Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

seven-day-weekend

I was told on a Spanish Expat forum that they are not legal in the EU, only in the UK.

They did give me a link, but I can't find it now.

You could use it to hire a car if you are a UK resident and only visiting Spain,because they ARE legal in the UK, but if you are Spanish resident they are not.

Inactive

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I was told on a Spanish Expat forum that they are not legal in the EU, only in the UK.

They did give me a link, but I can't find it now.

You could use it to hire a car if you are a UK resident and only visiting Spain,because they ARE legal in the UK, but if you are Spanish resident they are not.

Surely if you are a Spanish Resident, all UK Licences are illegal, you need a Spanish Licence.;)

seven-day-weekend

No, you can have either a Spanish licence, or a UK photocard one which is legal throughout the EU.

Inactive

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

No, you can have either a Spanish licence, or a UK photocard one which is legal throughout the EU.

It appears that the law has changed, so apparently your UK Licence is OK to use in Spain if you are resident, but must be validated by the Spanish Authorities.

The old style UK Licence is still valid for visitors to Spain.

missile

UK photocard license is valid in Spain (and a.n.other EU countries) for visitors and residents. There is no need for validation.

droopsnout

missile wrote: »

UK photocard license is valid in Spain (and a.n.other EU countries) for visitors and residents. There is no need for validation.

Precisely. If you still have a paper licence predating the photocards, I understand that is legal in the UK, but not in other EU countries.

As France struggles to improve its road safety, and the police here conduct frequent checks on paperwork, I have been stopped five times in the last year. They are never interested in the paper bit of the licence, only the card.

However, France is notorious for variation in the implementation of its legislation, particularly from county to county, so this may not apply everywhere. I've been stopped in four different counties, though! Maybe as the gendarmerie is a national service, things are more consistent.

seven-day-weekend

A friend of mine who is Spanish resident has a British photocard licence. He was stopped by the Guardia and told it was illegal and he had to change it for a Spanish one. He didn't think this was right so he asked another member of the Guardia who said it was legal but he had to have it 'stamped' at Trafico in Granada.

When he got to Granada he was told his licence was perfectly legal and there was no need to do anything with it unless he wanted to change it for a Spanish one. He just kept his British licence.

So if the Guardia don't know the law, what chance have we poor expats got?

droopsnout

None at all. Especially as UK law says that the licence must bear the current address ...

If you try to change your UK licence to show a French address, DVLA tells you to get a French licence. You go to the French authorities, and they tell you to keep your UK one.

Brits caught speeding here have to pay the appropriate fine, but the police seem unable to handle the addition/deduction of penalty points. This may not be the case for non-residents, though.

seven-day-weekend

DVLA told me all it required was an address in the UK where you could be contacted.

Luckily, we have kept our house, which is lived in by our son, so there isn't a problem, but apparently all you need is a friend/neighbour address. But they won't changer/replace your licence while you're living abroad anyway....

droopsnout

There are so many grey areas for the ex-pat ... And don't get me started on host country tax returns ...

But here's a topic that most of us probably avoid, but ties in with your retention of a property in the UK, s-d-w.

Unfortunately, even in these parts, people don't last forever. What plans, if any, have ex-pats made for when one of you snuffs it?