Legal Requirements 

The DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) website http://www.dvla.gov.uk contains an enormous amount of information relating to driving in the UK. This section of the document will guide residents from overseas through the requirements of owning a car and the processes for obtaining a standard UK driving licence for the period that they will be living and working in the UK.

Vehicle

All cars must be insured, have a Vehicle Registration Document and a current Road Tax disc (Vehicle Licence) before you can drive it.

Your vehicle must be registered with the DVLA and you will receive from them a V5 Vehicle Registration Document with your name and address as legal owner.  http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/vehicles.htm

The registration document is also used to advise DVLA when you sell your car and they will then re-issue it to the new owner. 

MOT Test. Cars over 3 years old must also be checked annually for roadworthiness, commonly known as the MOT test. Most garages carry out these extensive tests, maximum cost is £34, and if they can be timed to coincide with a service interval any potential problems can be fixed to ensure a pass certificate is issued.

A description of what is checked can be found on this website http://www.motester.co.uk/cog.html

Driving without a valid MOT certificate is illegal and could also invalidate your motor insurance.

Your Road Tax disc (Vehicle Licence), which must be displayed on your windscreen, is usually obtained from post offices and can be paid for a 6 month or 12 month period. A valid insurance certificate and MOT certificate (if the car is over 3 years old) must be presented with your payment. Current tax rates (Vehicle Excise Duties) can be found on the DVLA website http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/taxation.htm

 The DVLA will send you a reminder when your road tax is due specifying the tax applicable for your car and that you need to provide an insurance certificate and, if necessary, an MOT certificate.

Driver and Driving Licence

All drivers must comply with British minimum age requirements. Generally, these are 17 years for cars and motorcycles, 18 years for medium sized vehicles and 21 years for large lorries and buses. 

All existing major health conditions as well as new health conditions must be notified to the DVLA using form D1 obtainable from post offices.
Health conditions that need to be notified are listed on Section 17 of leaflet D100 ‘What you need to know about driving licences’ (obtainable from post offices) and also the DVLA website http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/dmed1.htm

Depending on your country of residence you may need to obtain a UK Driving Licence within 1 year. This may require you to take a UK driving test. Your initial entitlements and subsequent requirements depend on your normal country of residence or driving licence issue.

It is recommended, however, that you refer to the DVLA website http://www.dsa.gov.uk/learners/new_driver.htm for additional information or to leaflet D100 available at Post Offices.

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