# Exchange UK Licence for a French one



## william99

Has anyone done this recently?
Am totally clueless about computers so am surprised l have got this far.
I've just about managed to create an ANTS account, so what will they then need from me?
Ok, perhaps l'm asking for someone to hold my hand in all of this, but it all gets so confusing.
Any help whatsoever appreciated.
Regards


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## Crabtree

There is a Facebook group about exchanging your driving licence.I am sure someone will have the link
But do you actually need to change it-ie is it about to expire/have you got points/lost it?









Demande en ligne d'échange de permis de conduire étranger (Démarche en ligne)


Téléservice disponible en français uniquement, accessible via FranceConnect ou avec vos identifiants ANTS. Si vous n'avez pas d'identifiants ANTS, il est proposé de créer un compte pour avoir un espace personnel sur le site de l'ANTS. Ce téléservice vous permet de demander en ligne l'échange de...




www.service-public.fr


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## rynd2it

Crabtree said:


> There is a Facebook group about exchanging your driving licence.I am sure someone will have the link
> But do you actually need to change it-ie is it about to expire/have you got points/lost it?
> 
> 
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> Demande en ligne d'échange de permis de conduire étranger (Démarche en ligne)
> 
> 
> Téléservice disponible en français uniquement, accessible via FranceConnect ou avec vos identifiants ANTS. Si vous n'avez pas d'identifiants ANTS, il est proposé de créer un compte pour avoir un espace personnel sur le site de l'ANTS. Ce téléservice vous permet de demander en ligne l'échange de...
> 
> 
> 
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> www.service-public.fr





william99 said:


> Has anyone done this recently?
> Am totally clueless about computers so am surprised l have got this far.
> I've just about managed to create an ANTS account, so what will they then need from me?
> Ok, perhaps l'm asking for someone to hold my hand in all of this, but it all gets so confusing.
> Any help whatsoever appreciated.
> Regards


Applying for a French Driving Licence is the name of the Facebook group. Note that the admin archives the site (making it non-discoverable) when she takes a break at weekends or for vacation so you might have to be patient in finding it. It's a gold mine of information including step-by-step instructions and screen shots.

Good luck


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## rynd2it

william99 said:


> Has anyone done this recently?
> Am totally clueless about computers so am surprised l have got this far.
> I've just about managed to create an ANTS account, so what will they then need from me?
> Ok, perhaps l'm asking for someone to hold my hand in all of this, but it all gets so confusing.
> Any help whatsoever appreciated.
> Regards


Heres a link to the Facebook group - it was archived when I last posted:






Facebook







www.facebook.com


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## Mirage123

Hi, I looked into this recently and you don't need to do it if your license was issued before Brexit (I forget whether that's us officially leaving the EU or the end of the transition period).
It remains a valid "European" license for as long as it is valid, and its only then that you can/need to change it to a French one.


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## rynd2it

Mirage123 said:


> Hi, I looked into this recently and you don't need to do it if your license was issued before Brexit (I forget whether that's us officially leaving the EU or the end of the transition period).
> It remains a valid "European" license for as long as it is valid, and its only then that you can/need to change it to a French one.


31/12/2020 is the cut off date, if you move to France after that you have 1 year to exchange


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## Mirage123

rynd2it said:


> 31/12/2020 is the cut off date, if you move to France after that you have 1 year to exchange


Don't think so:

*Vous vous installez en France* et vous vous demandez si vous pouvez *conduire avec votre permis étranger* ? Un permis de conduire délivré par un *pays noneuropéen* (à l'exception d'un permis britannique délivré avant 2021) est *valable* pendant *1 an* à partir de l'acquisition de la résidence normale.








Échange de permis de conduire obtenu hors EEE (installation en France)


Vous vous installez en France et vous vous demandez si vous pouvez conduire avec votre permis étranger ? Un permis de conduire délivré par un pays non européen (à l'exception d'un permis britannique délivré avant 2021) est valable pendant 1 an à partir de l'acquisition de la résidence normale en...




www.service-public.fr





If you then click on that link and select that you're British and you got your license before 2021, you don't need to exchange it:

Vous n'avez *pas besoin de demander l'échange* de votre permis britannique contre un permis français.
Votre permis britannique est reconnu en France tant qu'il est en cours de validité.


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## zarathustra

I have the old paper license, and have followed the FB group long ago waiting on the outcome after Brexit... Turns out there are only a small handful of scenarios in which I can exchange my license - there's less than 6 months before the expiry (mine's more than 25 years away), you have points to be deducted, its lost/stolen, or it's in such a state of disrepair that you have to replace it. For any other reason ANTS will refuse. There is a French document (from a governmental source) online (provided by the FB group), which I print and keep with me in the car, which dictates that the UK license is recognised and valid... I feel I'm destined to be one of the last people to carry around an old relic in the years to come.

I did get pulled over by the gendarmes once just before Brexit during a random check, and he wasn't at all happy that I had a UK license... I did argue that it was valid for all of the EU... He didn't pursue it further but was insistent I exchange it, but I think he was ill informed and didn't realise that ANTS were simply refusing exchanges at the time because they were overwhelmed, by requests and it wasn't really necessary.


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