Exchanging european driving license in Malta at the point of expiry

MaltaCommando wrote:

Hello, my father wants to exchange his spanish driving license for a maltese on but the question is that it is at the point of expiry.  It will expire at the 17th of this month.

If he presents the application to exchange, will it be accepted? can it be exchanged if the european license has expired?

Any comment will be very much welcome.

I would get it done now, my husband was told to wait until his UK one was due to expire then apply for a local one and it took ages, he was told not to worry about not having a license as a lot of locals have never had one!

I went to change mine when we first moved here but was told not to bother until the licence expired when I was 70 and had to do it anyway.
Then it was very easy, but the info is sent to the issuing country for conformation and the UK took months so my original licence expired but as GozoMo said, they said it wouldn't matter here!!

Also, whilst I am not sure about other EU countries, but if the address on you UK licence is no longer correct you are breaking the law and can be fined and if you now live in Malta the address is obviously wrong!

If your father goes in and starts the process before the 17th, no problem, might be wise to not drive until he has his Maltese licence!

Ray

F0xgl0ve wrote:

Also, whilst I am not sure about other EU countries, but if the address on you UK licence is no longer correct you are breaking the law and can be fined and if you now live in Malta the address is obviously wrong!

Ray

WRONG!

There really is nothing more annoying that people stating incorrect information as FACTS on forums.

Here is the quote directly from the DVLA website:

If you're moving abroad

You can't register your new address on your British driving licence. Contact the driving licence authority in your new country of residence.

https://www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence

llp wrote:

WRONG!

There really is nothing more annoying that people stating incorrect information as FACTS on forums.

Here is the quote directly from the DVLA website:

If you're moving abroad

You can't register your new address on your British driving licence. Contact the driving licence authority in your new country of residence.

https://www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence

you're having some reading problems, you and Ray and the gov docs all say the same thing.

llp wrote:

F0xgl0ve wrote:

Also, whilst I am not sure about other EU countries, but if the address on you UK licence is no longer correct you are breaking the law and can be fined and if you now live in Malta the address is obviously wrong!

Ray

WRONG!

There really is nothing more annoying that people stating incorrect information as FACTS on forums.

Here is the quote directly from the DVLA website:

If you're moving abroad

You can't register your new address on your British driving licence. Contact the driving licence authority in your new country of residence.

https://www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence

The information I gave is correct and if you read what you quoted from the DVLA website that actually confirms it.
It might not state that it is against the law but it tells you you can't register an address abroad on your UK licence and as it is a requirement of UK licencing that your licence must show your current address then if you were to keep using your UK licence with your old incorrect UK address on it, you are breaking the law.

You should change your UK issue EU licence to a Maltese issue EU licence but Malta generally do not want the bother and usually tell you not to worry about it till it expires if that is not too far off.

No reading problems here.

Ray stated that you could fined for breaking the law for not changing the address on your UK licence when you move to Malta.

DVLA says otherwise.

llp wrote:

No reading problems here.

Ray stated that you could fined for breaking the law for not changing the address on your UK licence when you move to Malta.

DVLA says otherwise.

It says "You can be fined up to £1,000 if you don't tell DVLA when your address changes." and then says when moving abroad "You can't register your new address on your British driving licence. Contact the driving licence authority in your new country of residence."

Which is exactly what Ray says, you have to chance your address if you move and since you can't have a foreign address you need to contact your new country and convert your licence (though they do not say this in so many words).

Ray is absolutely right.

Further Malta says

"Any person holding a licence issued outside Malta and the European Union shall be entitled to drive in Malta for a period not exceeding twelve months from the date of his last entry into Malta."

and

"European Union driving licences shall be recognised in Malta as long as they are valid in country of issuance. "

So everything Ray said is correct I am afraid.

He stated that you could be fined for driving a car in Malta with an incorrect address on your UK licence.......how is that going to happen?

Maybe the British traffic police will pull you over on the Birkirkara by-pass.....

llp wrote:

He stated that you could be fined for driving a car in Malta with an incorrect address on your UK licence.......how is that going to happen?

Regardless of how he isn't wrong.

One way would be if like many of do you go back to the uk and drive there.

Oh right, but that's a completely different scenario, one of which I am certainly not denying.

But this is a Malta forum......

So you now agree that if you drive a car in MALTA with a UK driving licence for twelve months after your last arrival, there is an absolutely zero possibility of being fined for having the incorrect address on your licence.

The reason I took offence by the posting, is that people are scare-mongering about situations that CANNOT POSSIBLY OCCUR.

It's a perfectly valid concern for English expats to have in Malta. Not to be in a situation that can take months to resolve that puts you in a position of breaking a law in a country you are very likely to visit.

He didn't claim you will be fined in malta.

Oh I see, the goal posts are being moved now.

He was responding to a enquiry about a UK expat asking for advice about exchanging his licence in Malta. Nothing was mentioned about driving in the UK.

He stated that:

Also, whilst I am not sure about other EU countries, but if the address on you UK licence is no longer correct you are breaking the law and can be fined and if you now live in Malta the address is obviously wrong!

IF YOU NOW LIVE IN MALTA - Nothing was mentioned about going back to the UK for a visit.

So we are now in agreement that you cannot be fined for driving a car in MALTA with a UK licence showing your old address, for the first twelve months after your last arrival?

I do concede this now presents a serious problem for any UK expat that wishes to drive whilst visiting the UK, but that is a completely separate issue and nothing to do with the initial query.

All I can say is that this situation is one of the drawbacks of living abroad and something that should be taken into consideration before deciding to make the move.

Why don't you drop a line to the DVLA and see what their answer is, as basically this is a Catch '22, because you can't obtain a Malta licence until you have spent a continuous period of 12 months here, and you can't drive in the UK with your licence showing an old address.

The reply you receive would be worth a lot more than some random speculation on a forum.

As you say. It's a serious problem. Glad we have Ray to bring up problems rooted in reality rather than internet argument straw men that is unrelated to the reality many face.

But Ray didn't mention anything about visiting the UK, and nor did the initial poster.

However, Ray certainly implied that by LIVING in Malta and driving with a UK licence showing your old address, could somehow result in a fine; something which has now been shown as patently false.

If he had said "You can drive on your UK licence in Malta for 12 months, but remember if you visit the UK and subsequently drive, you will be breaking the law".......but unfortunately, he didn't say that.