Driving license renewal

[Sharpe]

Just got my renewed photo card back from DVLA after 8 weeks!
It’s only valid until June 2026, are they meant to all be 10 years? I’m 38, no medical conditions. Have I been short changed or is it a new thing? Couldn’t find any mention of 5 year validity on GOV website

 

[moz4000]

8 weeks!! Lost my wallet last Sunday, requested replacement license Monday and received yesterday.

Could the expiry date be linked to your passport?

 

[Noddy996]

Got to do mine too @Sharpe. Says 10 year replacement on the DVLA website, so doesn’t seem right, does it?!

Bus and lorry licences seem to be 5 years…

 

[Spaghetti]

8 weeks!! Lost my wallet last Sunday, requested replacement license Monday and received yesterday.

Could the expiry date be linked to your passport?

Weird. I requested mine on a Thursday and got it on the Monday. 10 years too. Odd.

 

[Sharpe]

My passport ran out 2 years ago and havent bothered renewing. So had to do driving license the old fashioned way with photo booth in WH Smith and send it off to Swansea. I have HGV entitlement but that runs to September 2027 (age 45) on the back of the license. It’s the section 4b date that they have only given me 5 years on

 

[Neil Nicholls]

If you have HGV entitlement, the licence only runs for 5 years. Then its a medical and renew.
Mine is the same.

 

[dubber36]

So had to do driving license the old fashioned way with photo booth in WH Smith and send it off to Swansea.

You don't have to use the post. I've just applied for my daughters provisional. We got the photos from Timpsons and as well as the hard copies, you get a code that the DVLA and Passport office can use to get the photo from the cloud.

 

[DXX]

Things have got pretty efficient lately, I did a passport renewal at home online, uploaded my own selfie and had a new passport a week later.

 

[Oldrat]

I have heard of quite a few cases where the DVLA have returned licences with fewer groups on them.

When queried, the holders have to prove that they had passed that particular test to get it reinstated.

Mostly motorcycle related groups.

Hang on to your original document folks

 

[Ads_Essex]

Just got my renewed photo card back from DVLA after 8 weeks!
It’s only valid until June 2026, are they meant to all be 10 years? I’m 38, no medical conditions. Have I been short changed or is it a new thing? Couldn’t find any mention of 5 year validity on GOV website

I’m fairly sure that 10 years is the standard for a photo card renewal

I have heard of quite a few cases where the DVLA have returned licences with fewer groups on them.

When queried, the holders have to prove that they had passed that particular test to get it reinstated.

Mostly motorcycle related groups.

Hang on to your original document folks

I worked with a (rigid lorry driving) bloke who, when I pointed out that he could drive an artic’, showed surprise and told me he’d never sat a test for one.

 

[True Romance]

I'm still on my paper licence

 

[oldiebut goodie]

Me too, I also still have my little red book!

 

[Salty Spuds]

Just got my renewed photo card back from DVLA after 8 weeks!
It’s only valid until June 2026, are they meant to all be 10 years? I’m 38, no medical conditions. Have I been short changed or is it a new thing? Couldn’t find any mention of 5 year validity on GOV website

I think (and willing to be corrected) it’s to do with the age of the photo they hold. If you renewed your passport 2 years ago, then you only get the remaining 8 years on your photo validity. If you’d sent a new photo, you’d get the full 10 years.
Think about it, if the photo they have on record was 9 years old, by the time your 10 years was up on your new licence, the photo would be 19years old.
Like I said, I’m willing to be corrected.

 

[Sharpe]

I had new photos done at a booth start of May, the day before I sent the application off

 

[Ads_Essex]

I had new photos done at a booth start of May, the day before I sent the application off

Maybe, just maybe, they’ve only given you a short lifespan because Sean Bean always dies in whatever he stars in…?

 

[Sharpe]

Maybe, just maybe, they’ve only given you a short lifespan because Sean Bean always dies in whatever he stars in…?

True. Either that or they have studied my hairline 2009 vs 2021 and realised I’ll look significantly different in 5 years. there will be a lot less of it, and what is remaining will be silver

 

[Salty Spuds]

I had new photos done at a booth start of May, the day before I sent the application off

That blows my theory out of the water then

 

[Zave]

I'm still on my paper licence

Same here