Chinese driving licence in the UK? Help please?

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Hi,

Ok as i haven't driven for years i really need some help.

I have a Chinese relative coming to stay for 6 weeks and she is thinking of hiring a car as we'll have the kids, and we live in a fairly remote area (train travel will be ridiculously expensive for her for 6 wks).

Now, her licence is in Chinese characters. How would she be able to use this here? I am not intirely sure but i have read that Republic of China do not recognise or issue IDP's (the translation booklet) Does anyone know first hand if this is true? And if so what is the alternative?

Also my brother will be coming over for a few weeks after - he has only a chinese licence as he learnt here but never got his UK licence in the end. How long do you need to hold a licence before you can drive here?

And then if we can get that sorted does anyone know of where the best place to hire from is?

MTIA!

BOBS

You would probably be best ring the DVLA to see how it goes hopefully someone there could advise.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Ok - will do! That does kind of make sense, haha!

vaio

Hire companies (head office rather than local branch) would be a better place to ring although I think you are going to struggle to find on that will play ball

vaio

Chinese embassy might be worth a try too as they might well know of hire firms who will accpet a chinese licence


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Chippy_Minton_2

Your brother learnt here so therefore should have had a provisional licence to do so. He will therefore still only be a provisional licence holder. He will therefore not be able to hire a car.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Chippy_Minton wrote: »

Your brother learnt here so therefore should have had a provisional licence to do so. He will therefore still only be a provisional licence holder. He will therefore not be able to hire a car.

No, my brother will be here later so it is his wife who i am moreso doing the research for, she will be here 4 weeks before he will.

Yes my brother learnt here, but then when he moved to China he re-learnt there and got a full Chinese licence - a bit odd, a British citizen with a Chinese licence, i know, but he had to for work. So i suppose whatever is the case for is for his wife, will be the case for him (as far as i am aware though his Chinese licence isn't in Chinese characters as hers is - if that makes sense)

I will be calling around though so thank you all for the heads up where best to contact, i was a bit stuck as i have no idea - i just wondered if anyone had any first hand experience!

PasturesNew

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/MotoringDecisionTrees/ExchangeaTestPassorForeignLicence/can_you_drive_in_gb.dsb?DPF0=&DPF1=1&vgsubmit=%C2%A0+Next%C2%A0+

"Driving licences issued in any other country

• you can drive any small vehicle eg cars and or motorcycles, shown on your driving licence, for a period of 12 months from the date that you last entered the country, as long as it remains full and valid
• you can only drive larger vehicles eg lorries and buses, shown on your licence, that have been registered outside of GB which you have driven into the country"

So that seems it would be OK to drive on it in the UK, but not mention of hiring ... to hire, the person in the office would have to be able to read/understand the license, know it was valid and OK ... etc.

dzug1

The 'Republic of China' is Taiwan which does issue and recognise IDPs. It's the 'People's Republic of China' that doesn't.

The direct.gov.uk suggests that any foreign licence held by a short term visitor is valid in the UK - it doesn't mention the need for an IDP.

As suggested above if they are hiring a car, car hire companies are the people to ask.

Hertz say this: In the case of driver's licence issued by the People's Republic of China, this must be accompanied by a notarised translation instead of an IDP.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Great thank you - yeah, to clarify i think i meant the People's Rep of China, sorry! She is from Beijing.

That clarifies what i was thinking - i saw the direct.gov.uk page before posting here, just she has had conflicting info, there is some odd advice i came accross while scouring another forum and then i noted a page stating no IDP's which really confused me.

I think i will contact a few hire companies and get some advice as Direct.gov.uk info is straightforward enough. I thought it's just be for the benefit of the hire companies or if she was ever stopped for any reason.