British driving licence and Residence in Spain

 TeamGB, you say your licence expires in 2019, is this its date of validity, or the renewal date for the plastic credit card? The licence may be valid to 2019, this includes the paper counterpane section , but for administration purposes a plastic card has to be updated in the UK if it is ten years old. This is the case even if your expiry date is longer. It needs to be updated every ten years as your appearance changes as you age , and the DVLA dont want a picture of a nineteen year old student on the front of a pensioners licence!

If you dont update the DVLA usually suspend your licence entitlement until you are discovered by the police driving a vehicle, and then you are told your licence is suspended. And now with vehicle siezure in the UK you may find yourself walking home as your licence is currently not valid for use.........

So 2019 is the expiry, but when is your update due? this is ten years from issue. dont do it and your licence is suspended, and now if you handed it in to the Spanish for residency purposes, you may find they dont return it, or even exchange it for a Spanish one till you renew its term with the DVLA. The only problem is the DVLA require the return of your original licence before they will issue the new one, and the Spanish have retained that..............

As mentioned before..... Happy Motoring!

Yes of course you are 100% correct but there is conflicting information on other offical websites both national and regional.

However, if people are getting fined by Traffico, maybe 1, 2 or 3 hundred euros, many are going to take the course of least resistance and change it rather than trying to appeal the fine.

It's just where we are today - revenue collection!!

I for one will take my chances and hang on to it until it expires

 It's just where we are today - revenue collection!!

How very true, but thats a fact of life in Spain ,the UK, or anywhere else nowadays. What the governments dont seem to realise is that this revenue collection is what is causing the recession. Charge for something that was previously free, and the maintenance costs increase casing more money to be needed generating, and the spiral increases, more charges , more costs, till it overloads, then...... recession, and society is supposed to be civilised............still lets not start on that subject............

Robert

TeamGB, you say your licence expires in 2019, is this its date of validity, or the renewal date for the plastic credit card? The licence may be valid to 2019, this includes the paper counterpane section , but for administration purposes a plastic card has to be updated in the UK if it is ten years old. This is the case even if your expiry date is longer. It needs to be updated every ten years as your appearance changes as you age , and the DVLA dont want a picture of a nineteen year old student on the front of a pensioners licence!

If you dont update the DVLA usually suspend your licence entitlement until you are discovered by the police driving a vehicle, and then you are told your licence is suspended. And now with vehicle siezure in the UK you may find yourself walking home as your licence is currently not valid for use.........

So 2019 is the expiry, but when is your update due? this is ten years from issue. dont do it and your licence is suspended, and now if you handed it in to the Spanish for residency purposes, you may find they dont return it, or even exchange it for a Spanish one till you renew its term with the DVLA. The only problem is the DVLA require the return of your original licence before they will issue the new one, and the Spanish have retained that..............

Thanks for your concern regarding my DL(I'm more than happy with both bits) - you are asking for personal information! may I politely suggest that you mind your own business 

 TeamGB, thanks for your reply, i have no desire to know any of your business, and i will treat your contribution in the manner i think you attempted to convey, and yes you made me smile. I think the part you misinterpret is the phrase i used,

"So 2019 is the expiry, but when is your update due? this is ten years from issue"

This is the only part of the stament that could be taken as asking a personal question and you misunderstand the wording of the question, it was not a direct question needing an answer it was a question to you to check  your licence validity, i have no desire to know any personal details about you.

Anyway , now we are clear on this point i will go on my way today smiling! Best wishes.

This tread gets more and more exciting every day, I thought the reply on page 4 with the green bits in it is the most pritty one so far! Go for it boys!

I must admit, What was said right at the beggining is very true "There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice" I think the safest thing to do is just change the licence and at least you will be out of the conflict zone.

 Nicky71, i am with you, i dont see any reason whatsoever for a car licence holder who moves to Spain as a permanent resident to keep a UK licence. For a start you have moved out of the UK to your chosen country which you are going to stay in for the forseeable future, and have no intention to return to the UK, so whats the problem with reporting promptly to the Trafico office and exchanging your UK licence for a Spanish one?

If you have sold up lock stock and barrel in the UK i cant see what advantage people think they are maintaining by keeping the UK licence. Unless of course you are hiding in Spain and attempting to evade the authorities at both ends!

  I don't see any reason whatsoever for a car licence holder who moves to Spain as a permanent resident to keep a UK licence.

John

Spot on post. Integration and harmonisation was what the EU was always surposed to be about, free movement of goods, services and citizens.

Nicky71   am with you on this thread its getting intense gosh what a thriller I love it can we have a second series please this is better than corrie. Just change the licence and be done with it to hell with the consequences live dangerousely.  I love it.     

Thanks hun.

 Johnzx, and TeamGB i agree totally with both of you, why not all member states finally agree on an EU "passport"  valid worldwide, and used within the EU for free passage between all countries? I thought in the dim distant past that was on the itinery on the table in Brussels? Its a shame it hasnt happened.

It will likely never happen with the UK involved.

Already they are talking about restricting rights of free movement for EU Citizens.

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2012-10-08/uk-considers-imposing-visa-controls-on-eu-nationals

An absolute bunch of idiots... looking at recent history, a free Nazi armband and pair of shiny jackboots comes free with the job.

PS: UK Home Secretary, that is.

 66d35, its ironic really, i see where you are going with the likening of the home secretary to a jackbooted Nazi, Adolf Hitler couldnt dominate and unify Europe using force, and politicians seem intent on stopping unity happen peacefully too. You would think that politicians would have learnt how to determine new friendships and cooperation in Europe and use it for the populations benefit. It does not instil confidence in our leaders does it?

I hate the idea of us all loosing our individuality. hasnt it been the heartache of all the British slowly watch  our culture ebb away! we have suffered from lack of strong restrictions, bring them on in!

Over the years I dont think the EU has done us any favors. I think spain has benifited alot from it.

 I hope you dont mind me joining in this thread but I have just come across it.  If it helps, I read in either the Euro Weekly or Sur in English over the last couple of weeks that if you are German or French then you have to change your driving licence to Spanish within 2 years of being resident here, with a UK license you do not have to change it.

Jay

                        don't believe everything you read in the newspapers,  even if  written by a professional journalist, and the letters page can be a minefield, as the freebee newspapers never check the facts, relying only on other readers hopefully correcting, but often only adding to the errors,  later.

PS  I am speaking from  the stand point of having had more than 1,000 letters and articles published, many of which were to put right errors (hopefully not adding to the confusion)  !!!!
 

"It is not about losing our individuality or independence, I think all countries in the EU should retain their identity but we should all be aware of our origin but we should get on with our close neighbours and have solidarity with them by getting along on common policies and enforcing them"

One size doesn't fit all and never will.