Changing my Name and Date of Birth on UK drivers license

hsadat

Hello guys, what am I about to tell you will sound a little crazy so I will try my best to explain it the best I can and hopefully you guys can read it until the end to give me the right advice.

In 2009 I applied for a UK driving license under my old Afghan passport which I no longer use since owning a British one. However at the time of applying with my Afghan passport the spelling of my name and date of birth was incorrect and the government wasn't allowing me to change it until I got my British passport. So anyway since I applied with my Afghan passport, I passed my driving test under the wrong details which meant my driving license was issued under the wrong details as well. Then 2 years later when I applied for my British passport  I changed my name and date of birth to what it was suppose to be. I'm sure some of you are wondering why my details was wrong in the first place and there is another whole story to that which is long to explain.

So the saddest part is that I didn't bother informing DVLA because I was a stupid teenager that didn't think of future complications and still continued driving. Now in my mature adult age its giving me anxiety and I no longer want my old details to be on my drivers license and want to change it to what it is on my British passport. The name in my British passport is more or less similar to the one in my drivers license HOWEVER the DOB is completely different. On my British Passport its 17/03/19*1 and on my driving license its 01/01/19*1.  My national insurance number has always been the same though for my old and current details.

Could someone please advice me on the appropriate steps to take to allow me to change my details with DVLA as I'm sure its not going to be an easy one. Like I said it was stupid of me not informing them back then but I'd rather get it out the way now. Please let me know if you have any questions if you want me to clear anything up. 

Much appreciate you taking your time to read this. 

MinuteNoodles

At the moment you're not going to be able to do anything because the DVLA are only really processing vocational licences for lorry and bus drivers due to limited staffing.

You're going to have to speak to DVLA and find out what's the best way to go. Changing name is simple, it's a case of sending off a form with proof of your ID.  Changing date of birth though, I doubt anyone here has had to do that.

Dr_Crypto

Probably wait until they are fully open and then write to them with copies of all your documents. They need to be sure that the holder of the licence and the holder of the British passport are the same person. I expect this will take a long time to resolve as it’s a very odd thing to need and looks dodgy as hell on first glance. 

Dr_Crypto

Probably wait until they are fully open and then write to them with copies of all your documents. They need to be sure that the holder of the licence and the holder of the British passport are the same person. I expect this will take a long time to resolve as it’s a very odd thing to need and looks dodgy as hell on first glance. 

NBLondon

Have you got a birth certificate that will show true date of birth?  Or is it (as I have read elsewhere)  that Afghans don't/didn't mark birthdays and many use 1st Jan if paperwork asks for it?    Messy and not really of your making so good luck with getting DVLA to understand.

hsadat

NBLondon said:

Have you got a birth certificate that will show true date of birth?  Or is it (as I have read elsewhere)  that Afghans don't/didn't mark birthdays and many use 1st Jan if paperwork asks for it?    Messy and not really of your making so good luck with getting DVLA to understand.

You are correct, finally there's someone who's aware of this. And unfortunately I don't have a birth certificate mate since I was boring during a war in my home country. 

For those who want a better understanding, my family and I entered the UK back in 1999 as asylum seekers. I was only 8 years old at the time and it was my family that stupidly provided this wrong date of birth of 1st Jan for whatever reason and issued my documentation like that. I grew up with the wrong date of birth and decided to change it in my British passport. As @Dr_Crypto mentioned it looks very dodgy and I couldn't agree more hence I'm a little paranoid of losing my license because I can see how someone from DVLA could easily misunderstand this. 

I've actually never had a problem driving like this and could still continue to do so but I really don't feel comfortable anymore! So I'll will just have to send as much evidence as I can and hope for the best

Manxman_in_exile

Hi hsadat - I suspect your issue concerning your date of birth is quite a common one and it won't be the first time DVLA will have had to deal with it.  I know several people who were born in Pakistan and they've either never been exactly sure of their dob or have never even had an official birth certificate.  It used to be a common problem in Pakistan and I'm not surprised there may be similar problems if you were born in Afghanistan.  (And even more understandable).

Good luck.  (I'm sure if you got a passport OK it should be simple to change your driving licence.  I'd say your explanation is perfectly acceptable and believable).

PS - I'm pretty sure some of the people I know have never bothered to get this sorted out like you are! 

gwynlas

Given thaat you have a British passport with the correct date of birth I believe that once covid restrictions are lifted that it should be fairly simple to amend your driving license. If you update either of them on line these days they are electronically linked.

Dr_Crypto

It used to be a problem in India too - they didn't have birth certs and birthdays aren't a "thing" there so there were many older Indians who didn't actualy know their DoB! 

hsadat

Thank you all for your responses and reassurance. I will wait until this pandemic dies down until I send them the documents. I’ll keep you guys posted of the outcome !