Older british bikers can regain driving licence 'a' category in france

SOME BRITONS LOST THIS WHEN SWAPPING THEIR UK FOR A FRENCH LICENCE The Connexion has obtained further information for people who, having passed their UK  car and motorcycle tests several

years ago, lost the right to ride large ‘category A’ motorcycles on swapping a UK licence for a French licence. We recap what to do if you fall into this category, especially if you lost

your ‘A’ category (for bikes of more than 35kW power output) before 2017. The British Embassy last year announced having reached an agreement with the French authorities and the UK’s DVLA

and Department of Transport, to correct an issue that was occurring when the category had been awarded before 1974.  Read more: Roadworthiness checks for motorbikes remain obligatory, rules

French court Due to technical issues, the riders’ UK licences showed the same date of acquisition for both car and motorcycle categories, leading French authorities to discount the ‘A’

category as having been given automatically, without a specific test (which was not the case). If you are applying for a swap now, and your UK driving licence shows the same dates, you

should create a licence ‘check code’ here and provide this along with your online application (see here for more). If you exchanged since September 2017, and did not obtain the A entitlement

that you had taken a test for, you can apply at the France Titres website for a correction, and should include a supporting letter from DVLA. However, the British Embassy stated that if you

obtained your French licence before this you should apply to the French prefecture that processed your application (the system was previously not centralised). “It is up to this prefecture

to decide whether to grant the correction request based on the information provided by the user,” a spokeswoman said. Kevin White from Nouvelle-Aquitaine, who previously told how he was left

unable to enjoy his favourite hobby after losing his ‘A’ category in 2023, reports regaining his A entitlement now: “I spoke to the overseas licence team at DVLA and an officially-headed

letter acceptable to CERT [driving licence exchange officials in Nantes] explaining that I must have passed a separate motorcycle test to obtain category A, as it has never been issued

automatically”. Read more: Why sales of motorbikes and scooters are falling fast in France However, it comes as author Ron Kirk, from Brittany, reports difficulties in regaining his ‘A’

category lost in 2010 when he moved to France in an exchange by the Saint-Malo Ille-et-Vilaine sub-prefecture, despite having provided a certificate of entitlement showing his UK categories,

including ‘A’.  We have suggested he request a letter similar to that obtained by Mr White. We have also queried the policy with the Ile-et-Vilaine prefecture. Mr Kirk, 79, said he is keen

to regain the category so he can tour the US with American friends next year to mark the 250th anniversary of independence.  “I went in early 2008 and rode through Death Valley on a

motorbike, which was quite an experience,” he said.