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Update May 30. Direct by email from one of the DGT offices to one of our team.
“Good Morning,
Today 05/28/2021, the General Directorate of Traffic has once again modified the criteria in the sense that temporary TIEs are also valid”.
We now have a clear concise update from the UK Embassy. 16.32pm.
“Update for those who registered to exchange their driving licence with DGT before 30 December 2020*
If you registered your details to exchange your UK driving licence for a Spanish licence before the end of last year, the deadline of 30 June 2021 has been extended until 31 December 2021, to allow you more time to complete your licence exchange.
The DGT has also confirmed that both the green residence document and the TIE are valid proof of residence when completing the exchange.
If you have attempted to complete the exchange of your licence since 1 January but your application was rejected due to your TIE being dated to 2021, the DGT office will get in touch with you directly to arrange for the completion of the exchange. If this is your situation, and you do not hear anything after a few weeks, you should request an appointment with the DGT.
The current date for recognition of UK licences for driving in Spain for those who are resident in Spain remains the 30 June 2021, however. This applies whether you registered before 30 December 2020 or have not yet started the process to exchange your UK licence for a Spanish licence.
The UK continues to discuss arrangements for the future exchange of UK driving licences without the need for a practical test with the Spanish authorities”.
Update on the DGT website.
Circular to gestors from the DGT.
The department of Traffic have communicated to us that the TIE issued after the date of December 31 2020 are valid as a document which accredits the residency in Spain before this date for exchanging/substitution/renewal of British driving licences before the exit of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union as long as they meet these requisites:
On the back o the TIE should show “PERMANENTE ARTICULO 50 TUE”.
On the section OBSERVATIONS should read “EMITIDO BAJO ART. 18.4 ACUERDO DE RETIRADA”.
Example of the TIE described:
In the case where citizens do not have this TIE, they can verify their residency in Spain before December 31.2020 under any means accepted by law. To this effect it would be sufficient to show a certificate (not volant) of padron dated before the 30/12/2021 and exceeding 185 days.
Furthermore, we communicate to you that the term for presenting the applications for the exchange/substitution/renewal of the British Driving Licence will be extend by six months until December 31 2021 only for those who solicited the verification of the Driving licence (calling 060) before 30/12/2020.
With these changes, we at CAB Spain remain optimistic that the talks for a bilateral agreement between Spain and the UK will have positive results.
Thank you to Craig Roberts for sharing the circular sent to a gestor and dated May 27. 2021.
Note*
We should add that newcomers to Spain post December 31. 2020 should be aware that the cut off date for driving on the UK licence according to the DGT will depend on when they entered Spain or applied for residency.
CAB Spain will question the above “will depend on when they entered Spain”. UK nationals have the right to visit Spain for 90 days without applying for residency. We cannot see how the arrival date can be used as legally resident.
Furthermore. The DGT will not accept residency using proof of arrival date. The dates used are either from the favourable resolution letter or the residency application date.
