Renewing UK driver's licence and getting a Japanese one

[ExpatScot]

You can renew your British license, but you need a British resident address. You also need to tell them your National insurance number and passport number. It is quite easy to do online. I did it about six months ago, whether you are allowed to do it I am not sure. I am sure somebody will post and paste the section from the DVLA that says I am allowed to do it.

Thanks for the info. As far as you can tell, aside from asking for an address, NI number and passport number there were no other checks to verify your resident status? I'm thinking that strictly speaking we're probably not allowed to do it, but that it's something that they don't actually investigate.

[ExpatScot]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm thinking that I might just try the online renewal and see how it goes (especially if we get any more people on here saying that they've successfully done it). If I do get cold feet, I could always wait till the summer when I'll be taking a quick trip to the UK and renew it then. I could argue that I was between jobs and therefore technically resident in the UK.

I presume the '3-months in the UK after obtaining the licence' thing apples to when I got the original licence 20 years ago, but again it'd be good if anyone else has experience of this.

The way I view the whole situation is that my original paper licence was for 50 years, and that the new licence with the picture just has to be updated every 10 years or so to keep the photo current. It does say on the back of the new licence that I can drive cars till 2041, so they shouldn't really be allowed to deny me a card. Maybe that's just wishful thinking.

[fools_gold]

I think you should be ok. I converted my UK paper licence to a photo one while living in Japan no problem and had my mother send it over to me.

However, whenever I go back to the UK I always take an international licence issued in Japan because technically my UK licence is invalid.

The problem is if you plan to use a family member's car as a named driver when you return to the UK. Many insurance companies don't accept foreign residents/licence holders as named drivers.

[goodandbadjapan]

Think I posted his before but can't seem to find it. Anyway, his is what I was told directly by email when tried to renew my UK licence:

As you reside in Japan, I regret that we are unable to issue you with a further British licence.

Changes to British legislation resulting in the implementation of the Second EC Directive on Driving Licences (91/439/EEC) since 1 January 1997, have required that driving licences are granted only to drivers who are resident in this country.

I can confirm that if or when you return to the UK as a resident you would be able to renew the licence, I can also confirm that you may drive on the Japanese licence for 12 months from date of entry to the country. The following information may also help.


To enable you to hire a vehicle in GB without your driving licence please ask the car hire company to contact us on the following number for confirmation of your driving licence record.

Telephone number 0906 139 3837

Please be present at the time they ring us for the information. If this is difficult please ring our telephone enquiry line to give prior permission to release your details to the car hire company concerned.

The telephone number you should ring is 0300 790 6801.

Lines are open Monday- Friday 8am- 7.00pm and Saturday 8am- 2pm.

Once permission has been left on your driving licence record the car hire company can ring us for the information they require.

[Bubblegun]

I went to the Japanese erosion of the AA and they translated my UK license.

If you go to the UK you can hire a car with your Japanese license. So you don’t even need the UK license anyway.

One advantage of the JP license is it can be used as ID.
I have one of the old paper licenses.

[fools_gold]

Think I posted his before but can't seem to find it. Anyway, his is what I was told directly by email when tried to renew my UK licence:

As you reside in Japan, I regret that we are unable to issue you with a further British licence.

Changes to British legislation resulting in the implementation of the Second EC Directive on Driving Licences (91/439/EEC) since 1 January 1997, have required that driving licences are granted only to drivers who are resident in this country.
...

Ouch! How did they know you were in Japan?

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

You can renew your British license, but you need a British resident address. You also need to tell them your National insurance number and passport number. It is quite easy to do online. I did it about six months ago, whether you are allowed to do it I am not sure. I am sure somebody will post and paste the section from the DVLA that says I am allowed to do it.

Thanks for the info. As far as you can tell, aside from asking for an address, NI number and passport number there were no other checks to verify your resident status? I'm thinking that strictly speaking we're probably not allowed to do it, but that it's something that they don't actually investigate.

Not that I know of, however I find dealing with digital applications whether it be the DVLA or the passport office to be a lot more efficient than the humans that work there from previous experiences of having dealt with them,

[goodandbadjapan]

Think I posted his before but can't seem to find it. Anyway, his is what I was told directly by email when tried to renew my UK licence:

As you reside in Japan, I regret that we are unable to issue you with a further British licence.

Changes to British legislation resulting in the implementation of the Second EC Directive on Driving Licences (91/439/EEC) since 1 January 1997, have required that driving licences are granted only to drivers who are resident in this country.
...

Ouch! How did they know you were in Japan?

I told them! I didn't think it would be any sort of problem and was just asking how to renew my licence.

[beanhead]

It is pretty clear that you should not be renewing the UK driving license while living here:
https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence

I remember I gave up because I couldn't prove that I lived in the U.K. The reason for that was because I, er..., don't live in the U.K.

Good luck to anyone who successfully does it, but just be warned that it is against the rules and, seemingly, the law...
https://www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence