UK licence trade in.

return guide

Now that the UK have started their exit from the EU, it is finally time to trade in my old paper licence for an Irish one.

The NDLS website quotes a 2-3 month turnaround, has anybody got any experiences of the process?

Thanks

challengemaster

Why would you bother trading a UK licence for an Irish one when you can keep the UK one until you're 70?

CiniO

challengemaster wrote: »

Why would you bother trading a UK licence for an Irish one when you can keep the UK one until you're 70?

And what use will it be, if you won't be able to use it in Ireland once UK brexits EU

return guide

CiniO wrote: »

And what use will it be, if you won't be able to use it in Ireland once UK brexits EU

Yes, this is the only reason I am transferring it.

challengemaster

CiniO wrote: »

And what use will it be, if you won't be able to use it in Ireland once UK brexits EU

Is there any proof of that happening? Or is it just scaremongering so far?

Charles Babbage

challengemaster wrote: »

Is there any proof of that happening? Or is it just scaremongering so far?

Scaremongering is hardly the right term, if you are not in the EU then presumably things relating to the EU no longer apply to you!

biko

Let's stick with what we do know before speculation and politics cloud the question - how long to trade licence.

mgbgt1978

I'd say about 2 to 3 Months.

CiniO

challengemaster wrote: »

Is there any proof of that happening? Or is it just scaremongering so far?

Here are the facts:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/driver_licensing/exchanging_foreign_driving_permit.html

Holders of licences issued by an EU/EEA member state
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.

Holders of licences issued by a recognised state
Ireland has agreements with certain other countries/states that designates them as recognised states for the purposes of driving licence exchange. These are:

Australia*
Gibraltar
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Japan
Jersey
Manitoba Province of Canada*
New Zealand*
Newfoundland and Labrador Province of Canada*
Ontario Province of Canada*
South Africa
South Korea
Switzerland
Taiwan*

If you are a holder of a licence issued by one of the above states you can drive in Ireland for up to 1 year when visiting, providing your licence is valid. If you become normally resident in Ireland, you should exchange your driving licence or begin the process of applying for an Irish driving licence.

Holders of driving licences from other countries
If you are not from any of the above countries, (for example, if you are from the United States), and you hold a national driving licence and an international driving permit from your own country, you may drive in Ireland for the duration of your temporary visit (up to 12 months).

Currently only licence holders from EU/EEA are allowed to use their licence in Ireland for more than a year without exchanging it / or going through licensing procedure in Ireland.

UK will exit EU. If they exit EEA as well, and Irish law doesn't change, then holders of UK licence won't be able to use it in Ireland for longer than a year.

Above are just facts.

Jack the Stripper

The one fact that is not 100% is the uk leaving the eu.

return guide

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

I'd say about 2 to 3 Months.

Thanks, have you been through the process?

mgbgt1978

My Brother swapped his UK Licence over last Summer. He received his Irish Licence 6 weeks after applying.
Due to Brexit there would appear to be a good few more going through the process lately.

CiniO

Jack the Stripper wrote: »

The one fact that is not 100% is the uk leaving the eu.

I thought that fact they triggered Article 50 meant they don't have a choice now.

CeilingFly

Whether the UK exits the EU or not, a UK licence will still be fully valid in Ireland as cross border licence recognition is not an EU directive.

Yes, all EU licences are recognised, but states may also recognise licences from whatever other jurisdictions they wish and frankly, I just can't see Ireland suddenly excluding UK licences.

return guide

CiniO wrote: »

Here are the facts:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/driver_licensing/exchanging_foreign_driving_permit.html







Currently only licence holders from EU/EEA are allowed to use their licence in Ireland for more than a year without exchanging it / or going through licensing procedure in Ireland.

UK will exit EU. If they exit EEA as well, and Irish law doesn't change, then holders of UK licence won't be able to use it in Ireland for longer than a year.

Above are just facts.

So if the UK stay in the EEA, their licence will still be legal in Ireland ??

Allinall

I've a U.K. License.

It was issued by an EU state.

Whether the U.K. Leaves the EU or not, the above two statements don't change.

hognef

challengemaster wrote: »

Why would you bother trading a UK licence for an Irish one when you can keep the UK one until you're 70?

I'm pretty sure the EU are changing that too. I had a Norwegian licence which was valid until my 100th birthday, but Norway are in the process of changing to a system requiring renewals (every 15 years) following EU regulation changes.

I applied to exchange it for an Irish licence (mainly for cheaper insurance, but also the fact that it would no longer last forever), which I received 4 weeks later (only a few days ago). I suspect that's more to do with the speed of the Norwegian system than anything to do with the Irish one, so exchanging a UK licence may take shorter or longer depending on processing times at the DVLA.

hognef

Allinall wrote: »

I've a U.K. License.

It was issued by an EU state.

Whether the U.K. Leaves the EU or not, the above two statements don't change.

Indeed. That doesn't necessarily mean it will continue to be recognised as an EU licence though.

Jack the Stripper

CiniO wrote: »

I thought that fact they triggered Article 50 meant they don't have a choice now.

The experts themselves couldn't even answer that.

Del2005

CeilingFly wrote: »

Whether the UK exits the EU or not, a UK licence will still be fully valid in Ireland as cross border licence recognition is not an EU directive.

Yes, all EU licences are recognised, but states may also recognise licences from whatever other jurisdictions they wish and frankly, I just can't see Ireland suddenly excluding UK licences.

There will have to be a mutual recognition treaty between the UK and the EU, or us and the UK if possible, for our licences to be recognised in each jurisdiction. I can see that being the first thing discussed ahead of trade, movement of people, food regulations etc.

The UK is playing for a hard exit and if they don't allow free movement of people then the other benefits we enjoyed are going. Our common travel area and the Irish non alien status in the UK is at risk.

But so far the only thing we know for sure is that the UK is leaving the EU and how that happens will be found out in March 2019,until then it's best to hope for a friendly break up but prepare for a bitter divorce.

Marcusm

return guide wrote: »

Now that the UK have started their exit from the EU, it is finally time to trade in my old paper licence for an Irish one.

The NDLS website quotes a 2-3 month turnaround, has anybody got any experiences of the process?

Thanks

I arranged mine in the past 6 months. It took 6-8 weeks. Frustrating process as the outsource provider are very poorly set up. Actual appointment was easy to make (Leopardstown) but I could have run out of there with the sheer incompetence of the staff.

CiniO

Del2005 wrote: »

There will have to be a mutual recognition treaty between the UK and the EU, or us and the UK if possible, for our licences to be recognised in each jurisdiction.

Driving licences from most countries are generally recognised in most countries around the world.
You can drive in Ireland on licence nearly from everywhere (sometimes having international licence which is literally just a translation is handy).

But it's only licences from EU and EEA countries, which have the advantage of being valid in other EU/EEA countries for all their validity period.

I'm guessing, once UK is gone from EU, UK licences will be treated similar to licence from Switzerland or Australia, etc...

I'm sure Ireland will sign a treaty about exchanging UK licences, but once someone is resident in Ireland, they won't be able to drive on UK licence for more than a year.

GM228

CiniO wrote: »

Driving licences from most countries are generally recognised in most countries around the world.
You can drive in Ireland on licence nearly from everywhere (sometimes having international licence which is literally just a translation is handy).

Actually no you can't, the following is the situation in relation to licence use:-


1. Any Irish/EU/EEA licence holder.

2. Any licence issued from Australia, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey , Canada (Newfoundland, Labrador, Manitoba and Ontario issued only), New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan can drive a vehicle for upto 12 months and can swap for an Irish licence within the 12 months (note certain other conditions such as signing declarations or restrictions to automatic vehicles apply to certain states)

3. Any other country not listed above but which is signed to the 1926 or 1949 Conventions on Road Traffic licences are not recognised here in themselves, but an IDP to accompany such licence is. (There are too many countries to list.)

4. Any country not listed above and not signed to the conventions is not recognised at all.

redcup342

CiniO wrote: »

Driving licences from most countries are generally recognised in most countries around the world.
You can drive in Ireland on licence nearly from everywhere (sometimes having international licence which is literally just a translation is handy).

But it's only licences from EU and EEA countries, which have the advantage of being valid in other EU/EEA countries for all their validity period.

I'm guessing, once UK is gone from EU, UK licences will be treated similar to licence from Switzerland or Australia, etc...

I'm sure Ireland will sign a treaty about exchanging UK licences, but once someone is resident in Ireland, they won't be able to drive on UK licence for more than a year.

Will be grand, Ireland doesn't even follow the current EU Directive regarding driving license recognition.

People are driving around without the accompanying photo ID card and also licenses that are older than the maximum validity of an Irish License for years now and I've never heard of there being an issue:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32006L0126&from=EN

Article 2

Mutual recognition

1. Driving licences issued by Member States shall be mutually recognised.

2. When the holder of a valid national driving licence without the administrative validity period set out in Article 7(2) takes up normal residence in a Member State other than that which issued the driving licence, the host Member State may apply to the licence the administrative validity periods set out in that Article by renewing the driving licence, as from 2 years after the date on which the holder has taken up normal residence on its territory.

Last thing the Republic wants is to shoot itself in the foot screwing all Irish License holders in the UK by making UK licenses invalid in the Republic.

They'll rubber stamp something to make it all good and in the meantime the Gardai will overlook any issues, Customs will have a field day with VRT though

GM228

redcup342 wrote: »

Will be grand, Ireland doesn't even follow the current EU Directive regarding driving license recognition.

People are driving around without the accompanying photo ID card and also licenses that are older than the maximum validity of an Irish License for years now and I've never heard of there being an issue

Ireland is in compliance with the requirements of the EU Directive.

As long as the EU licence is valid it can be used here, the 2 year Irish validity has nothing to do with another EU licence.

What photo ID? If you mean an IDP that has nothing to do with the EU directive, IDPs and their requirements predate the EU.

redcup342 wrote: »

Last thing the Republic wants is to shoot itself in the foot screwing all Irish License holders in the UK by making UK licenses invalid in the Republic.

They'll rubber stamp something to make it all good and in the meantime the Gardai will overlook any issues, Customs will have a field day with VRT though

Indeed Ireland will either come to a mutual agreement with the UK or more likely amend legislation to give a UK licence the same status as EU/EEA licences.

Del2005

redcup342 wrote: »

They'll rubber stamp something to make it all good and in the meantime the Gardai will overlook any issues, Customs will have a field day with VRT though

When they get around to doing the rubber stamping will be the question. If May wins the election I can see this being a bitter divorce and I doubt that the recognition of driving licences will get high priority.

redcup342

GM228 wrote: »

Ireland is in compliance with the requirements of the EU Directive.

As long as the EU licence is valid it can be used here, the 2 year Irish validity has nothing to do with another EU licence.

Netherlands and Germany for example follow the directive to the letter, if your license is over 10 years old in the Netherlands you need to exchange it within 6 months after registering with the City Hall.

Similarly in Germany if it's over 15 years old in Germany you have to exchange it within 6 months of registering.

Ireland doesn't follow the directive to the letter, people continue driving on UK, German and French lifetime licenses.

What photo ID? If you mean an IDP that has nothing to do with the EU directive, IDPs and their requirements predate the EU.

The accompanying Photo ID Card that you have with the paper part, many people never renew it and the Gardai overlook it

Indeed Ireland will either come to a mutual agreement with the UK or more likely amend legislation to give a UK licence the same status as EU/EEA licences.

Of course they will, it's the only country that borders the UK, it would be completely stupid not to.

CiniO

redcup342 wrote: »

Of course they will, it's the only country that borders the UK, it would be completely stupid not to.

You'd wonder if they be allowed to under EU rules?

I'm curious if other EU countries that border non-EU countries do recognise their licences for permanent use?
Like can you use Swiss licence in Germany, France or Italy for permanent for its all validity period?
Or can you use Ukrainian or Belorussian Licence in Poland without exchanging?

redcup342

CiniO wrote: »

You'd wonder if they be allowed to under EU rules?

I'm curious if other EU countries that border non-EU countries do recognise their licences for permanent use?
Like can you use Swiss licence in Germany, France or Italy for permanent for its all validity period?
Or can you use Ukrainian or Belorussian Licence in Poland without exchanging?

No, they just allow exchange, each country has their own rules for that, e.g. Netherlands has the ABC Islands and Surinaam, hell they'll give you a Dutch driving license if you come from anywhere and have a foreign knowledge worker status.

I know a Indian guy that passed his test by sitting in a car with 2 other guys watching another guy driving.

Now he has a Dutch Driving license because he has the 30% Ruling meaning he can exchange his license and get a Dutch EU License.

EU has no say over what rules you exchange licenses on.

GM228

redcup342 wrote: »

Netherlands and Germany for example follow the directive to the letter, if your license is over 10 years old in the Netherlands you need to exchange it within 6 months after registering with the City Hall.

Similarly in Germany if it's over 15 years old in Germany you have to exchange it within 6 months of registering.

Ireland doesn't follow the directive to the letter, people continue driving on UK, German and French lifetime licenses.

In Germany if your EU/EEA licence is over 15 years old it does not need to be changed until 2033.

The requirement to apply the 10/15 year validity is optional, some countries adopted it, some did not, not adopting it does not mean a country is not in compliance.

challengemaster

Actually once the UK leaves the EU, won't it be possible to hold a licence from the UK and Ireland simultaneously? Because it's only illegal to hold licences from different EU states...

GM228

challengemaster wrote: »

Actually once the UK leaves the EU, won't it be possible to hold a licence from the UK and Ireland simultaneously? Because it's only illegal to hold licences from different EU states...

If the UK licence becomes a "recognised licence" then no as you must surrender a recognised licence also.

Statman55

I fancied a new credit card licence ,my paper one has 5 years left on it and they will not transfer this to the card one, not even for a fee ,they dont know how to make money.

Alun

Statman55 wrote: »

I fancied a new credit card licence ,my paper one has 5 years left on it and they will not transfer this to the card one, not even for a fee ,they dont know how to make money.

Just "lose" it then!

challengemaster

GM228 wrote: »

If the UK licence becomes a "recognised licence" then no as you must surrender a recognised licence also.

Its an EU Law that you can't hold 2 EU licences at the same time. There's nothing saying you cannot hold a non-EU licence and an Irish one at the same time AFAIK.

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.

GM228

challengemaster wrote: »

Its an EU Law that you can't hold 2 EU licences at the same time. There's nothing saying you cannot hold a non-EU licence and an Irish one at the same time AFAIK.

Correct, but Irish law requires you to surrender a recognised licence when applying for an Irish licence.

challengemaster

GM228 wrote: »

Correct, but Irish law requires you to surrender a recognised licence.

It requires you, if you become normally resident in Ireland for more than 1 year, to procure an Irish licence by trading your recognised one. It says nothing about holding dual licences. There's nothing stopping you from trading a non-EU licence for an Irish one, then getting another one from your own issuing country.

redcup342

challengemaster wrote: »

It requires you, if you become normally resident in Ireland for more than 1 year, to procure an Irish licence by trading your recognised one. It says nothing about holding dual licences. There's nothing stopping you from trading a non-EU licence for an Irish one, then getting another one from your own issuing country.

AFAIK the License is sent back to the issuing authority and marked as exchanged

A friend of mine in Ireland had this weird situation where he'd moved to Canada, exchanged his license in one territory, then moved somewhere else and exchanged it again and then moved back to Ireland.

The other territory wasn't recognised for license exchange in Ireland and they wouldn't reissue his Irish license as it was recorded as exchanged.

Took him ages to sort out, a ton of letters and phone calls to both offices in Canada and Ireland.

hognef

redcup342 wrote: »

AFAIK the License is sent back to the issuing authority and marked as exchanged

Indeed, and hence the quoted turnaround time of up to three months to process the exchange.

awec

This post has been deleted.

biko

Just a heads up
In US it's a license - in other English speaking countries it's a licence

shrapnel222

re the UK licence, don't forget you need to advise the DVLA of your new address, who will then tell you, you can't keep your UK licence if you have a ROI address. If you then get caught in the UK driving with a UK licence and an invalid address you'll get a massive fine.

basically, switching makes sense if you don't live in the UK

jdmkol

I've gone a bit crosseyed with it all. Another splinter from the Brexit machine.