anyone got any guidance on how to get UK licence back in exchange for Swiss licence? appreciate any input as it's about time I got it sorted, thanks

Let's see...

You applied the DVLA in the UK to get your license the first time.
I wonder if http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers.aspx could help?

2 clicks later:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...nce/DG_4022562

Although, your profile is Zurich... so you won't be able to get your UK one back until you live in the UK again.

How does it work for French license to a Swiss one, anyone?

Thanks

See this sticky

By back, I am assuming that you had a UK license before you came to Switzerland. I could be wrong here, but I am pretty sure that a UK license is a lifetime thing. So I think you just have to contact the DVLA and request a replacement license and they will just send you a new one. You will just need to have a UK address to have the license registered against.

You are indeed partially wrong. A UK license is valid until you are 70 and thereafter is renewed upon you meeting certain conditions for 5 years at a time. These conditions being in sound body and mind.

But otherwise yes you simply contact our nice Welsh friends and they issue you with a new one - only now its a credit card style!

been there, done that.

Easy go to one of the larger Post Offices in the UK with ID and a photo get a form, hand over your Swiss licence, in the bigger post offices they will check all details and send it for you. In the smaller ones you do it yourself.

(http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/p...catId=19100187)

wait

You have to give proof of residency of over 6 months in UK.

thanks - that's what I will do; the DVLA website is hard work trying to work thru what you require

...is it all in German now?

I just had to have proof of residency (bank statement, credit card statement, utilities bill, mobile phone bill.) They didn't care how long I had been there for and I had been there for less than six months.

I have been told by DVLA that the term "normally resident in GB" applies after 185 days.
===Rules for exchange===The following conditions must be met before a licence can be granted in exchange for a GB one:

• you must be normally resident in GB and have a permanent address here
• if you are a community driving licence holder applying for a British test at the same time as exchanging your licence and you have moved to GB having recently been permanently resident in another state of the EC or EEA, you must have been normally resident in GB for 185 days in the 12 months prior to your application for a full driving licence
• licences from the designated countries must be current at the time the application for exchange is received at DVLA: licences from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands are acceptable for exchange if issued after 01/04/91.Those issued in any EC or EEA country may be valid for exchange even if they have expired
• you must surrender your foreign licence which will be returned to the issuing authority
• international driving permits are not exchangeable
• test pass certificates are not exchangeable except for those issued in Northern Ireland or Gibraltar when the test was passed within two years of the date of the licence application
• Japanese licences must be accompanied by an official translation, available for a fee from the Consulate General of Japan at 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1V 9FN or 2 Melville Crescent, Edinburgh, EH3 7HW
• Republic of Korea licences must be accompanied by an official translation from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea at 60 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AJ
• motorcycle licences from the Republic of Korea and Faroe Islands are not exchangeable

Interesting. They didn't seem to car when I exchanged my Australian license. Though I was pretty close to the six months at the time.

But, another classic example of how English rules don't work. You can't get a residents permit for parking your car in London unless you have a UK drivers license with your current London address on it. But if you are new to the country, you can't get a UK drivers license for six months.

Thanks for another reminder about why I love Switzerland so much.

Found another qoute in DVLA website:

"You can only exchange your current driving licence for up to five years from when you become resident, provided your licence remains valid. If your licence is lost or stolen you will need to obtain written confirmation of your driving licence from the issuing licensing authority to send with your application."

So there is an upper limit set for changing the Swiss driving licence (max 5 years).

Sorry OT...

To get a resident permit in Balham (Lambeth) you need to be on the electoral roll, not that it would complicated matters much...

Misses went back in August 2007 after 7 1/2 years in CH. 2 weeks later applied for English Licence as Woodsie described + a up to date photo, Received return of post.
No bank statements, no nothing, no problems.

The only point is we kept our house and rented but we declared ourselfs non resident in this time.

DC

What would happen if I applied to DVLA and said I'd lost my UK licence (I haven't) and then applied to get a Swiss licence here using ONE of my licences? Would it show up somewhere that I'd done something naughty (as if!) or is it possible to buck the system and have both a Swiss and British licence? Of course this is just theoretical.........

Yes it's possible, and no it doesn't show up anywhere, at least not yet Only problem is do you still have a UK address? because you will need one to get your replacement licence issued too.

Yes, I've still got an address in the UK......so it looks like I'll be theoretically trying this out Here's hoping it works.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...nce/DG_4022562
it took me about 1 minute to find this