I am 60 years old and I have a UK driving licence and a US Driver's license


The UK licence is registered at my UK address which i am selling within the next 2 weeks


I should not get any correspondence from the UK government until I am 70 when they ask if my eyesight is ok and renew the licence then

I was thinking of changing the address to my daughter's in the UK as she will never move house, but on the form it says you have to be UK resident to 'get' a licence


Now does 'get' mean have a new one issued or does 'get' include changing the address ?


Big penalties if I get it wrong

What do you folks think ?


If I ever get some really expensive disease and my US insurer wont cover it , I can legally and morally resume my UK residency and get treated for free and I would not want to retake the driving test which is really hard now. I dont believe the UK will swap my US license for a UK licence





alan

Alan - You're back!!!!

I have absolutely no idea what the answer is, but just replying to say hi, and hope that Florida's treating you well

Love Florida ! and dream of the Yorkshire Dales in June and Inverary in september
Got my car and motorbike license and 5 bank accounts and 2 credit cards and a 2 share broking accounts and tamed 2 squirrels to take peanuts out of my hand and I have huge egrets and turtles and bullfrogs on my back garden ! I walk 400 yards to the park on tampa bay to watch the sting rays and dolphins and sea trout

Nobody here comes from Florida so we are all danged ferriners and yankees and so it's great and it doesn't feel alien at all !

70's almost every day since 10th november - oops november 10th. Love the thunderstorms. Back to Yorkshire 2 weeks ago to sell my house (hopefully in 2 weeks) and topped up on fish and chips and cheshire cheese and bisto then couldnt wait to get back 'home' to florida... Don't care for the rest of florida much but this bit is superb. Wife has worked 10 hours a day since nov 10th on getting a job - nothing. Nobody is hiring except people who require her to be fully engaged 24/7 with jesus christ's empire on earth and it's getting worse. She got a job in england easily.

Glad I am not slogging it on VJ now with all these awful delays - it must be terrible

alan

Allan - it's been over 10 years, but when I applied for my UK license they took my US license and issued me a UK one. I recall taking the road test. Of course, things may have changed since then.

I don't know of any problem with hanging on to the UK license, but if there is I'm sure someone will correct me.

when i got my wisconsin license (took the test) they tried to take my uk license but i told em it wasnt my property - its owned by the queen of england - they said 'oh oh ok then' and i kept it

then i swapped it for a florida one

yes i would like to keep the UK one just in case i commit 'moral turpitude ' and get thrown out. I used some of that stuff to remove a bumper sticker

Alan -- I have no idea what the answer to your question is but glad to see you back posting!

yo Elmcity ! yes I am a real yankee now ! after I sell my UK house in the next 2 weeks, my only possessions outside Florida will be 2 boxes of photos and 1 box of smaller waisted trousers in my daughter's loft in the UK !

My only possessions in the U.S. will be my fantastic 3.5 litre 268 horse power Toyota and 3 computers and 4 suitcases of stuff.

When I was back in england 10 days ago I threw away or gave away 60 year's of stuff. A brand new start and all boats burned.

Some of my friends from over 20 years turned their noses up at me when i said that if i got seriously ill and my US insurers would not pay up, I could always resume my UK residence to get treated free. I meant huge life threatening stuff and I did mean after properly resuming my residence.

Even so they were clannish and hostile to that idea and I realised I wasn't really a Limey any more - I am someone who chose to join another group. I felt like an outsider. Then I went to York museum and the lady smiled and asked if I was a UK resident and if so I could sign this and they would get a tax rebate. When I said no I wasn't any more, she went cold too !

Heck people really are like chimps with their tribes and their howling and their stick waving. Seems I am a yank now and the Brits have finished with me.

Well ok that attitude will help me settle in the US faster than anything else. Roll on 2 years and 6 months so I can apply for nationality.


I would still like to keep a UK licence though !

alan

Alan -- you sound like my husband! Good to have you back, mate.

Alan you can keep your UK license but you cant change your address or renew it unless you are living and are registered at an address in the UK....

DVLA use the same system to verify your details as the Department for Work and Pensions and the inland revenue... so if you have notified any of them that you are no longer resident in the UK or have filed form P85 or are having state pension paid to you here, then they will not reissue or change your address.... if you do return to the UK to live then all you have to do is update your address with DVLA and they will issue you with a new license at your new address....


Kez

Hi Kez - thanks for that - really they should not write to me unless they change to some super new license with bio stuff on it. I know they are talking about that. I do have a photo licence about a year old.

If they did write to me i wouldnt get it as I am selling the house

I just wonder if it can be suspended like someone who has a stroke - then you just ask for it to be re-issued when you are well - in my case when you return to live


That would be the best option

I could call them anonymously and ask what the position is I suppose

It would be a bit hard if they said it would be cancelled and i would have to re-take the test

Just when I thought I had it all nailed down !

hum

Allan - I think it best you look after your ticker, exercise, avoid alcohol, tobacco and red meat and eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg. I would hate to think you might go through the immigration process a third time!

I too have a photo license and a paper copy... I called than and asked the same questions... I was told that your do not loose your license it is still valid and you do not have to retake your test if you return to the UK to live.... all you have to do is file a standard change of address form advising them of your new address and they will issue a new photocard.... but they wont let you change your address to a address outside the UK or to an address you are not registed at....


Kez

Sorry I don't mean to hijack but it seems silly starting a whole new thread for the same thing. Alan it's lovely to hear your enjoying yourself so much since you've moved. I don't know who couldn't be happier with that description you listed.

I'm a diabetic and so have to renew every three years. I'm guessing that I wont be able to renew my license from the US when its due in 2009 and if we ever return to the UK I will just have to sit the whole thing again. It would however be good to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience.

Hope this finds everyone well

Bex xxx

Heck no - if Carolyn left me for Jose the muscle man gardener I would just buy a pet cat and call it a life.
I could always send postal orders to eliot spitzer's emperor's club if i get fed up of the cat
A couple of years ago we went to an immigration lawyer and he said he had a male client and he had imported SEVEN russian women for him ! (before the bag limit came in)

thats what i call stamina in many ways

Now I have turned 60, every twinge is interpreted as jaw cancer /heart attack/stroke /athiritis etc etc and every time i get guts ache after eating 2 lbs of raw peanuts i put it down to a perforated ulcer at least - I am getting used to it now and it's possible i will live on - but no more immigration stuff EVER !

When we are both retired and want to spend the summer in britain, carolyn can stay 6 months on her US passport so no problema - the winter ? now way !

I will send in my n400 eventually and then forget it -as long as something happens before the 10 year green card runs out then thats ok - no more sweating on the uscis - shudder

hey that's great info ! that's the ifo i needed..good i can relax and avoid possibly committing an offence

thank you indeed

alan

hey bex - kez's reply gives us hope ! Even with an expired license you should be able to renew if you have to go back to the uk to live and your doc says you are ok - seem that re-sitting your test is something they dont make you do unless you have been a naughty driver

alan

Hoorah!

I will keep you updated if I hear anything more on the matter. That sounds like a very practical way to do it though, a little bit worried as it sounds far too sensible for the DVLA !!

agree