UK DL to Spanish

 Hi just asking what is required to change my UK D/L to a Sanish one and how long does it take?

www.dgt.es/portal/es/oficina_virtual/conductores/canje_permisos/

Use Google translate if necessary. Don't know how long it takes, probably depends on all sorts of variables, such as which Tráfico office you're dealing with etc. Maybe someone who's done it recently can give an idea. Be sure it won't be quick though!

Hi

ok you need a medical first before anything,then upto date padron, Pasport, both parts UK license,photos, NIE, Residencia, all these originals with at least 2 copys of each. Then depending on where you live at least 2 trips to trafico and license should turn up between 1 and 3 months its a long process. Hope this helps it just takes time and a lot of relaxing. Dont download the forms on internet as they change from week to week just fill in the forms at Trafico when you get there its easier. Oh almost forgot pay some money at Trafico for license think its around 40e. Sorry and 39e for medical. Good luck. 

my husband went to traffico malaga,yesterday to change his licence.It was relatively straightforward.

He had to take his current licence and the green paperwork that goes with the licence,a photocopy of both sides of licence and photocopy of green paperwork.

 passport and photocopy

 residencia and photocopy

NIE paperwork and photocopy.

he did not need his padron

A current medical certifcate ,obtained locally,it has to be a clinic that is approved by traffico.There is s clinic near traffico,malaga you can do it on the day you apply but most likely more expensive.

The medical is not difficult and cost him 35 euros.he is 67.

a form that traffico give you to fill in address details etc,and 2 declaration forms you have to sign.

2 recent passport photos

Present them at the desk and they will process them and send off to DVLA .

They will ask for your email address to inform you of when to pick up your new licence,they stated around 3 weeks later.

you keep your UK licence and they give you a slip of paper which proves you are in the process of exchanging your licence.

Traffico Malaga costs 29 euros.

will let you know how long it takes when we pick up new licence

This message was last edited by karename on 01/12/2012.

This message was last edited by karename on 01/12/2012.

no problem,will  repost when licence arrives not sure if it will really be 3 weeks lol but main thing is ,its in process

Hi

Yes thats how it may work in Malaga but not everywhere is the same as I said in Alicante you do need the Padron and yes they take your UK licence off you after they have been in contact with, you then you have to go back in and surender your UK licence then you will be given the Green paper saying that you are in the system. At which point they will send your new Spanish licence to the addreess on your Padron, and the addreess you put on the forms. In Alicante they dont ask for an email addreess but a phone no to contact you, see all is not the same.

Could I just ask why , when you are shown as living in Murcia you went to Alicante ?

thats why i made it clear my husband did it in malaga,someone on here might have to go to the malaga trafico

Simple I dont live any more in Murcia I live in Alicante. When I joined I was in Murcia and have not had time to change Gosh am only trying to be helpful I give up.

gosh i feel a bit awful solwayiceman,i didnt mean to be rude,

maybe with your info and mine,we could say alicante info amd malaga could be combined,just take every bit of paperwork that could be relevant to the licence exchange,and expect in alicante that you will not keep your licence but still worth doing.

keep the faith karen xxx

Hi karename thanks for your kind words and yes I hope people do take all paperwork with them that they can as you know what its like here you forget one bit of paper work you are stuffed. 

I have noticed on most forums in Spain that the people that have a go at you (not you) are people that have lots of posts, they realy need to get out more and get a life.

Thank you once again for you kind words I will try and keep the faith.

 Just a point i feel worth mentioning  having just read this thread. When you start to deal with your licence exchange, you will eventually be asked to surrender your English licence before the Spanish one is passed for issue. This will happen as it is EU regulation that you do not hold two licences permitting you to drive within EU states, and would happen in the UK also. This is no great problem in itself as you will get a Spanish equivalent licence, but i think it might be prudent to be careful and take this bit of advice BEFORE you hand your licence in.

Please make sure you make a few photocopies of your licence to keep in case of problems. What Problems i hear you ask? Well, in my experience, even just dealing with the DVLA if you hand your licence in and there is a problem, upon reissue  the DVLA will not admit making a mistake during their "safe keeping" of your licence, and will massage your licence entitlement as happened to me many years ago, and i "lost " 4 years driving licence entitlement on my licence as the DVLA would not admit they had made a mistake, and this was their way of discharging their responsibility for losing it!

If I had had a copy of my licence at that time they would not have been able to do this, and the circumstance resulted in me attending court for an "alledged" driving offence(which i subsequently won). i cannot see the Spanish system being any better or more efficient, so my advice is TAKE A PHOTOCOPY. it may be useful to prove entitlement if your exchange goes wrong, as DVLA wont consider a simple reclaim of your english licence, and would be supporting evidence of previous english lince entitlement.

Anyway, good luck all! Regards, Rob.

Wish we could turn back the clock.

About 15 years ago Traffico introduced a system to change a UK D/L to a Spanish one.

I went to the Traffico in Malaga, Filled out a simple form, paid a small fee, and handed in my UK D/ and cert of empadron,.  and waited.    

After about 30 minute they apologised for the delay and said  I was the first to use the system and they found it was not programmed correctly but they had called a programmer to put it right.

I waited I believe a couple of hours in all  and they gave me my Spanish licence.

Nothing else that I remember, no medical.  

Those were the days !!!!

hi robert 8696

we have to hand our UK licence in when we collect the new spanish one,thank you for the heads up,i will make sure we have copies of the UK one and paperwork  before we hand it in.better safe than sorry

some else had also told me to check when picking up your new one as sometimes a category is missing,she hadnt got the bit that allowed  her to tow a horse box which was on her UK licence

regards karen

 Hi again Karen, the reason your friend did not have her towing category on it is not some strange miscalculation or misprint on the part of the Spanish Trafico, as some think , unfairly, but it is licence alignment forced on all EC countries (including the UK) by EC directive. This directive means any licence handed in for update or replacement will be brought into line with current EU agreed categories. This directive has been in force for sometime now and the same would happen if an english licence was handed in to the DVLA, but most people seem to think its because they have handed it in to Spanish Trafico, which is not the case, it is because the classification has changed and the new category is being applied retrospectively when your licence is next handed in.

The only way to get the old class back is to take a test for that (new) classification, this directive (EU) overrides what we in the UK call "grandads rights" Unfortunate maybe but the times they are a changing.........

As in previous postings of mine, Happy Motoring Folks!