Exchanging NI licence into an english one?

lampard

HI

I have a Northern Irish licence which now that I live in England I need to convert into an English licence.

How do you go about this does anyone know? I cannot find anything on google regarding doing so but I know that if you live in England you must switch it over.

Thanks

qwert_yuiop

lampard wrote: »

HI

I have a Northern Irish licence which now that I live in England I need to convert into an English licence.

How do you go about this does anyone know? I cannot find anything on google regarding doing so but I know that if you live in England you must switch it over.

Thanks

Is it obligatory? I was there for four years and never changed it. Is it only when it expires?

lampard

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

Is it obligatory? I was there for four years and never changed it. Is it only when it expires?

Two different police cars who pulled over two different NI cars that I know of including this year said so. :eek:

qwert_yuiop

lampard wrote: »

Two different police cars who pulled over two different NI cars that I know of including this year said so. :eek:

They need to have an obvious reason to stop you in England. Had they committed some other offence, such as speeding?

lampard

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

They need to have an obvious reason to stop you in England. Had they committed some other offence, such as speeding?

Going off topic but ill tell you anyway, they stopped both drivers on both occasions because the northern irish plates were not coming up on their computer.

qwert_yuiop

I wonder will this problem stop now all registration is via Swansea.

RikM

lampard wrote: »

HI

I have a Northern Irish licence which now that I live in England I need to convert into an English licence.

How do you go about this does anyone know? I cannot find anything on google regarding doing so but I know that if you live in England you must switch it over.

Thanks

So far as I know it's like when I went the other direction - you can exchange it free of charge at any point, but you don't have to until it runs out (check the date on the photo card). There is no obligation to change it until then.

But it's a pain having a licence which doesn't match your address, if you have to use it as ID...

irishjohn

RikM wrote: »

So far as I know it's like when I went the other direction - you can exchange it free of charge at any point, but you don't have to until it runs out (check the date on the photo card). There is no obligation to change it until then.

But it's a pain having a licence which doesn't match your address, if you have to use it as ID...

Its also an offence not to have your current address on your driving licence and as a NI Licence cannot be updated with a GB address it is necessary to change your licence asap, By all means risk waiting until the licence expires but as that could be 10 years its a long term risk.

If you check your other thread on the same subject you will see the telephone number for Swansea to speak to them about the procedure required.

irishjohn

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

I wonder will this problem stop now all registration is via Swansea.

It is unlikely to stop as driver licensing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland even though the administration is carried out in Swansea now. Unless there is a change to a UK wide licence the problem will continue to exist. And the issue of a little flag on the GB licence will surely prevent our mickey mouse committee from allowing us to have a UK licence.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/union-flags-now-feature-on-british-driving-licences

Mistral001

irishjohn wrote: »

Its also an offence not to have your current address on your driving licence and as a NI Licence cannot be updated with a GB address it is necessary to change your licence asap, By all means risk waiting until the licence expires but as that could be 10 years its a long term risk.

If you check your other thread on the same subject you will see the telephone number for Swansea to speak to them about the procedure required.

I think this is the key to the question asked. The starting point would be to read your current driving licence paper portion and follow the instructions for change of address as if you were just moving from Bangor to Donaghadee.

RikM

irishjohn wrote: »

Its also an offence not to have your current address on your driving licence and as a NI Licence cannot be updated with a GB address it is necessary to change your licence asap, By all means risk waiting until the licence expires but as that could be 10 years its a long term risk.

If you check your other thread on the same subject you will see the telephone number for Swansea to speak to them about the procedure required.

You can exchange a full Great Britain (GB) driving licence, issued on or after 1 January 1976 for a full NI licence, or you can use your licence here until it runs out. When your licence is due to expire you may apply for a NI licence.

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/sm/driving-on-licences-from-great-britain-jersey-guernsey-isle-of-man-gibraltar-or-designated-countries

The GB version used to say this:

Northern Ireland
You can exchange a full Northern Ireland driving licence for a full GB licence or you can use your licence here until it runs out. When your licence expires you may apply for a GB licence.

See:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080901210858/direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/DrivingInGbOnAForeignLicence/DG_4022559

They seem to have lost the information about NI licences from the current version though.

Of course a random policeman may not be cognizant of the rules...
So far as I know, the offence is to fail to notify the DVLA of your change of address, but since they are not responsible for the licence, you can't do (or fail to do) that. The DVA, on the other hand will tell you that they cannot update a GB address on NI licence...
It works the other way too. Been there, done that.

<edit> compare with EU country licences - you can drive on one for 3 years... no question about address there.
I still think it's a good idea to exchange, as it's useful ID (and you can ditch the NI paper counterpart).