# Update on driving licence exchanges



## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

In a nutshell if you're applying for a licence exchange under the WA but not received it yet then you cannot drive after June 30th.

UK DRIVING LICENCES - LONG POST BUT IMPORTANT INFO!

There is still such a lot of confusion over the UK driving licences here in Spain so let me try to make things a bit clearer.

If you are coming to reside in Spain with any type of 3rd country national's visa this information does NOT apply to you. It only applies to those who are resident or applying for residency as a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Those of you who are applying for or have already acquired a TIE, or the old (but still valid) green residency should have exchanged your UK driving licences for a Spanish one after 6 months here. Many did not and the Spanish have been very kind to us and virtually cast a blind eye. However, now we are no longer EU citizens they are unable to do that.

We placed such a huge demand on Spain, maybe greater than anticipated, not only to exchange our licences but also to get our residencies that, together with the skeleton staff working during lockdown, Spain realised it could not process everybody before the end of the transition period on 31 December. The UK driving licences of British residents who were in Spain before 31 December 2020 cease to be valid after the end of this month - 30 June. For the exchange process to be started, the UK licence has to be validated with DVLA and there was to be no international exchange of data after the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December so Spain very kindly offered a grace period of 6 months to everybody who was unable to exchange their licences before the end of the year provided that, before 30 December 2020, they had registered their intention to exchange. Many are still awaiting their TIE resolution letters so are still unable to exchange so again, being super generous, Spain has given an extra 6 months for them to effect the exchange. This does mean that if, before 30 December 2020, you registered your intention to exchange you now have until 31 December 2021 to actually exchange it but your UK licence ceases to be valid after 30 June so you will NOT be able to drive here.

There are negotiations between UK/Spain but no agreement to date so as it stands at the moment, please be aware that your UK licence will cease to be a valid document after 30 June as will your insurance, I imagine.

Together with the British Embassy, we have successfully challenged some of the DGTs misinformation and misinterpretation of the WA and, as I have been asked a series of questions by some of you, I put them to the British Embassy so read on:


On 30 June UK driving licences cease to be valid here for residents.
That is correct, as of today's date, for those who were resident in Spain before 31 December 2020. However, we are in contact with the Spanish authorities in relation to the possible extension of this measure and we will provide an update as soon as we are able.


Does this only affect residents who are benficiaries of the WA?
As set out on the DGT website:

For those who were resident in Spain prior to 31 December 2020, the 6 month period to continue driving with a UK licence started on 1 Jan 2021, meaning it will end on 30 June 2021.

For those who have arrived in Spain since 1 Jan 2021, they can use their UK licence for a period of 6 months from the date of entry or from the date they obtained legal residence.


What about those who have applied but still not got their TIE, are they considered resident just because they applied although they could be declined?
See above – those who were resident in Spain prior to 31 December 2020 (and therefore entitled to apply for the TIE) currently have until 30 June 2021 to drive on their UK licence. However, we are in contact with the Spanish authorities in relation to the possible extension of this measure and we will provide an update as soon as we are able.


If declined when can they drive until? Is it 6 months after they arrived?
As above.


Those who come here now with, for example an NLV, can drive for 6 months but must apply for the TIE within one month of getting the NLV stamp in their passport. Are they still ok to drive during those 6 months and is the 6 months counted from arrival, from date of application for TIE or actual date on TIE card?
The information on the DGT website states, ‘A partir del 1 de enero de 2021, será de aplicación la normativa general y los permisos expedidos por las autoridades británicas únicamente habilitarán para conducir en España durante seis meses, desde la entrada de su titular en España o desde la fecha de obtención de la residencia legal, no siendo válidos para circular en nuestro país a partir de ese momento.’ (My translation of this - From 01 January 2021, the general regulations will apply and the plicences issued by the British authorities will only enable you to drive in Spain for six months, from the entry of its owner in Spain or from the date of obtaining legal residence, not being valid to circulate in our country from that moment.)


The extension to exchange until 31 Dec does not mean that until they get their TIE, even if registered pre 30 Dec, they can drive after 30 June. (I did ask this at our last meeting and unless I am wrong many still think they can!)
As of today's date, that is correct. The extension previously announced to 31 December 2021 is for the period of time available to complete the exchange process without taking a practical test. Once a UK licence holder has attended their appointment with the DGT and handed over their UK licence, they should receive a temporary licence which is valid for driving in Spain for 3 months.

The extension until 31 December to complete the exchange does not affect the rules on the recognition of the UK licence for driving in Spain (explained above) so unless exchanged before 30 June, that UK licences cease to be valid here for residents.

My additional comments on this - I might add that I have heard since of some who are thinking or have been wrongly told (Bob in the bar again, I don't doubt!) that they can drive on their IDP (International Driving Permit). WRONG. The IDP is not a stand-alone document but must accompany a valid driving licence.

I have also heard that some are planning on asking for duplicate UK licences claiming theirs stolen or lost. Again WRONG. The previous licence would be cancelled by DVLA anyway so it will still cease to be valid after the end of this month.

Sorry to say but there is no way round this. If you registerered your intention before 30 December then as soon as you get your letter of resolution as approved, no need to have the actual card, get an appointment with DGT and exchange your licence. If you need help, contact us.

Those who did not register their intention can only hope that there is a further agreement twixt UK/Spain otherwise to be able to drive here you will have to take the Spanish driving test (theory can be done in English but practical is in Spanish). And you cannot just turn up, you have to go via an authorised driving school, pass the theory first and then they apply for the practical part of the test for you.

Not a very happy ending for them I'm afraid but that's another of those undeclared gifts that Brexit keeps giving us!

Source.

BREXPATS IN SPAIN


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

On the other side, I had a reply from the DVLA a few days ago about changing a Spanish licence to a British one (I was curious). They said they're busy so it could take 4-6 weeks, and I'd have to surrender the Spanish one so it could be sent back to Spain "as part of our exchange agreement". So the UK still seem to think the data exchange process is working, whereas the message above has the Spanish claiming they've been cut off. 

Of course, those Spanish objections seem particularly unjustified when we know that we can access the data on a UK photocard online, because that's exactly what Brits have had to do with hire cars since the paper counterpart was scrapped.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

Spanish to UK still works, it's UK to Spanish which is broken. 

That said if you passed your test in UK then post Brexit reacquiring a UK licence should not involve an exchange and in theory I don't see why you shouldn't be able to hold both, it's EU rules which prohibit that not UK.

Regarding codes required since the counterpart was abolished, despite having exchanged my UK licence for a French one back in 2013, and DVLA saying that my licence has expired (both 10+ years and now over 70), I can still obtain a code!

The implication I draw from that is my entitlement remains and if I were to return to UK and take up residency they would issue me with a licence on demand.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

MataMata said:


> Spanish to UK still works, it's UK to Spanish which is broken.


Doesn't that seem at all odd to you? If Spain is claiming, as in your post above, that the information flow stopped post-Brexit then I don't understand why would still they be sending information to the UK. It's clearly a two-way process. I am very doubtful that the DVLA has managed to set up its own global arrangements to receive information without volunteering any.



MataMata said:


> That said if you passed your test in UK then post Brexit reacquiring a UK licence should not involve an exchange and in theory I don't see why you shouldn't be able to hold both, it's EU rules which prohibit that not UK.


EU rules don't have their own power, they have to be codified into national laws which is why they often vary between member states and come in at different speeds. The UK has withdrawn from the EU but there has been no 'bonfire of red tape' so the restriction on having a second EU licence still exists in UK national law. The DVLA site still holds a press release discussing the need to comply here: Complying with driving licence directive 2006/126/EC

The UK didn't/doesn't object to second licences in principle (see below though).



MataMata said:


> Regarding codes required since the counterpart was abolished, despite having exchanged my UK licence for a French one back in 2013, and DVLA saying that my licence has expired (both 10+ years and now over 70), I can still obtain a code!


It's interesting that you can obtain the code using your old UK licence number because I cannot. I get this message: "_You do not hold a current GB driving licence, a licence has been issued by another licensing authority"._



MataMata said:


> The implication I draw from that is my entitlement remains and if I were to return to UK and take up residency they would issue me with a licence on demand.


Clearly the DVLA don't see it that way and the current stance is to refuse unless you a) return the EU licence or b) declare the EU licence lost.

The third page of this DVLA document says: "UK legislation prohibits a person from applying for a licence if they already hold another valid licence and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a number of administrative measures in place to prevent drivers from holding more than one licence. However, UK legislation does not currently prohibit the holding of more than one licence more generally. We will be introducing such a prohibition, which will be punishable by a fine of up to £1,000 on conviction."
This was all to happen five years ago.



Of course, the post-Brexit regulatory mess shouldn't surprise anyone who has watched a witless Tory party completely waste the 5 years post-2016 on internal bickering.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

Pre both the EU and Brexit licence exchange agreements hark back to the 1949 Geneva convention on traffic and the later 1968 Vienna Convention.

Spain were only a signatory to the 1968 convention which meant that they had not bound themselves to recognising other countries driving licences, UK were also only signatories but apparently after the referendum foresaw the potential issue and on March 28th. 2018 ratified the agreement meaning, amongst other things, that they undertook to recognise Spanish licences thereby facilitating exchanges.

DVLA have a long and richly deserved reputation for being a shambles (although they insist that they _never_ make mistakes!) but in my own case it would seem to me that when I exchanged my licence for a French one, for which procedure I obtained a DVLA 'Letter of Entitlement' as required at the time, France failed to properly follow through on the process by returning my surrendered licence to DVLA which is why their records simply show my licence as expired and why I believe they would reissue me with a licence on demand due to having no knowledge that it was exchanged for a French one. That licence was in turn exchanged for a Spanish one but that would have been checked with France not UK.

It's much the same when exporting cars, for DVLA to place an export marker on a vehicle they must receive back the surrendered V5, if Spain (or wherever) do not return that then DVLA only know that a vehicle is untaxed and/or un MOT'd, or possibly SORN'd.

The tear off section of a V5 is itself NOT proof of export, it's only a declaration of intent to export and therefore will not, or should not, result in an export marker being placed on a vehicle.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

Very lucky! It does sound like you've slipped through the net. If it's cheap to renew, perhaps worth a go just to have a 'spare'.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

I neither want or need a 'spare' driving licence nor do I have a legitimate UK address to have one sent to even if I did, haven't since 2007!


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