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DRIVING

Reader question: Is my UK driving licence still legal in France?

The ongoing diplomatic impasse over driving licence swaps has left many Brits in France confused over whether they can continue driving. Here's the situation.

Published: 31 March 2021 11:24 CEST
Reader question: Is my UK driving licence still legal in France?
Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP

Question: I keep reading about these problems with UK driving licences and now I’m worried – is my UK licence invalid or can I still drive in France?

The saga of swapping UK driving licences for French ones has been a long and painful one, even by Brexit standards. But the situation at present is that Brits living in France need to swap their licence for a French one before the end of the year – except that no applications for exchanges are currently being accepted because the UK and France have so far failed to reach a reciprocal agreement on this.

So what does this mean if you’re in France and you need to drive?

If you are a tourist or visitor this doesn’t affect you – visitors to France can continue to use their UK licence and don’t need an International Drivers Permit.

If you are a permanent resident in France you will need to swap for a French licence, but French authorities have agreed to continue recognising UK licences until December 31st, 2021, so for now you can keep on driving legally.

If your UK licence has expired or is about to expire then you have a problem. UK licences expire once the holder reaches 70 while people with certain medical conditions need to renew their licence regularly and these people are caught in an impossible situation – they cannot renew their licences in the UK because they do not live there and they cannot swap it for a French one because applications are not currently being accepted. The Local has spoken to people, many of them elderly, now stranded in rural France with no driving licence. We have asked British authorities what they advise their nationals in this situation to do but have not received any guidance.

If you have already swapped your licence for a French one then you’re all good, there is no need to take any further action. Many UK nationals resident in France before 2018 have made the swap, but from 2018 applications were frequently returned and since 2019 there has been a block on UK licence holders swapping their licence for a French one, unless they met certain criteria. 

So what can UK driving licence holders do now?

There are only really two options – wait and hope that the British and French governments come to an agreement (negotiations are apparently ongoing) or take a French driving test.

The French driving test is complicated, involving both a theory and a practical test and also expensive – a certain number of lessons is compulsory even for experienced drivers and the total cost of both tests and lessons averages more than €1,000. 

If you choose to wait, you could sign this petition while you’re waiting, it calls on the UK government to end the impasse and make an agreement.

READ ALSO Four years and €1,800 – taking the French driving test as a foreigner 

Member comments

  1. Although a reciprocal is being asked for, as a French person, you can apply on line from GOV.UK website for a “D1” pack which allows you to swap your French Licence for a UK one. It’s costs £43 (48 Euros) and I’d be happy to give the French Government 50 Euros just to get this completed…

  2. O.K. i am trying to get my head around his very distressing situation. If, as you say, a French person can exchange there driving license in England – albeit for a small fee. Then it would appear that the problem lies with the French government, we in France thought the UK were to blame. Can anyone please solve the puzzle?

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TRAVEL NEWS

What will Europe’s EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU's Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport checks will usher in big changes for travellers - here we answer readers' questions on the position for dual nationals.

Published: 22 April 2024 17:10 CEST
What will Europe's EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU is preparing, after many delays, to introduce the EES system for travel in and out of Europe.

You can find a full explanation of how it works HERE, but in essence it is an enhanced passport check – registering biometric details such as fingerprints and facial scans and introducing an automatic calculation of how long you have stayed within the EU/Schengen zone in order to detect ‘over-stayers’.

And it’s already causing stress for travellers. We asked readers of The Local to share their questions here – and one of the biggest worries was how the system will work for dual nationals ie people who have a passport for both an EU country and a non-EU country.

EES: Your questions answered

EU passports 

One of the main purposes of EES is to detect ‘over-stayers’ – people who have either stayed in the EU longer than their visa allows or non-EU nationals who have over-stayed their allowance of 90 days in every 180.

As this does not apply to EU nationals, people travelling on an EU passport are not required to do EES pre-registration and will continue to travel in the same way once EES is introduced – going to the ‘EU passports queue’ at airports, ports and stations and having their passports scanned as normal.

Non-EU 

Non-EU travellers will, once EES is up and running, be required to complete EES pre-registration.

This means that the first time they cross an EU/Schengen zone external border they will have to go to a special zone of the airport/port/terminal and supply extra passport information including fingerprints and a facial scan.

This only needs to be done once and then lasts for three years.

Non-EU residents of the EU/Schengen zone

This does not apply to non-EU citizens who are permanent residents of an EU country or who have a long-stay visa for an EU/Schengen zone country – click HERE for full details.

Schengen zone passports/Irish passports 

EES applies within the Schengen zone, so people with Swiss, Norwegian and Icelandic passports are treated in the same way as citizens of EU countries.

Ireland and Cyprus are in the EU but not the Schengen zone – these countries will not be using the EES system at their borders, but their citizens are still EU citizens so can continue to use EU passport gates at airports and will be treated the same as all other EU citizens (ie they don’t have to do EES pre-registration).

OK, so what if you have both an EU and a non-EU passport?

They key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any of the rules on immigration – it’s just a way of better enforcing the rules that are already in place. 

Therefore the rules for dual nationals remain as they are – for most people which passport to travel on is a matter of personal choice, although Americans should be aware that if you have a US passport and you are entering the USA, you must use your American passport. 

But it’s also important to remember that the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’ – therefore if you present an American passport at the Italian border, you will be treated exactly the same as every other American, there is no way for the border guard to know that you are also Italian.

Likewise if you are a UK-Germany dual national and you travel back to the UK on your German passport, you can expect to be treated the same as every other German at the border, and might be asked for proof of where you are staying in UK, how long you intend to stay etc – the system has no way of knowing that you are also British. 

Therefore whether you have to complete EES pre-registration or not is entirely a matter of which passport you are travelling on – if you use your EU passport you won’t have to do it, if you use your non-EU passport you will.

It’s also possible to use two passports for the same trip – so let’s say you’re travelling from Spain to Canada – you enter Canada on your Canadian passport, and show your Canadian passport again when you leave. However, once you re-enter Spain you show your Spanish passport in order to benefit from the unlimited length of stay.

If you’re travelling between France and the UK via the Eurostar, Channel Tunnel or cross-Channel ferry, you need to remember that the Le Touquet agreement means that French passport checks take place in the UK and vice versa. You can still use both passports, but you just need to keep your wits about you and remember to hand the French one to the French border guards and the British one to British guards.

In terms of avoiding immigration formalities using two passports is the most efficient way for dual nationals to travel, but some people prefer to stick to one passport for simplicity, or don’t want to keep both passports together in case of theft.

Basically it’s a personal choice, but you just need to remember that you will be treated according to the passport that you show – which includes completing EES pre-registration if you’re showing a non-EU passport.

It’s also worth remembering that if the changes do cause border delays (and there are fears that they might especially at the UK-France border), then these will affect all travellers – regardless of their passport. 

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