With a licence from Russia, Kazakhstan or another non-EU country you may drive in Britain for 12 months only
True. A GB resident may drive on such a licence for 12 months from the day they became resident. After that a GB licence is needed, and for most countries there is no exchange — you sit both tests again.
The claim checks out in full. What the score means
Where it circulates. The usual objection from recent arrivals: “the licence is international, the year does not count”.
GOV.UK puts it without qualification: a resident of Great Britain holding a full car and motorcycle licence issued in “any other country” — that is, outside the EU/EEA and not a designated country — may drive for 12 months from when they became resident. After that, to drive in Great Britain you must get a GB provisional licence and pass the theory and practical tests.
The clock runs from the day you became resident, not from your arrival on a visa and not from the date on the licence. An international driving permit does not extend it: it is a translation of a national licence, not a permission in its own right.
Who can exchange without a test
Exchange is open only to countries and territories on the designated list. It covers the EU/EEA and a number of others; Ukraine and Moldova are on it. Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are not — check the current list on GOV.UK, as it changes by order.
If your country is not on it, there is one route: provisional licence, theory, practical. Book early; at some test centres the wait for a practical runs into months.
What you risk by driving past the year
You are driving without a licence valid in Britain, with everything that follows: a fine, penalty points, possibly seizure of the car. Separately, insurance: an insurer may refuse to pay out if the twelve months had already run out when the crash happened. That is not a penalty — it is being left alone with someone else's damage.
What we checked against
True or false?
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