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EXPLAINED: What Brits in France need to do with their UK driving licences

Most foreigners in France need to swap their driving licences for a French one within a year of arrival if they want to continue driving legally - but the system for UK licences is a little different.

Published: 25 June 2021 14:44 CEST
Updated: 24 August 2023 14:32 CEST
EXPLAINED: What Brits in France need to do with their UK driving licences
Photo: Kenzo Tribaullard/AFP

If you’re living in France and you have a driving licence issued by a non-EU country, in most cases you will need to swap it for a French one within a year if you want to continue driving (although there are some exceptions including students).

Find the full details HERE.

For anyone with a UK or NI driving licence, however, the system is different – a legacy of Brexit. 

There have been a lot of twists and turns on this issue since the 2016 Brexit referendum, with shifting official advice that left many in limbo and others stranded without a licence altogether. But in summer 2021 a deal was finally reached between France and the UK on licences.

The new conditions are on on the Public Services website.

Who?

This refers to holders of UK driving licences – regardless of their nationality – who live in France. British tourists and visitors are not affected and can continue to drive on their UK licence while in France and do not need an International Driver’s Permit.

Unlike with immigration rules, the date that you moved to France does not matter, this applies to all UK licence holders.

Because this is a reciprocal agreement, the same conditions apply to residents in the UK who have a French licence.

READ ALSO Is it illegal to drive on a foreign licence in France?

What?

The Interior Ministry summarises: “In concrete terms, British licence holders living in France and French licence holders living in the UK can continue to drive with their original valid licence.

“They do not need to apply for an exchange for the licence of the country of residence, except when the validity date of the original licence has expired or in the event of loss or theft of that licence.” 

The new rules divide licence-holders into two groups – those whose licences were issued before January 1st, 2021, and those whose licences were issued after that (presumably a much smaller group).

Licence issued before January 1st, 2021 – keep driving on your UK licence for now. You only need to swap once the licence itself or the photocard expires, whichever comes first.

Standard UK licences expire once the holder reaches 70, although those with certain medical conditions need to renew more regularly. However, if you have a photocard licence that will have an expiry date on it – usually in category 4b or column 11 on the card.

You can apply to exchange your licence for a French one once you get within six months of the expiry date of either the licence or the photocard, whichever is first.

Important – if your licence has more than six months to go until it expires, do not submit it for exchange, your application will be rejected.

Licence issued after January 1st, 2021 – you will need to exchange your licence for a French one within one year of moving to France. If you are a third country national (including UK citizens) this is dated from when you receive your residency permit. If you are an EU citizen it dates from your arrival date in France.

How?

For those who do need to swap, this is done via an online portal.

In order to do the swap, you will need;

  • A Certificate of Entitlement from the DVLA in the UK. This needs to be no more than 3 months old, so don’t ask for this until you are ready to apply
  • Proof of address no more than six months old (eg utility bills)
  • Current licence
  • Proof of ID
  • Proof of right to residence in France if applicable (eg carte de séjour) or proof of your arrival date in France
  • Birth certificate – if the name on your licence is not the same as on your passport, you will need to provide a copy of your full birth certificate (including parents’ names)
  • Photos – these must be taken in a government-approved photo booth or via the app.

You will also need to create an account on the government’s ANTS website in order to make your application.

You can find full details of how the application process works HERE or in the Facebook group Applying for French Driving Licence.

What if my licence has expired?

Because of the long post-Brexit impasse, some people were left without a licence as it expired while they were waiting.

Normally, expired licences cannot be swapped, but – recognising the problems created for some – the French have agreed that expired UK licences can be exchange for French ones on the same online portal.

Once you reach the stage of submitting your old licence you will receive an Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire (certificate of deposit of driving licence) and you can use this to drive in France until your French licence arrives.

What if my licence is lost or stolen?

You can apply for an exchange, the process is the same as outlined above.

Why are UK licences different?

It’s because of Brexit, but is really to do with simple pragmatism.

It was technically always the rule that Brits should swap their licence after a year of residency, but this rule was not widely publicised or enforced, so many people either didn’t know about it or never get round to it.

An initial call for Brits to swap their licences back in 2017 saw thousands of people apply, completely swamping the driving licence exchange service, which is based in Nantes, and creating a months-long backlog which also affected applicants from other nationalities.

Initially there was intended to be a 2021 deadline to have swapped licences, but there were fears that the same thing would happen again if the original deadline to swap of the end of 2021 was adhered to.

This system is essentially a compromise – and is in fact more generous than pre-Brexit rules – that will see Brits swapping licences in phases as they expire, without overwhelming the systems in place. 

Member comments

  2. My first application of December 2020 when it was permitted to submit same was rejected by SMS in June 2022. Apparently the French regulations had changed, once again, and they were no longer accepting applications if UK licence had more than 6 months left. My licence expires on 23 January 2022 and a second application for made in July 2021. This also was rejected this morning by SMS & email without reason despite my submitting all required documentation. A search of my Ants account does no longer show my second application so I cannot ascertain motive for refusal. Ants do no longer answer calls or reply to messages. I decided in mu best French to write to Ants by, of course, recommende AR to explain my position. I am not optimistic of a reply ! However the overseas contact number works and I had a french friend call Ants from UK to explain my predicament. My applications were duly recorded on file and I was advised, for some unknown reason, to submit a third application after 2 January 2022 and I was very likely to receive an exchange French permis de conduire. Frankly it has been a nightmare and very stressful and I am not” out of woods yet”. I wonder if others here have had similar experience to me.

  3. So, my UK license has my UK address on it, which is no longer where I live (being resident in France!). I’d normally fall into the “don’t renew until 6 months before expiry” – so 2029 for me. But the license is no longer valid as it doesn’t have my correct address on it. I have no residential address in the UK, and DVLA will not issue a new license for an address in France. Any one has any idea what I should do in this case?

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

Now that the dust has settled from the somewhat chaotic post-Brexit period, the system for swapping a UK driving licence for a French one seems to be running fairly smoothly. There are, however, some things that UK licence holders need to know.

Published: 3 May 2024 17:20 CEST
5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

This article is aimed at holders of a UK or Northern Ireland driving licence who are living in France – tourists, visitors and second-home owners can continue to drive in France on a UK licence and do not need an international driving permit.

British students who are studying in France on a student visa can continue to drive on their UK licence during their studies – if however they settle in France afterwards, they need to follow the below process for swapping their licence. 

1 You’re special

Well, maybe special is over-stating it, but the system for holders of UK and NI licence holders is different to that of other non-EU nationals, and also different to the system for EU licence holders.

The reason for this is that a pragmatic post-Brexit agreement was (finally) reached between France and the UK, in order to avoid the chaos that was triggered when thousands of Brits in France all tried to swap their driving licences at once.

Unlike almost all other post-Brexit agreements, this one applies both to people who moved to France before the end of Brexit transition period in 2021 and those who have moved here since. 

The below terms apply to everyone who has a UK or NI licence, regardless of their nationality or when they moved to France. 

2 But you still have to swap

It was technically always the case that Brits who were living in France should have swapped their licence for a French one, just as other EU licence holders do now, but in reality many people lived here for years or decades without ever exchanging their licence and there was little or no enforcement of the rule.

That has now changed and you must swap according to the following timetable;

If your UK licence was issued after January 1st, 2021 – you must swap within one year of moving to France.

If your UK licence was issued before January 1st 2021 – you only swap when you meet one of the following conditions;

  • The licence itself or the photocard is within six months of its expiry date. For more people the photocard expiry will come around first, but UK licences also require renewal when the holder reaches the age of 70
  • Your licence has been lost or stolen
  • You have been ordered to exchange your licence by a gendarme after committing a driving offence

For people who are exchanging because the licence is about to expire, it is important that you don’t start the process until your licence is within six months of the expiry date – early applications will simply be rejected.

3 It might not be as much of a nightmare as you think 

Unlike the old days when licence swaps were done by préfectures, the whole process has now moved online and is run through a single, central system.

The online portal for requesting a swap is known as ANTS and you can find it HERE.

If you haven’t used it before you will need to create an online account, or if you already have online accounts for French government services such as Ameli or tax declarations you can login by clicking on the France Connect button.

Once logged in, select Je demande l’échange ou l’enregistrement de mon permis de conduire étranger (I request the exchange or registration of a foreign driving licence) and fill in the details requested on the form such as name, address etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the fact the form itself is relatively straightforward (as French admin forms go), asking basic questions such as your personal details and the details of your driving licence.

You will have to upload supporting documents, but these are likely to be things that you already have to hand including

  • Proof of ID (passport or carte de séjour)
  • Proof of address (a recent utility bill or attestation from your utility provider)
  • If your driver’s licence is in a different name to your passport, you will need to supply your full birth certificate

You will also need to supply a photo – you can either use the internet-enabled Photomaton booths – find your nearest here – to create a digital photo with the required security code, or you can use the normal photo booths to print out a physical photo and send it by post after you have made your application. 

Once completed, you can use the ANTS site to track the progress of your application and upload any other documents that are requested.

4 But don’t leave it too late 

If you’re applying because your licence is about to expire then you cannot apply until you are within six months of the expiry date.

But it’s a good idea not to leave it until the last minute as the whole process does take time – things have improved massively since the dark days of 2020 and 2021 when people were waiting for years and their licences expired while they waited.

But it still takes time – the current average for a straightforward application with no extra documents required seems to be between four and five months, although processing times can vary, especially over holiday periods.

It’s therefore a good idea to make the application fairly soon after you enter that magic six-month window.

Once you make the application you should get an automated response acknowledging receipt – this is usually sent by SMS and/or email, it’s a good idea to check your spam folder if you don’t get the email.

Don’t panic if you don’t then hear anything for the next few weeks or even months, this appears to be normal. If your application is complete and there are no outstanding queries or other documents required, the next step will be a request to send in your old UK licence.

You send this by post (recorded delivery with a signature is strongly recommended) and at the same time you can download an Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire (certificate of deposit of driving licence) – you can use this to prove your continued entitled to drive in the period between sending in your old licence and receiving your new one.

Your French licence is then sent by registered post, and the window between posting the old licence and receiving the new one is usually not more than a month, you 

5 Help is out there 

If your application runs into problems or you have an untypical situation or find the ANTS website hard to use, don’t panic – help is available.

The Facebook group Driving in France – French Licence Applications is a good place to start with comprehensive guides and knowledgeable admins who are quick to respond to questions.

You can also chat to others in your situation and get updates on how long processing times seem to be.

If you have problems using the online system, your local France Services office may be able to help.

You can also head to The Local’s reader questions section, or email us at [email protected] if you have questions.

Digital licences

You might have heard about France’s new digital driving licence – unfortunately this is only available to people who have French citizenship (including dual nationals).

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