Hi,

I know this has been covered on here before, but I'm a lazy sod and can't be arsed to search.
Can someone confirm how long I can continue using my Uk driving license before I need to exchange it for a Dutch one. It will be a year next month since I moved over and I have been led to believe that after a year I must swap it over.

You don't need to exchange it. An EU license is valid anywhere in the EU. Hooray for the EU!

At least that's my understanding... and I have a UK license.

This is on the British Consulate site:

4. Can I still use my UK driving licence?
For information about using your British driving licence in the Netherlands please contact the RDW on 0900 0739 (10 cents pm).
If you are calling from abroad please dial +31 598 39 3330.

Also:

http://www.expatica.com/nl/leisure/travel_...-1672_9738.html


Looks like you have to exchange it within 185 days ...

I suspect this is another grey area and people will have different stories to tell.

Hi, Chack the date of your driving license issued and it is then valid for 10years from that date.It is called OMWISSELING EU/EER RIJBEWIJS.
I had the same problem and did not see any point on changing my license to a dutch one as when I get back to uk I hade to change it again, so it is very stupid thing. I asked Gemeente about it and they found this from the RDW website for me and I carry it all the time with me to tell ploice about it if they stop me, most of the dont know this as with everything lese (idiots). you have to prove to them that they are wrong(the normal case!). GOOD LUCK

THERE MANY THING THEY DONT TELL YOU AND YOU MUST FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!!

This is one of those examples where the Dutch authorities conveniently ignore European law that they don't like. A european license is valid from 10 years from the date of issue - it doesn't matter where in the E.U. you happen to be.

Ditto, registering with the Vreemdelingpolitie. Under E.U. law they cannot make you do that. (Though try setting up a bank account or getting a mobile phone if you haven't - they make it very hard for you.)

Swapping a UK licence is easy enough but it's a faff to keep some of the categories you get for free with the UK one (e.g. driving a minibus). Wait till your 10 years is up, and bear in mind that when you talk to two different bureaucrats they will tell you two different rules, neither one of which is necessarily correct.



First I've heard of the Vreemdelingpolitie, and I have a bank account and a mobile...

Hi,

Does anyone know what the disadvantages of changing a UK driving License for an NL one (apart from the cost).

My current UK license entitles me to the basic B, B1, fklnp - so I'm not entitled to driving minibuses as mentioned above (unless they are small enough to fall into the B catergory).

Just wondering if there's any other reasons to hang on to the UK one.

thanks

i am still completely confused by all this too. i think i have the right (in EU) that my old 'paper' licence is valid for life (in EU). but if i trade it in i will loose a few categories (minibus etc) off it. i dont have any problem hiring cars - i shall find out when i buy one and try to get insured i guess???? too many things to read in too many places all with conflicting views ....

Exactly - my old UK licence is valid until I'm 75 - knowing the Dutch you have to replace the licence every 5 years to coin in the money ... same with their passports which don't last as long as the UK.

Do you mean that you never have to renew a drivers licence in the UK after so many years? You keep the same one with the same picture, like forever??

Wow.

Belgian licenses are (currently) also permanent, but that will change next year when they introduce credit-card style ones.

The old UK licences never had a photograph. They are indeed valid until 70, 75? years of age.

However, you have to get your licence changed when you move house. We moved house in 2000 (9 years ago) and the old green paper licence was no longer available - they were two-part European licences (photo card and paper licence for details of violations). These (and I only realised a few months ago) ARE only valid for 10 years at a time - and I need to change mine next year, no matter where I live (so I'll go dutch then).

Interesting...in Ontario (in Canada, licences are provincial rather than federal) they only have a credit card type one too which has to be renewed each time you move or every five years whichever comes first.

'Picture'?

UK licences are odd and have been for a long while. The old licence was just a piece of printed paper without a picture. They brought in EU-style card licences a few years back but the licence is both the card plus an additional bit of paper (which has records of any points you've earned on it, among other things).

The paper, old or new, is valid till you're 70. The picture card now needs updating every 10 years to keep the picture up to date, I'm told (never had one myself).

In any case, your licence is not valid if the address is not valid - so technically, if you're living in NL then you need a new licence...

I think the way it worked changed - before, they used to list C1 and D categories as valid, and have small print somewhere else. Nowadays, it may be the other way around - the categories aren't marked up, but the small print says you're good 'not for hire or reward'. That said, my licence listed them and my Dutch licence seems to have lost the additional condition - it'll be interesting to see what happens when it eventually gets converted back to a UK licence.

Well, it's not valid here anyways because it's Canadian (non-Quebec)...I don't drive here at all. I only had the Canadian one renewed in case I move back to Canada to avoid going through all the testing and graduated licencing crap all over again.

Is it possible to covert Dutch licence to Canadian one?

With a bit of bureaucratic wrangling, you can eventually get an Ontario one, at least.

It looks as if licence agreements are all reciprocal...if it's a hassle in one direction, it will be a hassle in the other as well. However, it looks as if the Ontario government doesn't require that a Dutchie start all over again, just submit a whole crapload of "official" papers.

However, if you're from the U.S.A., Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Germany, France, Great Britain, Austria and Belgium it's a relative breeze if you have more than two years' driving experience...

http://www.drivetest.ca/en/license/OutOfCountryDrivers.aspx

As I suspected, it's easier for a Dutchie to trade their licence for a Quebec one...

http://www.saaq.qc.ca/en/driver_licence/ex...dents_other.php



Sorry...thread hijacking! *slinks away silently*

Have to disagree with you on this point as I looked into it myself and have kept my UK licence for the 5 years I have lived here:
"Moving to another country
If you move to another country, you should check with the driving licence authorities there for information about driving and exchange of licences. You don't need to notify DVLA of a change of address when moving to live abroad."

The link is http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Drive...ing/DG_10023103 and is directly linked to from the DVLA web site.

In any case, I only ride a bike here but it's nice to have just in case...

Yes but, the driving licence authorities here may think differently towards that... I thought I heard/read somewhere that here, if you don't change your foreign licence, they must have your details on record on the Dutch database if you intend using it. Also might be problems in getting insurance if you don't excange it for a Dutch one.

Hmm, we never have had.

On saying that, a garage can't sign a car over to you without a Dutch licence (iirc) and you have to go to the Post Office instead (very important to know, if you plan to pick your new car up on a Saturday afternoon ).
Maybe it's because your Dutch address isn't on your licence? But I really can't remember.

Yeah, it's these little irritating things that make life easier if you change it to a Dutch one. I just wouldn't want the unnecessary hassles, as if there isn't enough already.

Eh. The garage wont give you your car without a dutch license.
The post office only wants a dutch license for ID vs UK one but your passport will suffice.

It's two years since we bought a car here. I remember it being around 2pm on a Saturday and hubby had to fins a post office that was open until 4pm (changing registered owner?) because of his EU licence. But it was fine and we took the car home that same day.

We did the same thing back in February when we bought our 2nd hand beater and my Dutchie has a Dutch licence...