Holding two licenses

[ChucklingJawa]

I am finding it a little to difficult to get a clear answer on this so i hope someone here can help me.

I recently got a Japanese driver's licence but i also am still in possession of my UK licence. Is my UK licence still valid or by getting a Japanese licence i have given up my UK licence? I plan to stay in Japan for a long while so i have no real need for the UK licence, but when i go back to the UK to visit it would be nice to be able to drive there. My UK licence is due for renewal in a few months and i am wondering whether it is worth renewing it or not. Is anyone familiar with this situation? The guy at the licence didn't know much about it.

[hennagaijin]

You will need the Japanese license to drive in Japan.

You will need the UK license to drive in the UK.

[SometimesJustMe]

Don't know about the legality, but I've had 2 for 15 years or more. Stories of friends returning on holidays and being refused rental cars due to the companies not believing their Japanese license was real was all the motivation I needed to keep up both.

[well_bicyclically]

I am finding it a little to difficult to get a clear answer on this so i hope someone here can help me.

I recently got a Japanese driver's licence but i also am still in possession of my UK licence. Is my UK licence still valid or by getting a Japanese licence i have given up my UK licence? I plan to stay in Japan for a long while so i have no real need for the UK licence, but when i go back to the UK to visit it would be nice to be able to drive there. My UK licence is due for renewal in a few months and i am wondering whether it is worth renewing it or not. Is anyone familiar with this situation? The guy at the licence didn't know much about it.

keep both up-to-date in the most cost effect means possible.

[rtfm]

Japan has no particular problems with people having 2 licenses. Your home country might, so don't offer both to the local Stasi.

I have had no problems at all renting a car in Canada and Germany with a Japanese license + IDP.

[ChucklingJawa]

Thanks guys. I am going to just keep renewing my UK licence as well as my Japanese one. I might as well, right? It will be handy down the line for me to have 2 licenses.

[WIJ]

Thanks guys. I am going to just keep renewing my UK licence as well as my Japanese one. I might as well, right? It will be handy down the line for me to have 2 licenses.

It's passports which Japan doesn't want u to have more than one of.

Japan only recognizes one passport / person in Japan.

So don't switch which passports u come into Japan on. Easy way to get deported.

[ericson]

If you have recently converted your license, you should be getting a letter from your embassy within a few weeks advising that you should send them your UK license (unless they are being a bit lazy that is). The letter will state that you have 30 days from receipt of the letter to give your license to them, failure to do so will automatically lead to cancellation of your license back in the U.K. When you return to the U.K. it is as simple as going to the department of motorization or equivalent and echanging the Japanese license back to the U.K. one.

I got such a letter from the Italian embassy recently, seeing the U.K. is part of the E.U. and E.U. countries share a similar agreement with JP, I believe the procedure would be the same. All and all not an issue.
If you return home for holiday or permanently they will allow you to drive for a period up to one year with a translated version of the Japanese license after which you will have to convert it back to the local license.

[Chromedome]

If you hold one in your left hand and the other in your right...you won't be able to drive very well at all.

[ChucklingJawa]

Ericson, When you send the license to the embassy,what do they do with it? I mean, will they cancel it? If that is the case then why even both sending it in if they cancel it without you sending it in?

I've had my license for about a month now and they haven't sent me any forms requesting me to require my UK license yet. I guess i will just wait and see. Thanks for the heads up.

[ericson]

It may be that the UK does it differently and automatically cancel the license back home. They will destroy the license upon receipt. Italy does not cancel your license, they just render your current drivers license invalid for use until you give up the Japanese license. In the letter I got it said that if the license is not given to the embassy within 30 days they will cancel it, but if I do they won't. This might seem trivial because either way, cancelled or temporarily invalid, allow you to get the license back with a conversion. The difference is that in Italy you get bonus points on your license. You start of with twenty and then for infringements they subtract points, but if you do not have infringements, you get an extra two points every two years. Also in terms of insurance, obviously it is better not to get the license cancelled otherwise you have to rebuild your points and insurance history, whereas if you give it back then all those things are kept with the clock adding more experience so when you do get back the license they don't treat you like a first time driver. That is pretty much the only real difference.

[mr.sumo.snr]

Conducting a conversation with yourself via a discussion forum ranks at what level of madness?


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[Taffy]

Thanks guys. I am going to just keep renewing my UK licence as well as my Japanese one.

UK licence expires on your 70th birthday, it's just the photo that needs updating.

If you have recently converted your license, you should be getting a letter from your embassy within a few weeks advising that you should send them your UK license

From where did you get this gem of pure fiction from pray tell?

[ericson]

UK licence expires on your 70th birthday, it's just the photo that needs updating.



From where did you get this gem of pure fiction from pray tell?

I you have read my previous posts you would have understood that I am not from a UK origin and assuming that the UK and other EU countries have similar agreements with Japan, I did get such a letter from the my country's embassy. So stop thinking you know all, as I also stated the UK might do things different seeing they are part of the EU but does not quite follow suit with many things.

[ksnasi lurker]

If you have recently converted your license, you should be getting a letter from your embassy within a few weeks advising that you should send them your UK license (unless they are being a bit lazy that is). The letter will state that you have 30 days from receipt of the letter to give your license to them, failure to do so will automatically lead to cancellation of your license back in the U.K. When you return to the U.K. it is as simple as going to the department of motorization or equivalent and echanging the Japanese license back to the U.K. one.

I got such a letter from the Italian embassy recently, seeing the U.K. is part of the E.U. and E.U. countries share a similar agreement with JP, I believe the procedure would be the same. All and all not an issue.
If you return home for holiday or permanently they will allow you to drive for a period up to one year with a translated version of the Japanese license after which you will have to convert it back to the local license.

Complete rubbish. I note your later post about not being from the UK so not really knowing, so don't even bother to speculate like this. It's misleading and you're talking out of your arse.

For clarity: you can keep both licences. End of.

[roylance]

I you have read my previous posts you would have understood that I am not from a UK origin and assuming that the UK and other EU countries have similar agreements with Japan, I did get such a letter from the my country's embassy. So stop thinking you know all, as I also stated the UK might do things different seeing they are part of the EU but does not quite follow suit with many things.

I heard Germany has a law like this but I find it amazing that it was the Italian Embassy that chased you up. Are they saying that because you no longer live in Italy you can't maintain an Italian drivers' license? I guess stranger things have happened at sea.

[iago]

I actually checked this out a few days ago, prior to booking a rental car in thr UK. According to the DLVA the license stays valid, but you can't renew it to update the photograph if you're not a resident.

[mr.sumo.snr]

I actually checked this out a few days ago, prior to booking a rental car in thr UK. According to the DLVA the license stays valid, but you can't renew it to update the photograph if you're not a resident.

I updated mine 'from Japan' a couple of years ago. I still have a usable permanent UK address and asked a local UKlander in Japan to sign the back of my photos to say they were me (or maybe I'm confusing the photo signing with my last passport renewal?) Anyway, it was updated no probs and I've changed the address on it to my mother's new apartment. Now I remember - I updated it online - well I did the application process online and then printed out a document to which I attached the witnessed photos - they had to be a weird small size.

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[iago]

I updated mine 'from Japan' a couple of years ago. I still have a usable permanent UK address and asked a local UKlander in Japan to sign the back of my photos to say they were me (or maybe I'm confusing the photo signing with my last passport renewal?) Anyway, it was updated no probs and I've changed the address on it to my mother's new apartment. Now I remember - I updated it online - well I did the application process online and then printed out a document to which I attached the witnessed photos - they had to be a weird small size.

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Yup, that's what I did, too. I became temporarily resident in my parents' basement.

If you have a recent UK passport, you can do it completely online. They can actually pull the photograph from your passport record (but the passport has to be less than 5 years old...)