address, so no absolute escaping them if you live here.

Marcusm

ZENER wrote: »

Sorry, just to clarify. The paper license is in date until she retires but she assumed that because the UK have changed to the card type license that this invalidated the old paper one. Is this how it works ?

Thanks

Ken

If it is a paper licence issued before the photo card system (basically pre 1998) then it should remain valid until her 70th birthday. However, if your friend no longer lives at the UK address on her licence then she would not ever be able to exchange it for a UK photocard style licence. When she comes due for renewal, ie at age 70, she will need to apply for a swap to an Irish licence.

What she should not do is use a UK address at which she does not live to apply for a photocard - this is a £1,000 fine if caught.

cantdecide

At this point, she's resident in Ireland, she should apply for an Irish licence strictly speaking.

If her lifetime paper licence is in date, all she needs to do to exchange it is the licence application and fee (€55), the licence itself, photo ID, if the surname on the licence is different to her current name (eg marriage) she will need to provide a link (eg a marriage cert), proof of address, a 'declaration of surrender' or a medical report granting her group 2 categories (usually C1 and sometimes C1E - the rest are non-exchangeable 'national' categories in the UK) and proof of PPSN. The NDLS will contact the DVLA to verify her record and her licence will arrive to her in the post.

I think this is the most convenient thing for her to do. This would usually take no more than 4-6 weeks of a wait and it involves a single visit to the NDLS. Yes, she'll have a 10 year Irish licence but she will never lose her UK entitlement even if she moved to the US for 20 years after having a 10 year Irish licence, she would still have the ability to return to the UK in the future and reinstate her licence. The rule is simply that you can't have two EU licences simultaneously. If she let her Irish entitlements expire for more than a decade, she could still go back to the UK, get a letter of entitlement and exchange again as they're lifetime entitlements.