Thai International Driving Licence

[slippery when wet]

Hello can anyone please help as I dont seem to get a straight answer.

My Thai wife lived in the UK on a permanent residency visa for a pprox 2.5 years. She then got herself a uk Provisional licence but only took 1 driving lesson.

She then returned to Thailand for 1 year to look after her sick mother during which time she took her test in Thailand. She will be returning to live in the Uk but I have suggested that it would be a good idea to get an International driving licence thus giving her a year in which to take her test in the UK.

However.....I have phoned DVLA and they say that as long as she has residency status which she has due to holding a permanent residency visa then she can drive in the UK on an international licence for 1 year.

But........I have also spoke to the police and they say that because she has a UK Provisional licence then this superscedes the international licence but I dont understand as I thought that the idea of an international licence was to allow people fron another country to continue driving whilst learning to drive in the UK. But what the Police are saying that as she has a provisional licence she cant drive on her International licence and will have to wait until she passes her driving test in the UK which in my eyes is not what the international licence is for.

Could anyone please shed some light on this as I dont want my wife driving illegally but would be great if she could drive in the uk whilst taking driving lessons.

Thanks ........slippery

[GuestHouse]

Your wife is registered as a Provisional License holder in the UK - She would technically not be a foreign license holder driving in the UK but a UK Provisional License holder driving in the UK who has not yet moved to a Full UK driving license.

My wife had a similar problem when we returned to the UK for a second time - She solved this by taking the UK driver's test.

[slippery when wet]

Your wife is registered as a Provisional License holder in the UK - She would technically not be a foreign license holder driving in the UK but a UK Provisional License holder driving in the UK who has not yet moved to a Full UK driving license.

My wife had a similar problem when we returned to the UK for a second time - She solved this by taking the UK driver's test.

Thanks for your help...looks she will have to take her test asap as she wants to start looking for work.

Can you possibly tell me what is taken first the Theory test or the actual driving test or can my wife learn driving with a school and learn from the cd simultaneously.

Thanks.......slippery