The Connexion has obtained further information for people who, having passed their UK car and motorcycle tests several decades ago, lost the right to ride large 鈥榗ategory A鈥� 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 鈥楢鈥� 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鈥檚 DVLA and Department of Transport, to correct an issue that was occurring when the category had been awarded before 1974.
Due to technical issues, the riders鈥� UK licences showed the same date of acquisition for both car and motorcycle categories, leading French authorities to discount the 鈥楢鈥� category as having been given automatically, without a specific test (which was not the case).
Kevin White contacted the DVLA to regain his Category A statusKevin White
If you are applying for a swap now, and your UK driving licence shows the same dates, you should and provide this ().
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).
鈥淚t is up to this prefecture to decide whether to grant the correction request based on the information provided by the user,鈥� a spokeswoman said.
Ron Kirk has yet to regain the categoryRon Kirk
Kevin White from Nouvelle-Aquitaine, who previously told how he was left unable to enjoy his favourite hobby after losing his 鈥楢鈥� category in 2023, reports regaining his A entitlement now: 鈥淚 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鈥�.
However, it comes as author Ron Kirk, from Brittany, reports difficulties in regaining his 鈥楢鈥� 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 鈥楢鈥�.
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.
鈥淚 went in early 2008 and rode through Death Valley on a motorbike, which was quite an experience,鈥� he said.
