Licence Question

STP1

Hi there,

I currently have a UK car driving licence. I'm living in Ireland and am looking to get a bike licence (A1).
If I apply for the A1 licence can it be treated as separate one would anyone know?, In as much as I don't want to forego my UK licence, and I'm afraid they might make me amalgamate it with the Irish A1 licence?. I would rather keep my UK one for the car and get a new/separate one for the bike.
Cheers.
S.

punisher5112

STP1 wrote: »

Hi there,

I currently have a UK car driving licence. I'm living in Ireland and am looking to get a bike licence (A1).
If I apply for the A1 licence can it be treated as separate one would anyone know?, In as much as I don't want to forego my UK licence and amalgamate it with the A1?, but woudl rather keep my UK one for the car and get a new/seperate oen for the bike?.
Cheers.
S.

You would get a learner permit.

If you are here permanently then you must swap licence.

Ndls will have all info.

You will need to do theory test also.

STP1

Thanks for that, I was hoping I'd be able to keep the UK one for driving a car

Theory test done an dusted

cantdecide

Why would you wish to have separate licences, out of curiosity?

The other point is that it's virtually the same time, expense and effort to get the cat A licence (assuming you're over 24). Would you not consider just going for the cat A now and be done with the whole licencing malarkey? IME, if someone gets on the road on two wheels proper, even the A2 loses its luster in time.

STP1

cantdecide wrote: »

Why would you wish to have separate licences, out of curiosity?

The other point is that it's virtually the same time, expense and effort to get the cat A licence (assuming you're over 24). Would you not consider just going for the cat A now and be done with the whole licencing malarkey? IME, if someone gets on the road on two wheels proper, even the A2 loses its luster in time.

I’d like to keep them separate because if I return to the UK I’d want to take my current licence with me, and not surrender it here.
I thought that considering the bike licence is a separate category that it would be no problem to just apply for a separate licence for the bike and leave my car one as is?.

Didn’t think I could apply directly for a category A first time, thought I’d need to work my way up to it (A1, A2, then A).

boardsuser1

This might help
http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Learner-Drivers/Motorcyclists/no-name-yet/

STP1 wrote: »

I’d like to keep them separate because if I return to the UK I’d want to take my current licence with me, and not surrender it here.
I thought that considering the bike licence is a separate category that it would be no problem to just apply for a separate licence for the bike and leave my car one as is?.

Didn’t think I could apply directly for a category A first time, thought I’d need to work my way up to it (A1, A2, then A).

STP1

Thanks Truck, I’ll have a read through that.
Will need to forget about the whole idea of a bike though if they do want to take my current UK\car licence

cantdecide

STP1 wrote: »

I thought that considering the bike licence is a separate category that it would be no problem to just apply for a separate licence for the bike and leave my car one as is?.

You're not permitted to hold more than one EU full licence at the same time even if they are for different categories (Brexit issues aside), as stated above.

STP1 wrote: »

I’d like to keep them separate because if I return to the UK I’d want to take my current licence with me, and not surrender it here.

You'd always be free to exchange your Irish licence back to the UK later. The UK would also grant you the motorcycle categories your earned here as if you'd earned them there. You would be no worse off by exchanging the UK licence here after passing the bike test even if you moved back to the UK later.

Also, although you're not required to exchange the UK licence here at all (unless you earn new full licence entitlements here) but the other advantage of exchanging is that you avoid the administrative nightmare of exchanging having had your UK licence lost or stolen. You may also get better insurance rates with an Irish full licence. There's also the issue of renewing the full licence while being resident here.

STP1 wrote: »

Didn’t think I could apply directly for a category A first time, thought I’d need to work my way up to it (A1, A2, then A).

No working up necessary if you are over 24.

STP1

cantdecide wrote: »

You're not permitted to hold more than one EU full licence at the same time even if they are for different categories (Brexit issues aside), as stated above.



You'd always be free to exchange your Irish licence back to the UK later. The UK would also grant you the motorcycle categories your earned here as if you'd earned them there. You would be no worse off by exchanging the UK licence here after passing the bike test even if you moved back to the UK later.

Also, although you're not required to exchange the UK licence here at all (unless you earn new full licence entitlements here) but the other advantage of exchanging is that you avoid the administrative nightmare of exchanging having had your UK licence lost or stolen. You may also get better insurance rates with an Irish full licence. There's also the issue of renewing the full licence while being resident here.



No working up necessary if you are over 24.

Thanks cantdecide.
Re holding more than one EU licence, I see that is an EU directive, however I don’t think it is actually written into Irish law (I’d have some discussion with NLDS!!).

Also Are you certain about residency and needing to change licence?

cantdecide

STP1 wrote: »

Also Are you certain about residency and needing to change licence?

Definitely. If you had an exchangeable foreign licence from outside the EU it would be a different story. You'd be surprised who we exchange with - South Africa, Australia, parts of Canada, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand but as long as it's an EU licence, there is no requirement to exchange given your circumstances today.

Just to be clear, the NDLS won't care about your UK licence until after you pass your motorcycle test. You won't need to surrender your full licence in order to get the bike permit but you would be required to register it so there is no overlap of categories.

boardsuser1

STP1 wrote: »

Thanks Truck, I’ll have a read through that.
Will need to forget about the whole idea of a bike though if they do want to take my current UK\car licence

No problemo.

If it’s any comfort to you I’ll be going through the process myself. My old school provisional is almost 5 years out of date so I’ll have to resit the theory test again as i won’t manage it between Now and next March, the ibt and test that is.

STP1

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

No problemo.

If it’s any comfort to you I’ll be going through the process myself. My old school provisional is almost 5 years out of date so I’ll have to resit the theory test again as i won’t manage it between Now and next March, the ibt and test that is.

Did the theory test last week, the official CD is seriously worth getting.

Lumen

I considered attempting to keep my UK licence as there are serious advantages to having one (immunity to points) but concluded that it was too much hassle.

If you lose or have stolen your UK license when non resident in the UK you have to lie to get it replaced and this is a criminal offence. I imagine it's the same if you pass the UK test and want your UK licence upgraded.

You also have to disclose your UK license when getting an Irish learner permit and to lie is probably also a criminal offence.

Vologda69

Don't forget that UK will have to renegotiate a new driver licence exchange agreement with the EU after brexit. A bilateral agreement with Ireland is not an option. So holders of UK licences can expect to pay a hefty premium for insurance after brexit as they will no longer be classed as an EU licence.

macplaxton

Vologda69 wrote: »

So holders of UK licences can expect to pay a hefty premium for insurance after brexit as they will no longer be classed as an EU licence.

UK licence holders may pay the same / more / less after Brexit depending on the mood of the insurer would be a more accurate summary, as nobody knows what will happen.

Doesn't really matter if the licence is EU or non-EU really. What matters is the opinion of the insurer of the relevant licence.

I've added a a US driver or two on my insurance for temporary purposes and the premium was far from hefty, it was quite cheap.

Colm17RvB

macplaxton wrote: »

I've added a a US driver or two on my insurance for temporary purposes

Temporary is the key word there... NDLS gives up to 12 months for a temporary visit.

Anyway chances are there will be some sort of agreement over UK licence's validity in EU when Brexit finally occurs.

Long and the short of it is the OP will have to get the Irish licence if they proceed to pursue an A1 licence. One person, one licence, having multiple licenses is fraud.