Driver's licence conversion - Australian to UK

I have read this somewhere but cant remember where!!!

I beleive that if i have an australian D.Licence and an address in England i can get my Aussie one
Transferred to a UK one which in effect is valid in Germany!
Does anyone know where i can get the forms in England? what is the goverment department called??

thanx

rob

And sorry if this has been written before - can someone direct me int he right direction?

cheers

It's the DVLA Link here

Look under Driver Information for "Driving in GB as a new resident" and just follow the links from then on.

HTH.

You are supposed to be resident in the UK to do this, I have thought about doing this also, but after further investigation I think it's harder than it looks

You get the form from the post office in the UK.
I did it while I was still in the UK. I think its possible to do from Germany. You just need friend in the UK who you trust and is willing to help with postage etc, and be willing to be without your passport for a couple of weeks.

You need a UK address in order to get a UK driving licence.

A question: Does the new credit-card style one still carry the holder's address?

My licence is still the pink paper one and has my old UK address.
I applied to the DVLA to change it, but they refused, saying that even though it was a UK licence and I was from the UK, they would not issue a new licence to a non-UK address.
It is also against the (UK) law to have a licence with a false address in the UK.

This causes a dliemma; I asked here in Germany and they said that I may exchange it for a German one, but I don't have to.

So, I guess if you have access to a UK address, you can try to get it changed and then changed again here. But I doubt it will be such an easy process.
MT

When you were resident in the UK?
If you send in your passport, they will check and see if you have a residency permit for the UK, and clearly they'll see a Germish one and then fingers crossed, they'll just send it back and not charge you with fraud as they are going hard nuts on illegal licence dealings.

I lived in the UK for 4 years using a Aussie licence, but changed it about a year ago, just before moving to Germany after reading all the advice on this website.

I'm not sure how much they look at your passport. I thought it was more for the purpose of identification rather then checking your visa. I guess its something to be wary of.

Remember its British public servants you are dealing with, not German ones. They probably couldn't be arsed to do anything beyond looking at the front page.

I read that they are upping the controls on this as they have a big problem with fraud. If anyone has successfully done this from Germany please post here as I would defo take this option if it was viable. Can't really be fucked with studying and doing my tests again

Did it last year - no problems (though I used my Aunt/Uncles address and they did the hard yards for me). Basically they collected the application and sent it to me. I sent them cash and the filled out application back by reg. post and they the sent the licence back to me. It helped that I had a Brit passport - they do ask however on what date you came to the UK.

I have the new pink credit card style and yes it does state the UK address.

Regarding the passport issue - if you have a Brit one then you just fill out the electronic number or something (I beleive it also just for ID) but I did use a date that I did go to the UK for a wedding.

That situation is completely different from a non EU national. Anyone here from outside the EU successfully do this??

I did this when I was in the UK (although I was living there). However, I didn't have to send my passport anywhere, and I'm surprised that they will allow you to do that because I was under the impression that passports are not meant to be sent by mail.

Basically the passport part is just to prove your identity. So what I had to do was go to the post office, fill out the form and then show that form and my passport to a post office employee. They checked that I was the person on the passport, and then stamped/signed a certain section. Then this form and my old drivers license was sent. In a few weeks, I got a British one.

I also don't know the situation with a non EU passport, but this is how it worked for me. If you actually fly over there and do this in person, I think it would all work out no problems.

i think ill give it a go.
thanks to all ill let you know how it goes

They will use your passport to determine your residency status, as far as they told me.
The basic rule for license conversion, whether you are EU or non-EU, are that you are normally resident in the UK, and have a permanent address. Note that the first point doesn't preclude you if you have a german visa in your passport, they will just check for evidence that you appear to be resident in the UK normally. I have both a german visa, plus a UK ancestry visa, and they said, when I asked via email, that this was enough. Since there are no exit stamps from the UK, it will be hard for them to tell anyway.
The new license can be sent back to Germany, rather than your "permanent" UK address, but this must be specified in a cover letter along with your application form.

The majority of the above you can gather from the DVLA website. One point which I haven't been able to correlate with the website was the fact that I was told that, since I don't have an EU passport, I could not do this at a post office or over the counter at a DVLA centre, and I could only send it in either from here or in the UK; so if that's the case, either way your passport is in the mail, which is always a nervous moment.

a mate of ours from aussie did this a few months ago

Righto, I'm doin it!

So I found out that said mate actually holds an EU passport. Has any non-EU person managed to scam this licence successfully?

I have a British license, though at the time I got it I was a resident there. I am a New Zealand citizen.
But this was some years ago...

I've just swapped my UK license for a German one, but my UK one originally came from an Australian one. On the translation, it clearly said that this had happened, and now I'm a little concerned that they are going to tell me that they can't change it to German and that my UK license is not valid here. Has anyone done a swap like this (Aussie -> UK -> German) successfully?

Ok, was getting a little worried cause I hadn't heard anything after 5 weeks, and they said I'd here back within three, but got a letter yesterday that said to come pick up my license. Went down today and now have a German one.

So it seems the fact that I swapped my Australian for a UK one beforehand was no issue.

Saying that, I didn't do this in a dodgy way. I was actually living in the UK when I swapped my license over, so this might have made the difference. If they can see that you swapped your Australian for a UK while you were a resident here, maybe it would be a different story, or maybe not. That one is yet to be tested I guess.

I think if I had got a UK license while living here, I'd just stick with the UK one to be sure.

What's the state on that nowadays? It used to be (I'm talking twenty years ago here) that you had to swap your UK licence for a German one after 6 or 12 months. In conjunction with all the publicty about people trying to avoid the "idiot's test" by getting Polish or Czech licences, I seem to remember reading something about an EU directive that licences from all member countries had to be recognised in all other EU countries. Is that a permanent state of affairs, or only until you have been resident for a certain period of time.

PS, I always keep my old green UK licence with me, in case of "emergencies".

This one has been stated a gazillion times. You can keep your UK licence - no need for a German one. As it happens my wife is German and still has just the UK pink licence.

but keep an eye out of the expiration date on the UK photocard licenses, they only last for 10 years. I'd advise changing it before it expires as the uk will not send a licence abroad. The advantages of a german one are that it does not expire, does not have your address on, and you only have to carry the card around, without a stupid paper part. I never understood why the UK made a card version, then forced you to carry the paper part as well.

Methinks thy talk toffee.

Just grabbed mine from my wallet and it is very clearly marked for all my groups VALID TO 27-01-36 which gives me another 28 years I reckon.

Just checked, my green one expires in 2015 - the day before my 70th birthday! Edit: As does Johnny's, I see from his profiile.

It was issued on 1.12.76, so I guess I got pretty good value for money there.

My pink UK photocard circa 2000 definitely had a 10 year expiry on it, which is why I now have a German one. Even the Führerscheinstelle told me I didn't need to change an EU licence, until I pointed out the expiry date meant I would need to change it in 2 years time anyway and I'd rather not wait until the last minute.

My British one was also valid until my 70th birthday.

I have read that if the address is not valid on the British license, and your main residence is no longer in the UK, that you should get it changed.

In my case, the address on my license was one I left years ago, and I don't really have that many close relatives over there that I could change the address to.

Interestingly, the German license has no address on it.

It isn't very clearly marked, but the expiration date is shown on the photocard of the uk licence.

Just so you know I am not talking toffee:
http://www.ukmotorists.com/photocard_licences.htm#11
http://www.directgov.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Dr...nsing/DG_068315

I guess the address is on there because your UK license is also you ID card. I really wish I could change my Australian License to a UK one, but I am registered here and I cannot really de-register for tax reasons, so my only option is to do a complete German License even though I may not stay here for more than a couple of years. I have already done the sight test and the first aid certificate because I gave up hope for the easy exchange thing to happen in the near future. I do have several years of legal driving experience in Germany because it used to be possible to drive for one year with the Australian License and I moved back and forth between Australia and Germany a lot, which made it possible to avoid the exchange, but now it is only 6 month and I cannot de-register here to start over again. It really sucks.

Ohhhh apologies!! You are correct. I shall go and eat some toffee.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Drive...nsing/DG_068315

My 4b on the front says 2012. By then I shall have finally tired of German supermarket food and be living back in the UK anyway so not a problem.

p.s. Last time Pootle looked into these things, they were not actually organised at DVLA and you did not have the option to change to a non-UK address even though DVLA acknowledged that the licence WAS legal for a UK citizen living in another European country.

Forget that! You don't ever need to officially REGISTER in the UK - it doesn't exist as a concept, so likewise no need to de-register here.

Just get yourself a moody address in the UK with a friend, get a UK licence, and use it over here.

I thought about that as well, but there is this question they ask you about whether you have lived outside the UK in the previous 6 month and I am afraid they could find out about my residency in Germany. Not sure If they would care, but I could end up having to pay a fine if they find out, or be in some other kind of trouble.

I have heard that they are cracking down on people getting licenses in other countries and using them here. Usually this in the case of people getting licenses in Poland or Czech. I think the problem really occurs when you are registered in Germany and during this time the license has been issued in a place other than Germany.

I see Johnny's just beaten me to the post with his grovelling apology.

On the same government site I found this regarding the validity of EC licences in the UK and I very much suspect the same will be true in Germany, although I haven't been able to find it yet:


Obviously, as long as you don't get involved in an accident then it's the usual case of "wo kein Kläger - da kein Richter".

On the other hand you might have a bit of a problem if you happen to get caught in a traffic control and get the wrong cop. I ran my UK car on UK plates (legally taxed MoT'ed etc.) for about two years after moving here, but after getting stopped by same cops (on my way to work) three times in about six months, I finally chickened out and re-registered the car in Germany!

It's not 100% kosher - you are supposed to be a permanent UK resident etc. But your call. I know what I would do.

How the hell did you get insurance though??? German insurance companies would never touch you, and I cannot see a UK insurer covering you for more than about 90 days overseas.

Yeah, I'm still considering it as an option as well.

I ran my British registered car here for a year before I imported it and had a permanent green card through IIRC legal and General. It was a special policy meant for people who were going abroad temporarily and was absolutely kosher. This was however more than 20 years ago so they may not do such a thing anymore. Actually thinking about it I had the same policy when I worked in Sweden before hand as well.

Good question, I can't really remember for sure, but I suspect I "forgot" to inform the insurance company every time I went abroad! At the time I was back in the UK for a visit every couple of months, I was still working for a UK company who got the follow-up contract to look after the Process Control Systems I had installed for Bayer Brunsbüttel five or six years earlier, so I could always "prove" I had only been out of the country for a month or two. Since I didn't have any accidents, I never had to put it to the test, to see if I would really have got away with it!

Edit: having read Allershausen's post, I'm also talking about over twenty years ago and thinking about it, I know I had my motorbike on a green card at the time, I believe from Norwich Union (virtually all motorcyclists were insured by Norwich Union then, if I've got the company right) and I remember I changed my car insurance to the same company, so it might have been to get a permanent green card for the car as well.

I actually made a claim on mine when I was in Sweden, a big German truck reversed into me, and it was no problem, I got the car repaired in Sweden and the garage got the money from the insurance. Thinking about it, I'm now amazed it worked so well!

I had a German insurance on a British registered car over here until my MOT ran out and I decided to ditch the car. Insurer was AXA arranged via an agency in Berlin - Goddard Insurance Agency (Tel 030 8335088. Dumped the insurance with the car though as it was relatively pricey (although to be fair I think about the same as AXA would have charged for that car with German plates.

regarding the whole changing Australian (or any non EU) to UK license thing, does anyone know if the law has changed recently? I followed the DVLA link given on the first page and it seems they may have stopped this.

* you will not be able to exchange your driving licence for a British one, however, you will be able to drive in Great Britain (GB) on your full, valid driving licence for up to 12 months from the time you first become resident
* you will need to stop driving once the 12 months are over
* if you wish to continue driving in GB you will need to get a GB provisional driving licence and sit a theory and practical driving test

This is the link I used to get the info:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Drive...ence/DG_4022562

under Interactive Tools, click on
'Use the 'exchange driving licence' interactive too'
I then said Im a resident, Car License, then Other Country (Australia etc etc)

You have to say "Gibraltar or a Designated Country". You may have overlooked the definition of designated countries at the bottom. Australia is a designated country


http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/Motoring...bmit= +Next +

marie-claire: thanks, you are right. i should have read more clearly!

thanks again.

You're welcome, Daq. It may also still possible that Australia will be added to Anlage 11 (list of countries which have license exchange agreements with Germany). New Zealand has been added last year, Australia is still in the process of being accepted. Good luck!

Does anyone have any inside info on when Australia will be added to this list?
I really don't want to take these tests etc when I've been driving for 24 years already!!
OR does anybody know of a driving school in Hamburg where you can get a "fast" drivers license...

Hallo Everyone!
I'm new here but have read the thread as I'm also looking at exchanging my australian license for a UK license.
So based on what's been written so far, here's my situation and my plan:
Situation
I have an Australian Passport with a German Visa,
have been studying in German for the last 6 years,
and as I don't want to go through all the hassel and costs of getting a german license am planning on doing the following:
Plan
Fly to London for a couple of days,
goi to a DVLA office,
fill out the form (D1),
show them my passport,
give them my australien license,
give them the adress of a mate of mine in London where they can send the UK license,
pay the 40 pounds or whatever it costs,
fly home to Germany and get my mate to send me the UK license when it arrives.

So here's the tricky part.
I'm not actually a UK-Resident.
There have been some theories posted as to wheather or not and as to how they check if you're a resident.
My question is:
does anyone know what they might ask and what I should say concerning residency?
I mean, do I have to have been in England for at least 6 months or something?

Would be great if anyone aktually has some first-hand knowledge!

cheers!

There is a question on the form asking if you had been a resident in another EU country in the previous 6 months. I think in order to get your license changed you have to answer no to this question, but I have no experience or knowledge of how they check up on this. I would be very interested to know that as well.

You do all this at a Post Office, not the DVLA. You only have to convince the clerk at the Post Office of your eligibility to get a UK license, however seeing as you don't have a residents permit for the UK, then you might run into trouble.

@marie-claire,
thanx for the info.
Do you know where I kind find a digital version of the form online?
Just so I know which questions it contains. I know I will have to get an original form anyway, but would like to have look at it before I fly to London.
I found a digital version myself online a few weeks ago but can't find it any more.
I'll keep you all up to date on anything I find out or do - only concerning the license issue though

Here you go... page 9

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/media/pdf/leaflets/inf38.pdf