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UK driving licence

UK driving licence

Postby cococat0315 » Sat Aug 26, 2017 4:46 pm

Hi
Is my UK driving license able to use freely at any time in Spain? Do I need to register it? Looking for moving to Spain permanently. Thanks
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby marcliff » Sat Aug 26, 2017 5:06 pm

cococat0315 wrote:Hi
Is my UK driving license able to use freely at any time in Spain? Do I need to register it? Looking for moving to Spain permanently. Thanks



It all depends on what type of licence you have. If it is the UK photocard EU model which expires after 10 years then you can use your licence here. If it is the paper one or one with a longer than 10 year expiry date then you can only use it for short periods (ie holidays).
Regardless, if you are going to live here permanently then you must exchange the licence for a Spanish one within 2 years. If it expires (check the photocard to see when it does) whilst you are here then you cannot renew it either in UK (as you won't be living there) nor in Spain and would have to take a Spanish driving test.
Best thing is to change it for a Spanish one once you have taken residency here.
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby jpeg » Sat Aug 26, 2017 5:33 pm

*
Last edited by jpeg on Sun Aug 27, 2017 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby marcliff » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:19 pm

jpeg wrote:if a resident you have 2 months to change to a spanish licence not 2 years



Can you show where that is written down?
Firstly, this is Spain and I doubt many could actually change their licence within 2 months in the first place. OK, it took me about that long but some people had been waiting for over 6 months for DVLC to provide confirmation.
Secondly, I'd rather read the official bit rather than what some bloke up the pub told me. The Guardia Civil on the N332 site specifically states:
Referring to the period of validity of driving licences, set out in Article 2 Paragraph 2 of the directive (2006/126/CE of the EU and 818/2009 which came into force on Jan 19 2013) where the holder of a valid licence without the administrative validity period specified in paragraph 2 of article 7 (the one that refers to licences with a validity of more than 10 years) the host member state may apply to permit administrative validity periods provided for in the Directive by the renewal of driving licences from 2 years the date on which the holder established habitual residence in it's territory.


And to put it even more clearly, if you received legal residence in Spain dated after January 19 2013 you must renew your licence from the moment 2 years of residence in Spain has been made.

And just to finish this off once and for all, this is the official UK.gov version from the British Consulate:]
These changes have come about as a consequence of the implementation in Spain of Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on driving licences which aims to harmonise the issue of driving licences across all member states of the European Union.
This legislation affects those British nationals resident in Spain who hold an old-style UK licence which doesn’t have the 10-year validity period and who have been resident in Spain for 2 years. In Spain, once the licence-holder has resided for two years, they are obliged to renew it or exchange it for a Spanish driving licence.
So if you'd like to show me where the Guardia Civil, the DGT and the British Consulate are wrong and it really is 2 months then please point it out so I can tell all those bodies they are wrong.

And they all refer to the old style driving licence. As I understand it, the photocard with a validity of 10 years can be used up to its expiry date with no need for renewal but, the important thing, you can't renew it in Spain or UK if it runs out, hence the change it for a Spanish one before that happens.

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Re: UK driving licence

Postby Rodt » Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:02 pm

Sewell done Marcliff, another excellent post, keep up the good work :text-thankyouyellow:
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby cococat0315 » Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:56 pm

Thanks very much guys! Just checked, my driving license is photocard valid for 10 years. So I will exchange it to Spanish one once I become a resident in Spain. but for exchanging? do I need to take any test? or just pay some fee and fill in some forms that's all? Sorry to be pain in the ass! Thanks!!
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby marcliff » Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:09 pm

cococat0315 wrote:Thanks very much guys! Just checked, my driving license is photocard valid for 10 years. So I will exchange it to Spanish one once I become a resident in Spain. but for exchanging? do I need to take any test? or just pay some fee and fill in some forms that's all? Sorry to be pain in the ass! Thanks!!



No test but you will probably need a medical. Spanish drivers have to have one on a regular basis. Don't worry, if you can walk into the examining room without bumping into anything you'll pass the medical.
Bit of a nuisance with bureaucracy though (like all things here). You have to get the form, make an appointment, pay the fee (it's not that much) go and show your licence and get a form to say you have applied. Then you go back once they have contacted DVLA, hand in your licence and get a piece of paper saying you have handed in your licence (which covers you if you get stopped) and then wait for the Spanish one to turn up in the post.
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby cococat0315 » Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:31 pm

Perfect! The medical exam is fine for me, trying not to bump into anything although I am kinda clumsy..lol....
Another thing next will be buying a second hand car over there, sounds like a lot more expensive than England though.
I am thinking to hire one to start with and then buy one once the right one turned up
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby marcliff » Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:48 pm

Cars from new are now about the same price as UK. The price is obviously inflated due to the falling pound. For example, the car I bought last year was €28,800 at 1.30 to the pound so about £22,000. The UK list price was £24,990 so a bit cheaper. Now that same car would cost over £26,500 so there's one reason they are now higher as we do the conversion thingy.
A car up to about 3 or 4 years old will cost similar to the UK. It's after that that the prices seem extortionate as they don't lose their value like UK. A 3 year old saloon would cost about €8,000 but a 8 year old can cost around €6,000. I've even seen cars at 13 years old going for about €4,000.
Good when you trade it in or sell it (for example I bought a 3 year Ford Focus for €7,100 and sold it nearly 2 years later for €7,000 to a dealer).
It's a fact of life that things in Spain will now appear more expensive. We have the double whammy of getting less in our pensions or whatever and then paying higher when comparing the exchange rate. Things aren't necessarily going up in Spain but it is for us Brits.
I actually drove my car over to start with and used it for a month. Then bought a car and drove my UK one back home and my son in law sold it for me. Then flew back and had the car here. During Feb the ferry wasn't too expensive and we could load the car up with stuff to bring over.
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Re: UK driving licence

Postby cococat0315 » Sun Aug 27, 2017 11:47 am

They are really useful information! driving over is a good idea with a load of stuff. But I think I will ship the stuff over, not furnitures or white goods though, will just leave them in the UK for tenant.
I saw a topic of second hand car dealer, will have a look at each of them once I move over.
I think what I will do to deal with the double whammy would be buying a couple of small apartments and rent them out to get some income if the market is worthy to do so....hopefully....
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