Guest Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hi When you get an Ozzy licence in WA doe you actually give up your UK licence or can you keep it? I want to use my UK licence when I'm on holiday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 You get to keep it until the picture card expires, then you can't renew it with a Aussie address. There is nothing to stop you driving on an Aussie licence in the Uk tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowPerth Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Keep it. You can have both. In Oz you are supposed to have your license in the car with you when you are driving. If you don't have your Oz one yet and are using a UK one, you have to have your passport too. If you go through a police chack point or are stopped they can fine you if you don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Yep we kept ours too,they just read it and handed it back, although i have read on here where someone said theirs was taken off them,cant remember where in Australia now though. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 You can keep it, but check on the validity as/when your move becomes permanent. If you're on a temporary visa you can drive on a valid UK licence for a year, if on a permanent visa it's 3 months. http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/20668.asp Edit: ignore my remark about it being one year, go with the information at the linked location - currently states you can drive for as long as the UK licence is valid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Shoes Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Keep it. You can have both. In Oz you are supposed to have your license in the car with you when you are driving. If you don't have your Oz one yet and are using a UK one, you have to have your passport too. If you go through a police chack point or are stopped they can fine you if you don't. This carrying passports around with us is really taking a risk, easily mislaid, or lost. They had the same rule in Spain, but I didn´t know it was true of OZ, always carry my OZ driving licence when I go out in the car, my UK one is kept in a safe place in the house. I was pulled a couple of weeks ago for a random breath test, and was asked my my licence, I was also pulled less than a week later and not asked for it. I haven´t heard this carrying passport rule before though :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Thanks, I will still have an address back in the UK for post etc so can also renew it. I'm not betting the rest of my life on this move to Oz and just fancy doing a few years as I'm an expat already anyway and will no doubt as the markets shift want to go elsewhere after the mining boom goes pop - watch out for mongolia with its ties to china for minerals and the south china sea....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I know the licence rule as we were told by some Aussies when arrived, but ive never heard or read of carrying a passport??? Is this just for certain visa holders or everyone inc the Aussies? Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Shoes Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I know the licence rule as we were told by some Aussies when arrived, but ive never heard or read of carrying a passport??? Is this just for certain visa holders or everyone inc the Aussies? Cal x Just reminded me I mean´t to check this out, can´t see it myself, stupid idea, driving licence yeah OK and it is really good ID has photograph, I think anything with a photo will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowPerth Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 You only need a passport too if you are on a foreign license, not once you've got an aussie one. It applies in WA, don't know about the other states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowPerth Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I know the licence rule as we were told by some Aussies when arrived, but ive never heard or read of carrying a passport??? Is this just for certain visa holders or everyone inc the Aussies? Cal x Sorry. I may well have made a mistake with this one! I've looked it up on the internet and can find no mention of it. It may have been complete and utter nonsense - if so, apologies. Or it may have been that if your foreign license does not have a photo on it (like the old paper ones), then you need your passport as photo id. to accompany it. I can't even remember where I got the info from, but it was fixed in my head. I need either a sleep or a drink ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Shoes Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 You only need a passport too if you are on a foreign license, not once you've got an aussie one. It applies in WA, don't know about the other states. Thanks for clearing this up, I had started to get a bit :confused: it is the same in Spain local licence no passport, no local licence passport. I hate carrying my passport around it is so easy to mislay ... or could be. Not that I have ever lost one, but there is always a first time. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Not sure about that Loveshoes... We were both pulled whilst on UK paper licences and not asked for a passport,,unless its just WA.. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cki2011 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Hello Can we apply for our oz licence if we went out there for a reccie on a 176 visa so it is one less thing to do when we move for good later. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moven Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 You can keep it, but check on the validity as/when your move becomes permanent. If you're on a temporary visa you can drive on a valid UK licence for a year, if on a permanent visa it's 3 months. http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/20668.asp My understanding on the temp visa i.e. 457 that you can drive for the four year duration without having to swap for a WA license Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Hello Can we apply for our oz licence if we went out there for a reccie on a 176 visa so it is one less thing to do when we move for good later. Thanks You need an adress here ,so personally i wouldnt bother until you move here for good. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cki2011 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 You need an adress here ,so personally i wouldnt bother until you move here for good. Cal x Hello Cal Thanks for that we will wait till Jan until we move for good.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 My understanding on the temp visa i.e. 457 that you can drive for the four year duration without having to swap for a WA license Yep, my bad. I'll correct that post. It's this bit that's relevant "If you are a visitor to Western Australia (WA), you may drive on your overseas licence, for as long as it remains valid in the country of issue" My only concern with that would be the photocard expiring (and hence the licence not being valid) during the length of the visa, so maybe worth checking that expiry date if anyone's planning on driving on their UK licence for that long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 "If you are a visitor to Western Australia (WA), you may drive on your overseas licence, for as long as it remains valid in the country of issue" Interesting, as UK licenses are technically only valid if you're resident in the UK with an up to date address on the photocard. Bit of a grey area that one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 If it's a temporary visa though, then I reckon you would still be a "resident" at the UK address on the licence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 If it's a temporary visa though, then I reckon you would still be a "resident" at the UK address on the licence. Depends how long you've been out of the UK, on a temp visa you'd generally be considered domiciled in the UK, but not necessarily resident (residency iirc usually requires three months per year in the country, ordinary residence I think doesn't have the time restriction but need to show ties such as owning a house that is available to you when you visit i.e. not rented out), and if the address was a rental or you've sold the house, I doubt it could be considered your "current" address. In practice it's probably not an issue, unless you do something really stupid like drinkdrive and kill someone, in which case they'd be taking a much closer legal look at your licence than usual. If you are intending to drive on a UK licence for several years on a 457, and don't own a house in the UK, it's probably worth changing the address to one of your relatives' houses, so you actually are contactable at that address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Yeah, it probably comes down to what they class as a "resident". I imagine if on a temporary visa you can't claim what Oz authorities class as residency, but if your absence from the UK also means the UK authorities consider you non-resident then it's in weird "do I exist?" territory :-) We reckoned easiest thing all round was just to get a WA licence. For one thing, some bars won't accept UK licence as proof of age to let you in. And I'm not a fan of carrying a passport into town for a few beers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Yeah, it probably comes down to what they class as a "resident". I imagine if on a temporary visa you can't claim what Oz authorities class as residency, but if your absence from the UK also means the UK authorities consider you non-resident then it's in weird "do I exist?" territory :-)We reckoned easiest thing all round was just to get a WA licence. For one thing, some bars won't accept UK licence as proof of age to let you in. And I'm not a fan of carrying a passport into town for a few beers! Yeah, I got an SA licence asap when I moved (was stil on WHV when I got it), mainly for ID purposes, makes so many things significantly easier. Still waiting on the PR visa, but having lived outside the UK since 2006, I'd have trouble proving residency there if push came to shove. (I did exchange my swiss licence back to a UK one before coming to australia though, using my parent's address, as they have "I've officially left switzerland" paperwork over there, so no way would I be able to claim residency after I moved.) I've spent so much time in "do I exist" loopholes in the last few years it's ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jaffinoz Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 You can drive on your uk licence for up to three months here then you need to get an oz one which is fairly straightforward. But oz being oz they are very precise with the three month thing in that if you miss the three month cut of point you have to sit a test of some sort. The good thing about keeping your British licence for as long as possible is that if you get caught speeding while still on it you won't get demerit points due to the process of putting points on a uk licence being to difficult. Btw there are speed cameras everywhere in WA and I mean everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 You can drive on your uk licence for up to three months here then you need to get an oz one which is fairly straightforward.Just to clarify, the time limit you can use a UK licence depends on the visa you're on - there's different rules for permanent and temporary visas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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