Exchange of UK driving licence

Bellmeister

tipptom wrote: »

Just for anyone who is still exchanging.

I done all my paperwork and was told in there that i should receive my licence in a while only to get a letter this morning saying i needed to go in to the UK DVLA site to get them a code no.

For this code no you need your old Uk licence no which they had taken of me,your old UK postcode,and your old UK national insurance to acess this code.

I was just lucky that i had an old photo copy of my licence that i was able to retrieve the licence no and postcode,then half a day up in the attic looking for my old national insurance no that i havnt used in decades and was not sure if i had it still,if you cant find this within ten days then your application is void,you lose your fee and have to reapply and you still need this information and good luck trying to get your old national insurance no from the UK within ten days.

Maybe this is normal but i did not know anything about it,did not see anything about it on the NDLS site and was not told anything about it when i went in with the application before i handed in my old licence.

I was just told my licence would be with me in about four weeks and the reference no would do me if i was pulled in,nothing about keeping the information of the licence they were confiscating or to make sure i knew my old natiional insurance no or what else i would need going forward.

When did you start your application? I've been waiting since late December with no sign of progress. Really tired of this crazy red tape.

tipptom

Bellmeister wrote: »

When did you start your application? I've been waiting since late December with no sign of progress. Really tired of this crazy red tape.

About a month ago i took the application in to them,not sure if you had to get the code for them but it just feels like I am starting again after opening the envelope thinking the licence was in it

Think the code thing started this year as I applied for licence early Jan then got letter about check code. I emailed the code of 25 Feb and have heard nothing since. Don’t know if they have done their checks within the 21 days that the code was valid for either.

tipptom

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Think the code thing started this year as I applied for licence early Jan then got letter about check code. I emailed the code of 25 Feb and have heard nothing since. Don’t know if they have done their checks within the 21 days that the code was valid for either.

Yeah,its only live for a certain time for them.

Maybe they got a hard on for this code when they got the publicity for drivers getting suspended for penalty points or is it because i wanted to retain my C category.

Im not that bothered about it as i have the ref no, but i was blindsided by this code check as i have not seen or heard anything about it and i would have thought they could have said about it at the ndls centre to at least keep the number of the licence they were taking of me, and that i would need my old national insurance number

I didn’t apply for the Cat C because my GP surgery were not doing medical forms for licences in January. NDLS did confirm with me prior to making the appointment that I would have 12 months to add categories to my licence if I wanted but after reading here, I’m not going to use it so what’s the point in renewing my licence every 5 years?

I can’t fault the woman in my local ndls centre. She photocopied my old licence and attached it to the receipt without me asking. And I memorised my National Insurance number when I was issued it at 16 years old and I’ve never forgotten it

tipptom

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

I didn’t apply for the Cat C because my GP surgery were not doing medical forms for licences in January. NDLS did confirm with me prior to making the appointment that I would have 12 months to add categories to my licence if I wanted but after reading here, I’m not going to use it so what’s the point in renewing my licence every 5 years?

I can’t fault the woman in my local ndls centre. She photocopied my old licence and attached it to the receipt without me asking. And I memorised my National Insurance number when I was issued it at 16 years old and I’ve never forgotten it

She gave you back your old licence?

tipptom

tipptom wrote: »

She gave you back your old licence?

She attached a photocopy.

Marcusm

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

I didn’t apply for the Cat C because my GP surgery were not doing medical forms for licences in January. NDLS did confirm with me prior to making the appointment that I would have 12 months to add categories to my licence if I wanted but after reading here, I’m not going to use it so what’s the point in renewing my licence every 5 years?

I can’t fault the woman in my local ndls centre. She photocopied my old licence and attached it to the receipt without me asking. And I memorised my National Insurance number when I was issued it at 16 years old and I’ve never forgotten it

Adding the photocopy of the original is their standard protocol not anything special this woman invented.

tipptom

Marcusm wrote: »

Adding the photocopy of the original is their standard protocol not anything special this woman invented.

I wish someone sent the memo to the woman i was dealing with then.

Just an update.

I still haven’t received my licence so contacted ndls on the phone this morning After spending 40 minutes in the queue, I eventually got talking to someone. Turns out my check code expired before they looked at my file. They never contacted me asking for another. Whilst on the phone I generated a new code and emailed it over. Then I waited till she confirmed receipt of email. She then forwarded it to the relevant department.

So, if you’re still waiting then I suggest -

Charging you phone to max.
Calling first thing in morning.
DO NOT call after 4pm as you may find (like I did) that by the time your call comes around, they’ve all finished work for the day.
Generate a new check code whilst on hold.
Stay on the call until they receive the email they might ask you to resend and have them confirm they have it.
Be pleasant - the person answering your call isn’t the person handling your case and you don’t want your info “going missing”

I’ll keep you posted.

tipptom

I had a letter last week and i thought this is my licence but no,it was a letter asking for another code while not giving any reason what happened with the first one.

I have sent them another one via email and also sent them it in the post as any time i phone them it wont even leave me in a q.

That was the reason I emailed them the first code 5 minutes after generating it. I didn’t trust posting it and it then sitting in a pile on someone’s desk. But they never took action on the email until after the 21 day expiry either.

At least you got a letter!

sayno

I got an automatic email telling me they had recieved the check code this morning. Has anyone any positive stories of actually recieving their driving licence?

tipptom

sayno wrote: »

I got an automatic email telling me they had recieved the check code this morning. Has anyone any positive stories of actually recieving their driving licence?

Have had the automatic email twice now,expect another request for another code a few weeks down the line.

They’re on the third check code from me now.

tipptom

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

They’re on the third check code from me now.

Have they requested another check code from you since you phoned them with the second one and gave it to them over the phone?

tipptom

tipptom wrote: »

Have they requested another check code from you since you phoned them with the second one and gave it to them over the phone?

Yep. I stayed on the phone until she confirmed she had received email with the screenshot of code. A few days later I got an email saying they couldn’t use it as it had been used already. It hadn’t as I only screenshotted the page which showed the code. So I got another code anyway and this time wrote down the lower case and upper case code and sent.

Still waiting.

tipptom

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Yep. I stayed on the phone until she confirmed she had received email with the screenshot of code. A few days later I got an email saying they couldn’t use it as it had been used already. It hadn’t as I only screenshotted the page which showed the code. So I got another code anyway and this time wrote down the lower case and upper case code and sent.

Still waiting.

The first code i got there was headings on the top of the page that you could go into and it said if you had penalty point etc as you clicked into them,is this termed as using the code no if you go in to them?

tipptom

tipptom wrote: »

The first code i got there was headings on the top of the page that you could go into and it said if you had penalty point etc as you clicked into them,is this termed as using the code no if you go in to them?

Possibly. I did nosey around when I got my first code which is probably why it didn’t work. I definitely didn’t with second code.

I think you can generate numerous codes at the same time. If it comes back again, I’m gonna send them on 10

Guess what the postman delivered yesterday?

I did have to ring them again last week though. Spent 50 mins on hold then another 10/15 minutes as the woman answering the calls then having to call up the dept dealing with it and relaying their message back to me. They said they were waiting for DVLA to get back to them, I said I’d sent numerous check codes so they didn’t need to contact dvla, she said she didn’t know and was just passing message on.

I told her my insurance were threatening to cancel and could she ask that department to send me an email with current situation so I could send to my insurance. Never got email

tipptom

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Guess what the postman delivered yesterday?

I did have to ring them again last week though. Spent 50 mins on hold then another 10/15 minutes as the woman answering the calls then having to call up the dept dealing with it and relaying their message back to me. They said they were waiting for DVLA to get back to them, I said I’d sent numerous check codes so they didn’t need to contact dvla, she said she didn’t know and was just passing message on.

I told her my insurance were threatening to cancel and could she ask that department to send me an email with current situation so I could send to my insurance. Never got email

Got mine last week,they sent a text about a week before saying it was going to be sent out.

C1 category is on it and it says expiry is ten years so if i dont want to renew the C1 after 5 years i still got the car licence for the full term.

Long drawn out process and now the agony starts again trying to get my daughters provisional licence,she will be gone through college by the time she gets that at this rate of going.

gucci

Just about to send off my old UK licence here to be exchanged for an Irish one.

Great to come across this thread to learn about the codes and how to help grease the wheels.

I have what I think is a pretty straightforward question, but cant find the answer on the NDLS website or Citizens Information website:

Do I need to send a photo with my application? Its not listed on the required documents to submit? Am I missing something?

gucci

Answer to my own question: No need to send a picture, they use the picture from you PPS Card.

Parachutes

So the Irish license just arrived in the post 3 months after applying. Out of interest I put my old UK license details into the DVLA website and according to that they are still under the impression I have a UK license. So, for anyone like me who’s gone through this process, I suppose in theory you COULD report your old UK license as lost and get a new one sent out and hold both licenses if you were that way inclined.

gucci

I also got my irish driving licence replacement, almost 3 months to the day from when i applied. I guess there isnt any fast track. I called them a couple of times to try and see if I could nudge it on, but it was pretty much a waste of time.

ruahead

Old thread but my husband has to exchange his UK licence for an Irish one. Is the eye test needed for everyone ?

Can anyone who has recently changed let us know the procedure? He has car and motorbike on his licence if that makes a difference. .thanks 🙏♥️🙏