Is Belfast anti-European? Exchanging a European driving license in Northern Ireland
March 27th, 2007 | 
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Seeing as SuperFrenchie thinks I’m “just” anti-French, I thought I’d redress the balance a little and point out one area where the UK is anti-European too.
I was in getting my driving license renewed last week which is something of a hit and miss affair as the explanatory leaflet leaves a LOT to be desired in clarity. Even though the thing was in English and, one would assume therefore that I’d understand it, the opening paragraph on what proof of ID was required was totally incomprehensible and appeared to be totally wrong too.
It opens by saying that if you have a colour photograph on your existing driving license then you don’t need to have someone certify your photograph nor to present a passport. Except, that when my father presented his renewal application complete with his old driving license with colour photo, they wouldn’t renew it without his passport.
It then goes on to say that you always need to have your photo certified yet they happily renewed mine with only my passport.
Then it says “digital photographs are not acceptable” yet they DO accept them, mainly because all of the photobooth machines only produce digital photos these days.
The best bit is perhaps their definition of residency. Despite living in France for three years, I still qualify for a Northern Ireland driving license as, according to their definition, I am still resident there!
However, none of that’s anti-European….
Whilst we were there, one of the increasing number of Polish immigrants arrived to exchange his license for a Northern Ireland one. In theory, he doesn’t actually need to change it at all but the lady in the office reckoned that he had to change it within six months (anti-European point 1). He presented his Polish ID card. Not acceptable: we need a passport (anti-European point 2) which isn’t actually what it says on their website. What she said he needed was to have his photo certified by someone in Northern Ireland who knew him for two years.
Emmm, so he MUST change his driving license within six months and, because you won’t take his valid ID card, he must find someone in Northern Ireland who knew him 18 months before he arrived?
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There is an unwritten rule, it’s ok to be anti-DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) no matter what country you are in.
Here’s a joke you might enjoy:
After spending 3-1/2 hours enduring the long lines, surly clerks and insane regulations at the Department of Motor Vehicles, a guy stopped at a toy store to pick up a gift for his son. He selected a baseball bat and took it to the cash register.
“Cash or charge?” the clerk asked.
“Cash,” he snapped.
He then apologized for his rudeness, telling the clerk that he had spent all afternoon at the motor-vehicle bureau.
“Shall I gift wrap the bat?” the clerk asked sweetly. “Or are you going back there?”
Arnold,
Hi a fellow Brit living in France and running a business, fun isn’t it, more taxes then I’ve had hot dinners.
I have been accused of being anti-French in much the same way as SuperFrenchie did with you, your not, you love France which is why your here, I reckon you love the country as much as I do.
I have a French wife and my kids go to a French school.
However I can not get away from a feeling that France is like Britain in the late 70’s, factories closing, unions that are too powerful. Heck most French people can’t afford the luxury goods produced in France. I fear for France, but then again I fear for Europe too.
I read his blog, and his Airbus comment was spot on to a point, Airbus was so effective that they forced Boeing to up its game, so much so that Airbus is now feeling the competition and because of its structure can not move with the same speed as Boeing, which in fact is the issue with Europe, but anyway.
One day I made the comment “beautiful people wear dims” and then changed it to “beautiful people are dim” to which a French guy replied if you do not like it why do you live here, I told him he had a complex for making that comment as I did not say that, perhaps he needed to ask himself the same question not me…
Well have fun and ignore the negative comments, the food is great, the wine is great, real French people outside Paris and the city slums are great, what more can one say but that.
Arnold, I agree that the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency bump is really unclear. When we moved home and had to notify them of change of address, we had to exchange our paper driving licences for photo cards. I read through the instructions I don’t know how many times to try to understand exactly what I had to do. I ended up having to go to a DVLA office in Edinburgh, a one hour drive, and then wait in a queue for 45 minutes, to finally sort it out.