Driving licence swap rejected

We have had our applications returned with a refusal.

Apparently, as we do not fall under one of the obligatory categories (eg. imminent expiry for a driving offence) we should continue to use our British licences and wait for further advice to be issued. We applied early as we have an overseas trip planned and will need valid drivers’ licences and international licences.

Mary Jane Michael, Hautes Alpes

We reply: The CERT in Nantes states that it is no longer processing non-obligatory exchange requests received after December 15, 2018, pending more information about procedures after Brexit. In a deal, UK licences would be valid until the end of 2020, and in a no-deal, France says there would be a grace period to change them, probably of a year. Unfortunately, you cannot get an international licence to accompany a UK licence without a UK address.