Another Day Another… Huh?

17 June 2009 by alex | 5 comments

US-UK PinWARNING: You are about to encounter a long rant.

So, since Betty and I have been here living in the motherland (England), I have been merrily driving around in our eternal blue Honda Civic without a license.  Well, without a proper UK license to be precise.  I can legally drive on my US license for the first year but have to go through the process to apply and test for a UK license if I want to drive anytime after that first year.

So this past week I decided I should go through the process and apply for my provisional license (yes, provisional).  Online they say that you need to mail in your passport and things but you can do everything in a post office and you don’t need to mail in your passport.  Also, I need to submit a picture signed by somebody who has known me for at least two years in the UK (that’s the British version of a notary), but, online, they say that if you haven’t lived in the country that long you can do it at the post office.  So, to the post office I went.

Well, at the post office they said that they don’t handle foreign passports and that I would have to mail things in.  Question: how can I mail it in if (1) I am going on holiday (American: vacation) in a few weeks and (2) I don’t have a signature on my photo.  I end up calling the government office and they say I don’t need a signature because I have a foreign passport (this information, of course, differs from their website) and the only possible way to get it faster is if I brought it in.  Easy enough?  No.

The office is in Swansea (American’s may think (1) swans live in ponds or seas? and (2) where is this said exotic land?).  The answer to the second question: it is in another country.  Ok, ok… Swansea is in the country of Wales (also part of the UK) but it is still far — about 3 hours drive. If things weren’t bad enough, I found out all this while Betty was on her way back from a night’s stay in Wales with a friend!

So, what am I going to do?  I am going to wait until Betty and I come back from our holiday (end of July), send in my passport, start taking driving lessons (yes, I know) and studying for my written test, wait until I get my provisional license back before taking my tests and then applying for my official license.  Oh, and all this in a month and a half before I am not allowed to use my US license.  Uhuh.  I’m sure this process will go smoothly.


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  1. Candy on 17 June 2009 at 6:47 pm

    Wow, I never thought I’d say this, but Praise God for DMV.

  2. alex on 17 June 2009 at 8:25 pm

    I guess that also means I don’t have enough time to prepare for the “manual” test and will have a “manual” license instead of an “automatic” one. :(

  3. ben on 18 June 2009 at 7:40 am

    Welcome to the world of british forms! :) its probably best to take your passport in, as when I sent mine in (recorded special delivery) they posted it back in a regular paper envelope, and it had been accidentally ripped in the post! (Or someone stole my identity and there’s another me out there!)

    If you hold a manual license, you can drive an automatic, but not the other way around. Hope it goes well…I guess you’l have to take the theory test too?

  4. Anson on 18 June 2009 at 7:56 am

    You start missing Canada then?
    One thing I like about the Canadian government is that their websites are pretty clear and informative.

  5. helen on 19 June 2009 at 4:42 am

    Hi Alex,
    I can understand how you feel when you deal with Public Office. Be patient and calm down. It’s easy to say than react. Put it in your prayer request. Pray that God will handle this issue. We’ll pray for you. I think you have to apply your UK license right after your holiday. Hope things will go smoothly under God’s guidance.

    Love,
    Mom