Six months on . . . and still no end in sight to driving licence woes for Brits in France
More than six months into a supposed 12-month exchange period, there is still no agreements on how Brits in France can swap their driving licences for French ones and many people remain stranded with no licence at all.
The issue of swapping driving licences for UK nationals living in France has been a long and painful one with frequently changing advice that has meant that since 2019 most people have been unable to swap their UK licence for a French one.
This situation seemed to have been resolved at the end of 2020 with the announcement that from January 1st 2021, Brits living in France would be able to use an online portal to exchange their licences for French ones.
All UK licence holders would have to exchange their licences, but they had a year to do it.
However when people tried to make the exchange at the start of January they were confronted with an error message.
From the beginning French authorities said this was because a reciprocal agreement between the two countries had not been concluded, but British authorities initially pointed the finger at complications and delays on the French side.
However UK authorities later confirmed that the ongoing delay was was indeed down to the lack of a reciprocal agreement.
Now, six months on, there is still no sign of an agreement and an increasing number of people have been left stranded with no licence at all, since UK licences that expire - either when the holder turns 70 or for medical reasons - cannot be either renewed or exchanged for a French licence.
A spokesman for the Embassy said: "We are unable to comment on specific timelines but hope to secure an agreement as soon as possible and will communicate any updates on the Living in France Guide.
"In the meantime, valid UK licences will continue to be recognised in France until the end of 2021”.
It's not clear how many Britons in France are waiting to exchange their licences but the number could easily stretch into many thousands.
Current rules say anyone who does not manage to make the application to exchange their licence before December 31st 2021 will have to take a French driving test - an expensive undertaking which sees the average cost of the test and compulsory lessons at around €1,500.
READ ALSO Four years and €1,600 - What foreigners should know about taking the French driving test
This is just the latest twist in the long and complicated saga of UK driving licences.
In the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum, the British government told all British people living in France that they would need to exchange their driving licence for a French one.
Thousands of people did so, completely overwhelming officials in the small department at Nantes préfecture which processes all requests for foreign licence exchanges. It resulted in a massive backlog of applications as well as many "lost" ones.
READ ALSO 'I'm 8km from the nearest supermarket' - the Britons in France struggling without driving licences
In 2019, French authorities issued a new directive - only people who fell into certain categories (such as those whose licence was lost or about to expire) needed to exchange their licence, everyone else could carry on driving on their UK one.
They then began work on clearing the backlog and also created a new online process to make applications easier.
This means that anyone who moved to France after 2019 has never been allowed to make an application to exchange their licence.
The backlog appears to be affecting all licence applications, with many American drivers reporting that the process has taken many months.
The swap rules affect only UK licence-holders living in France, British tourists and visitors can continue to drive on a UK licence and do not need an International Driver's Permit.
Comments (15)
See Also
The issue of swapping driving licences for UK nationals living in France has been a long and painful one with frequently changing advice that has meant that since 2019 most people have been unable to swap their UK licence for a French one.
This situation seemed to have been resolved at the end of 2020 with the announcement that from January 1st 2021, Brits living in France would be able to use an online portal to exchange their licences for French ones.
All UK licence holders would have to exchange their licences, but they had a year to do it.
However when people tried to make the exchange at the start of January they were confronted with an error message.
A spokesman for the Embassy said: "We are unable to comment on specific timelines but hope to secure an agreement as soon as possible and will communicate any updates on the Living in France Guide.
"In the meantime, valid UK licences will continue to be recognised in France until the end of 2021”.
It's not clear how many Britons in France are waiting to exchange their licences but the number could easily stretch into many thousands.
Current rules say anyone who does not manage to make the application to exchange their licence before December 31st 2021 will have to take a French driving test - an expensive undertaking which sees the average cost of the test and compulsory lessons at around €1,500.
READ ALSO Four years and €1,600 - What foreigners should know about taking the French driving test
This is just the latest twist in the long and complicated saga of UK driving licences.
In the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum, the British government told all British people living in France that they would need to exchange their driving licence for a French one.
Thousands of people did so, completely overwhelming officials in the small department at Nantes préfecture which processes all requests for foreign licence exchanges. It resulted in a massive backlog of applications as well as many "lost" ones.
READ ALSO 'I'm 8km from the nearest supermarket' - the Britons in France struggling without driving licences
In 2019, French authorities issued a new directive - only people who fell into certain categories (such as those whose licence was lost or about to expire) needed to exchange their licence, everyone else could carry on driving on their UK one.
They then began work on clearing the backlog and also created a new online process to make applications easier.
This means that anyone who moved to France after 2019 has never been allowed to make an application to exchange their licence.
The backlog appears to be affecting all licence applications, with many American drivers reporting that the process has taken many months.
The swap rules affect only UK licence-holders living in France, British tourists and visitors can continue to drive on a UK licence and do not need an International Driver's Permit.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.