You will spot new arrivals on British roads at the first roundabout: they look the wrong way, hesitate and take the long way round. It passes in a few weeks. What lasts longer is the paperwork, which is lighter if you keep your car at home and heavier if you bring it with you.
Here is what driving in the UK with an EU licence involves, from the right to drive on arrival to the MOT.
Can you drive in the UK with an EU licence?
In Great Britain, which means England, Scotland and Wales, a full car or motorcycle licence from the EU or EEA lets you drive until you are 70, or for three years if you were 67 or older when you became resident. One exception: if your European licence was itself issued in exchange for a non-European one, you can drive on it for only 12 months.
In Northern Ireland, the DVA applies a more generous rule: you can drive on your EEA car or motorcycle licence for as long as it is valid. Lorry and bus entitlements follow shorter rules.
So you do not need to rush. Driving in the UK on an EU licence is therefore simple at the start. Many Europeans keep their licence for years, and some exchange when it expires, when it is lost or when an employer or insurer asks for a British card.
How do you exchange an EU driving licence for a UK one?
In Great Britain, you exchange by post: get a D1 application form from a Post Office that offers DVLA services and send it to the DVLA with your licence and the fee. It costs £43 if you never had a British licence, and is free if you have held one before. You do not take a test, and the new licence usually arrives within three weeks.
In Northern Ireland, use form DL1 from the main Post Office branches, with original identity documents, a passport-style colour photo, proof of residence and the £62.50 fee, sent to the DVA. You must be normally resident there.
If you hold a Swiss licence, the rules are tighter: Switzerland is a "designated country", so you can drive for 12 months after becoming resident and you have five years to exchange. After that you need a provisional licence and must retake the theory and practical tests. Northern Ireland also exchanges Swiss licences with form DL1.
Wondering which deadline applies to your licence, or what to prepare before posting a form? Moovy can check the rule for your country of issue, draft a checklist of documents and explain each step in plain English. Moovy cannot send forms or pay fees on your behalf, and the DVLA or DVA decides.
How do you bring your car to the UK?
Importing a car is a project. Here is the usual sequence:
- Ask for Transfer of Residence relief with form ToR1 before you import the car, and before it is shipped if a company ships it. HMRC must approve the claim first. It avoids VAT and duty if you lived outside the UK for at least 12 consecutive months, had the vehicle for at least 6 months before your move and import it within 12 months of coming to live in the UK. You then cannot lend, hire out, use as security or transfer it for 12 months.
- Tell HMRC within 14 days that the car has arrived, through NOVA, the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals. If a transporter brings it, the import declaration and any payment normally pass through them at the border.
- Get vehicle approval. For a car registered in the EU, this means a European Certificate of Conformity from the manufacturer and, for a left-hand-drive car, a certificate of GB conversion Individual Vehicle Approval, which costs £100. A vehicle first registered or made more than 10 years ago may be exempt, and GOV.UK explains how to check.
- Register and tax it with the DVLA. The first registration fee is £55. You receive a UK number for your plates. Until the steps are done, you may drive it only to a pre-booked MOT or approval test.
- Insure it at least with third-party cover before you drive.
- MOT: the roadworthiness test is due by the third anniversary of a car's registration and every year after (four years in Northern Ireland), and driving without a valid one can bring a fine of up to £1,000.
What does it cost to bring a car?
Without relief, an import bears 20% VAT and may bear customs duty, which depends on the type of vehicle and where it comes from. The UK Trade Tariff, consulted in October 2026, shows for a used petrol car of 1,500 to 3,000 cm³ a 10% duty in general and 0% for goods of EU origin under the EU-UK trade agreement, if you can prove that origin. A car made outside the EU, even bought in Europe, may not qualify. VAT stays due even at zero duty. Before you decide to ship the car, have HMRC's imports and exports helpline or a customs agent confirm the VAT, duty and relief that apply to your case.
Vehicle tax is paid when you register. For cars first registered from 1 April 2017, GOV.UK's tables give a first payment based on CO2 emissions, from £10 at 0 g/km to £5,690 above 255 g/km, then £200 a year (£210 in 12 monthly payments). A car with a list price above £40,000, or £50,000 for an electric car, adds £440 a year for five years. Check which table applies to your car before you decide that keeping it is cheaper than selling it, and compare with cost of living in the UK.
What changes for driving in the UK if you do not bring a car?
Plenty of newcomers sell the old car and buy locally. Your UK insurer will ask about your driving history; a letter from your previous insurer showing no-claims years can help, since your British record starts from zero. In big cities, public transport and cycling often replace the need for a car; see best places to live in the UK.
How do insurance and the MOT work in practice?
Insurance is bought from a private insurer, a broker or through a comparison site, and the price depends on age, address, car and driving history. A newcomer with a foreign licence may not have a recognised no-claims record, so ask your previous insurer for a letter in English and show it to the new one. Third-party insurance is the legal minimum, and fully comprehensive cover is common.
The MOT checks that a vehicle meets road safety and environmental standards. You can check any car's MOT history on GOV.UK. A car imported from the EU that has passed a European inspection still needs a UK MOT once it reaches the age. Book it before the old one expires: driving without a valid certificate can cost up to £1,000, and you cannot renew vehicle tax while the MOT has run out.
What if you live near the Irish border?
Northern Ireland has its own licence agency, the DVA, and its own MOT scheme, with the first test when the car is four years old. A car brought into Northern Ireland from Ireland or another EU country follows its own rules, with VAT to pay before registration for private individuals, so read the dedicated section of the GOV.UK import guide before you buy. Irish citizens do not need a visa, and many cross the border daily; see Irish citizens moving to the UK.
What are the road rules for driving in the UK?
You drive on the left, overtake on the right and give way to traffic already on a roundabout, which you enter clockwise. Speed limits and distances are in miles per hour and miles. The emergency number is 999, and 112 also works. Insurance is mandatory: the police can seize a vehicle driven uninsured, so do not drive until you are covered.
Practical habits help in the first weeks. Choose an automatic car if the gear stick in your left hand worries you, since manual cars have the shift on the left in right-hand-drive vehicles. Drive the first journeys at quiet times, take extra care at junctions and roundabouts and look both ways at every crossing. A couple of lessons with an instructor can make the first weeks calmer.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
- Using your foreign-registered car as before. The temporary-import rules are for people who do not normally live in the UK, for up to six months.
- Missing the ToR1 step. It must be approved before you claim the relief, and for a shipped car, before shipment.
- Assuming an immediate exchange is mandatory. For an EU car licence, it usually is not.
- Driving without insurance. Third-party cover is the legal minimum.
- Underestimating left-hand driving. Take lessons if you need them.