Rules for driving licences clamped down

Rules for driving licences clamped down

A new move by the Government will see tighter rules for non-EU nationals wishing to apply for a driving licence in the UK.

They have taken action to attempt to close up a loophole in the law to do with exchanging driving licences from a non-EU national's country of origin. In many cases this meant that people were able to replace the licence from their home country with a British driving licence, without any proof or testing that their driving met the UK standards.

There are currently around 15 countries that have been approved by British rule-makers for a clean exchange of driving licence to a British equivalent. However, the loophole that existed saw drivers swapping their licence with one from the list of authorised countries, and then swapping that licence for a British licence.

With the change in law recently put into effect by the Government, a new requirement means that licence holders have to prove that they have earned their current licence in a nation with similar testing conditions to those in the UK. Drivers from EU countries have the luxury of not having to exchange their licence. In fact, EU licence holders have the freedom to drive anywhere they wish in the European Union.

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