What happens when uk driving license expires

Cookies on GOV. UK We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies. Hide this message. Home Transport Driving and road transport Driving licences Driving licence applications and renewals. News story Motorists reminded of the importance in renewing their photocard driving licences. It is important to know when your driving licence expiry date is or was , as it is illegal to drive without a valid licence.

Although the DVLA may send renewal reminders prior to the expiry date, it is your responsibility to make sure that your licence is up-to-date, including getting renewal forms if necessary. Your car can also be seized. Renewing A Driving Licence is free, unless you have been disqualified. The fees for renewing your driving licence are shown below.

For medical renewals, you need to get the D42 or D48 application forms. Your photo licence must be renewed every 10 years; if you fail to renew it at that point, your driving licence will be invalid. You can choose to update your photo sooner than this if your appearance changes significantly. This can be done online via direct. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Cookies on GOV. UK We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies. Hide this message. Home Transport Driving and road transport. Press release Expired driving licences automatically extended by 11 months. English Cymraeg. Photocard driving licence Under the changes, drivers whose photocard driving licence or entitlement to drive runs out between 1 February and 31 December will have their entitlement automatically extended from the expiry date, for a period of 11 months.

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Secret parking offences you're committing revealed How old are my tyres - find out instantly here What are the black dots on my windscreen for? How far and how fast can I drive on a space saver spare wheel. Yes, this is highly likely. Renewing driving licences that were extended by 11 months, or those that are up for renewal as usual will take longer than usual to be processed. Covid social distancing restrictions and industrial action at the DVLA are behind these delays.

The DVLA has stated that paper applications, or those made online where more information is required, are likely to take between six to ten weeks to process. However, see above for more information on driving while waiting for your licence to be renewed. In addition, the DVLA says: 'There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed as part of your driving licence application. The DVLA currently has 60, items of mail every day that needs to be opened and processed, with further delays possible as vote for additional industrial action at the agency closes on 3 September.

Alternatively, if you are renewing a photocard driving licence you can do this at participating Post Office branches.

Check to see if you are eligible to use this service. If so, this service is likely to see your driving licence issued within five days. If you made your paper application online applications will be faster before the dates below, you 'should' receive your new document within two weeks. If you applied after the dates listed for the services below, you should expect to wait weeks for your document. The pandemic, industrial action at the DVLA and staff continuing to work from home are causing delays in renewing driving licences by up to 10 weeks - or even longer in some cases.

The table above shows when the DVLA is likely to start working on your driving licence application - after which it will take 6 to 10 weeks to arrive. The period during which automatic extensions up to eleven month were given has now ended and driving licences must be renewed as normal. You can renew your driving licence online here.

DVLA is to allow non-doctors to carry out medical assessments for renewing driving licences Drivers with certain medical conditions, such as diabetes and some heart conditions must be passed as fit to drive by a qualified doctor. The following information will tell you if you received an automatic seven-month extension added to your photocard. My photocard driving licence expires after 31 December If your licence expires after 31 December you will need to apply to have it renewed as normal.

If your photocard driving licence expired between 1 February and 31 December , it is likely you will have received an month extension - allowing you to keep driving. The means drivers would not have needed to obtain a new photograph and go through the usual renewal process.