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Brexit: How residency hold-ups could mean many Brits in Spain need to sit their driving test again

Processing delays in Spanish residency applications could mean Britons in Spain miss the deadline for exchanging their UK driving licences for Spanish ones and have to sit their exam again. 

Published: 20 May 2021 11:10 CEST
Brexit: How residency hold-ups could mean many Brits in Spain need to sit their driving test again
Photo: UK driving licence photocard. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)

The repercussions of Brexit on the lives of Britons in the EU and Europeans in Britain continue to stack up.

Hundreds of British drivers in Spain currently face a veritable catch-22 scenario involving their residencies and their driving licences, citizens rights group Brexpats in Spain has revealed. 

As things stand, UK nationals who are Spanish residents will be allowed to drive in Spain with a valid UK driving licence until June 30th 2021. 

They had until December 31st 2020 to register their intent to exchange their licence for a Spanish one and Spanish authorities offered them a grace period of 6 months until June 30th 2021 in which to carry out the licence exchange. 

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of Britons who applied for residency in Spain under the Withdrawal Agreement and are waiting for confirmation that it’s been approved, meaning they risk missing this new deadline and having to sit their driving test – theory and practical – again in Spain. 

“In some places there are huge waiting lists for the carta de resolución (results letter for approval of residency) which obviously you can’t exchange your British driving licence without,” Anne Hernandez, head of Brexpats in Spain told The Local.

“In places with a higher concentration of Brits such as Málaga and Alicante there are long waits for residency.

READ MORE: How long are Britons waiting for their residency in Spain to be processed?

“Lots of Brits are worried they’re not going to get that processed before June 30th,” Hernandez added, stressing that the carta de resolución rather than the actual TIE residency card will be enough for UK drivers to be able to register their details for a licence exchange with Spain’s DGT traffic authority.

“It’s just not working, the problem is not everyone will be able to prove they fall under the Withdrawal Agreement by June 30th,” Brexpats in Spain Vice President Richard Hill told The Local.

The rules for British drivers in Spain are now the same as for most other non-EU/EEA nations, who can drive in Spain with their original licences for a period of six months after obtaining residency. 

READ ALSO: Driving in Spain – Who can exchange their licence and who has to resit the exam?

Brits who can prove they fall under the Withdrawal Agreement – in essence that they were living in Spain before December 31st 2020 – should technically be able to avoid having to sit their driving exam again by exchanging their licence. 

“But what’s going to happen is that there’s going to be hundreds or more – and I think that’s not an exaggeration –  of British people who find themselves in limbo and have to take a Spanish driving test,” Hill, who is based in Alicante, said.

READ ALSO: Can I take my practical exam in English?

“Many of these people have been trying to comply, it’s an awful situation.

“We’re assured by the UK Embassy they are working on getting a reciprocal agreement over driving licences but this hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

These discussions have been ongoing since at least the start of 2021. Other European countries are also at different stages of negotiations regarding the exchange of UK licences of their British residents.

READ ALSO: How do rules for exchanging UK driving licences compare for Brits around Europe?

“The UK and Spain are currently in discussion about an exchange process, longer term,” – Regional Consular Policy Adviser at the British Embassy in Madrid Lorna Geddie said during a Q&A in April.

“Spain doesn’t have to give us an extension, they’ve already been very kind giving us this 6-month grace period. But we are asking if there will be another extension to the June 30th deadline,” Hernandez concluded.

UPDATE: On May 27th, the UK Embassy in Madrid announced that British drivers who registered their details to exchange their UK driving licences for Spanish ones before the end of last year will get an extra six months in which to carry out the swap until December 31st 2021.But what does the extension not cover for British drivers? FIND OUT MORE HERE

READ MORE: 

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TRAVEL NEWS

EES: Could the launch of Europe’s new border system be delayed again?

After being postponed several times already Europe's new biometric Entry/Exit border system (EES) is set to be rolled out in October, but with fears of lengthy queues, problems with a new app and demands for more time, could it be postponed again?

Published: 26 April 2024 11:50 CEST
EES: Could the launch of Europe's new border system be delayed again?

Could the entry into operation of the EU entry/exit system (EES), the new biometric passport checks for non-EU citizens at the Schengen area’s external borders, be delayed yet again?

Originally planned for May 2022, EES has already been postponed many times.

The current launch date, set for October 2024, was chosen to avoid periods of peak traffic and France in particular had requested to avoid it being launched until after the Paris Olympics this summer.

When asked to confirm the October start date this week a spokesperson for the EU’s Commission told The Local that the “roadmap” for the EES IT system foresees it will be ready for Autumn 2024. But the actual start date, in other words, the day when passengers will have to register, would be confirmed nearer the time.

The spokesperson said: “The exact date will be determined by the European Commission and announced on the EES official website well in time for the start of operations.”

READ ALSO: Your key questions answered about Europe’s new EES passport checks

But the reasons are adding up to suggest an October start date is optimistic, perhaps even unlikely.

In the annual report on the ‘State of Schengen’ published last week, the European Commission spelt out that severe challenges remain if member states are to be ready on time.

“In 2023, efforts to ensure the entry into operation of the Entry-Exit System in the autumn of 2024 were accelerated… While important progress has been made across the Schengen area, some Member States are still falling behind, notably regarding the effective equipment of border crossing points. The Commission calls on all Member States to urgently accelerate preparations to ensure the timely implementation of the system…”

A map in the report shows that preparation is still “in progress” in 13 Schengen area countries, including Germany, Norway and Switzerland. “Outstanding issues” still impact Portugal, Malta and Bulgaria.

The state of play for the preparations for EES across EU and Schengen states. Image: European Commission.

There are also reports that EU heavyweight Germany is trying to persuade Brussels to delay.

Matthias Monroy, editor of the German civil rights journal Bürgerrechte & Polizei/CILIP claimed on his website that “the German government is lobbying in Brussels to postpone the date once again, as otherwise the German tests of the EES cannot be completed in full. Other EU countries are also behind schedule, with only eight of them having reported successful integration.”

Even on a French government website it talks of EES being rolled out some time “between the end of 2024 and 2025” rather than stating October 2024.

And according to recent media reports, French airports have been advised to be ready for November 6th, rather than October. 

READ ALSO: EES and Etias – what are the big upcoming travel changes in Europe?

A planned EU app, believed to be essential to the smooth operation of EES because it would allow non-EU visitors to register in advance of travel will not be ready, Gwendoline Cazenave, Managing Director of Eurostar International, the company operating train services via the Channel Tunnel, has told the BBC. The EU however insists the app does not need to be up and running before EES is introduced.

In the UK, which will be heavily impacted by EES due to the fact it is no longer in the EU and so British travellers are no longer EU citizens, the House of Commons European scrutiny committee is conducting an inquiry on the potential disruption the introduction of the EES will cause at the border.

Several respondents have recently raised the alarm about the possible delays the system could cause, especially at the UK-France border, which is used by millions of passengers each year who head to France and other countries across Europe.

Ashford Borough Council in Kent has warned of the possibility of more than 14 hours queues to reach the Port of Dover, which has already been struggling increased checked after Brexit.

The BBC reported that back in March, a P&O Ferries director said the IT system should be delayed again.

Airlines have also complained about the fact pre-travel EES requirements would make last minute bookings impossible.

The Union des Aéroports Français (UAF), which represents airports in France, has simply said more time is needed.

In other words, it would be little surprise if the roll out was delayed again beyond October 2024.

But the Commission spokesperson told The Local that “the timeline for the entry into operation of the EES took into account all the necessary activities to be performed by all relevant stakeholders to ensure a timely entry into operation. 

“The Commission is working very closely with eu-Lisa [the EU agency in charge of the IT system], the Member States and carriers to ensure that everything is ready for the timely and successful launch of the Entry Exit System.

“The roadmap for the delivery of the new IT architecture foresees that the Entry/Exit system will be ready to enter into operation in Autumn 2024.”

New digital border

The EES is a digital system to register travellers from non-EU countries when they cross a border in or out of the Schengen area, the travel-free area. It will be deployed in 29 countries across Europe including 25 EU states plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Ireland and Cyprus are the only EU members who won’t apply the EES system.

It doesn’t apply to non-EU nationals who are legally resident in an EU/Schengen area country or those with dual nationality of an EU /Schengen county. The system was designed to increase security and to ensure that non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area short-term do not stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

Instead of having the passport stamped, travellers will have to scan it at self-service kiosks before crossing the border. However, fingerprints and a photo will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing and there are huge concerns the extra time needed could generate long queues in the UK, where there are juxtaposed border checks with the EU.

Preparations are ongoing throughout Europe and some countries have made good progress.

In France, Getlink, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, has recently reported that new EES infrastructure is finished at its French terminal of Coquelles, which will allow travellers to register their biometric data while travelling.

Eurostar is also installing 49 kiosks in stations for the registration of passengers. But the Union des Aéroports Français (UAF), which represents airports in France, said more time is needed.

Exempted

Meanwhile, the Polish government has urged UK citizens who are beneficiaries of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement to get a residence permit “in the context of EES/ETIAS”, even though there was not such an obligation to stay legally in Poland post-Brexit.

“Having such a document is beneficial as it will exempt from future Entry/Exit System (EES) registration when crossing external borders and from the need to obtain an ETIAS travel permit in relation to short-term travel to EU/Schengen countries,” the government page says.

This article as published in collaboration with Europe Street news.

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