Polish Driving Licences

09 August 2006

The Transport and Technical Services Department is pleased to announce that from 31 July 2006 Polish driving licence holders will be able to exchange their licences for Jersey licences.

Driver and Vehicle Standards (DVS) have been trying to get agreement with Poland to recognise Jersey driving licences for exchange purposes, since they joined the European Union in 2004. Initially, this was done in the usual way through the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority in Swansea, who wrote twice on our behalf, unfortunately without success. Then, from 15 December 2004, DVS contacted the Polish authorities directly on three occasions and still no reply or acknowledgement was received.

Eventually, the break-through came in May this year, when an officer from DVS, James Sinclair, Manager of Administrative Services, attended a conference of the European Driving Licence and Vehicle Registration Authorities and made personal contact with the Polish delegate MS.Barbara Plak-Nowicka, Head of Vehicle Registration at the Ministry of Transport in Warsaw.

Ms Barbara Plak-Nowicka was very supportive and agreed then and there that Jersey, for driving licence purposes, would be treated as part of the UK and subject to the privileges and responsibilities of directive 91/4349/EEC. Since then, this verbal agreement has been formally ratified and Deputy Guy de Faye, Minister for Transport and Technical Services has asked for the Law to be amended. This amendment has now been made and from Monday 31 July 2006, Polish driving licence holders will be able to exchange their licences for Jersey Licences and similarly anyone moving to reside in Poland may exchange their Jersey Licence for a Polish one.

"I would like to commend James Sinclair of DVS for pursuing and securing this agreement after so many years of impasse", said Deputy Guy de Faye, Minister for Transport and Technical Services. "I am sure this is particularly good news for Polish nationals currently living and working in Jersey."