French driving licence

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 21:10

The photos on our English ones expired and it just seemed too complicated to apply for new ones.
So......we have applied at the Mairie for French driving licences.
This was 3 weeks ago but then it is August.
Would be interested to know how many forum members who live here permanently have made the changeover.

One advantage seems to be that we won't have to reapply if/when we manage to reach the ripe age of 70

john · Post by **john** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 21:19

Just done it PR (my hand was forced by the local nick .....something to do with a speeding ticket!) and it took just over 3 wks for said document to arrive.

The bizarre thing is they do not send it to your home address;you have to go down your local Mairie to take delivery.

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 21:26

Yes, we were told that we would receive a "convocation" and have to go to the Mairie to collect our new licences.
Hope there won't be a problem because our photos became out of date last March.
It was the same system when we changed our numberplates to 66 - scruffy note shoved in our letter box!

opas · Post by **opas** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 21:27

I do not understand your first sentence. How does a photo expire on a Driving Licence? I thought that they were valid untill the age of 70....or in Johns case untill you got nicked

We did ours just after we arrived nearly 6 years ago........only because Mr O had to to get work(HGV) and to update his licence, so I did mine. I cannot remember how long it took but not long enough to worry about as you have the certificate of exchange which I think is valid for one month.

Hope you have bought a new purse/wallet/handbag to fit the darned thing in...it will be bigger than the UK one

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 21:28

Thanks, opas.
So I have to go shopping - yippee.
haven't bought anything for ages.

opas · Post by **opas** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 21:31

I have modified my earlier post, there is another paragraph at the start with a question in it.

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 22:05

The photos are only valid for 10 years.
Then they have to be replaced.
£1000 fine for having a licence with an outofdate photo apparently.
Don't see why - I look just the same !!!!!!! Haven't aged a bit!!!!!!!
(loud coughing in the background)

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 22:06

polremy wrote:Would be interested to know how many forum members who live here permanently have made the changeover.

One advantage seems to be that we won't have to reapply if/when we manage to reach the ripe age of 70

I changed mine 2 years ago - because firstly I was coming up to 70 in 2008 and secondly the process was hastened a little by the fact that I was nicked doing 116Kph on the road driving back to Perpignan from Quillan..

As to the photo - no knowledge of that - I exchanged my old green UK driving licence from 1968 for the French one. Took about 2 weeks (Le Soler is nearer Perpignan than where Opas lived at that time!!)

The reason I still had the old green licence was because I left the UK in 1970 and got a Swiss driving licence (including my own personal number plates - a unique Swiss feature) - but didn't have to give up my UK licence to obtain it. When I came to France in 1994, I drove on the old green one till I changed it to the French one. By that time it was hardly readable any more anyway! Still had my old address on Torquay on it - so at least now I feel legit!!

Strange thing is - the French licence has your address on it - and several places for change of address - but when i asked the Prefecture in Carcassonne to change it to Palaja, they shrugged and said not worth the trouble as it is not obligatory. So I'm still living in Le Soler according to the licence but driving a car registered in Aude with a carte grise marked with the Palaja address.. who can explain the ways of the French admin??

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 22:42

We have lived here now for nearly 4 years and I keep saying I must go to the Mairie and change to a French Licence. I assume you go there first and collect the relevant application form. When returning the completed form what is required by way of identification. Is there a fee payable.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Sat 22 Aug 2009 22:53

One advantage is that you won't have to turn the house upside down looking for that Counterpart Driving Licence to hire a car in Britain.

mpprh · Post by **mpprh** » Sun 23 Aug 2009 04:01

I arrived here in 1999.

I had a manually written flemish licence from a Belgian village that I lived in for 6 months in 1990.

I exchanged it for a French license around 2005 because I was scared of the consequences of having to go to Belgium if I lost the license.

Firstly, I was told "you don't need to change the license unless you have an infraction grave".

Next time I completed the form and said that I had been stopped (totally invented !) and was waiting for a prosecution for an infraction grave. BTW, I said, I really want to be certain that the French system can apply all the points I deserve.

The exchanged permis was issued FOC while I waited !

Peter

,

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Sun 23 Aug 2009 09:08

Santiago wrote:One advantage is that you won't have to turn the house upside down looking for that Counterpart Driving Licence to hire a car in Britain.

That rings a bell.
Never could find ours and the hire people had to phone Swansea from Stansted Airport to verify that we were the real McCoy.

ps. Just been reading the thread about fake Guccis and see you used the same McCoy phrase. Coincidence or what?

opas · Post by **opas** » Sun 23 Aug 2009 09:40

Roger O wrote:
polremy wrote:..

As to the photo - no knowledge of that - I exchanged my old green UK driving licence from 1968 for the French one. Took about 2 weeks (Le Soler is nearer Perpignan than where Opas lived at that time!!)

I did not even have to leave the village Roger, apart from going to get some photos at Leclerc. Our village does have a mairie and the secretary there is brilliant.

john · Post by **john** » Sun 23 Aug 2009 09:44

I got my forms from the Sous Prefecture,opas,but presumably somewhere smaller than Céret,where no S-P exists,you have to get them from the Mairie ?

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Sun 23 Aug 2009 13:02

In Le Soler it was the Police Municipale office. I got the form from them, they sent it in and called me at home when the new licence was ready for pickup - so two trips of 500 meters!

What I meant by being nearer was the delivery courier had a shorter journey from Perpignan - not that I went myself!

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Tue 25 Aug 2009 13:02

Received our "convocation" this morning.
Went straight round to the mairie and picked up our tasteful pink french driving licences!
And, guess wot - no charge.
Hey, we got something for nothing.
It would have cost us £25 to renew our British photo licences!
We're up on the deal for once.

john · Post by **john** » Tue 25 Aug 2009 14:52

Bienvenue aux conducteurs français,PR !!!

Yes I was surprised that they did not feel the need to extract some Euros from me for this "service".

Perhaps there is indeed such a thing as a free lunch.

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