Driving in Poland on a foreign license

Yeah I have heard that in 2010 there is going to be a European driving licence, which will clear up all this uncertainty.

Thought you might want to try claiming that your permanent residence card predates the 2006 law. OK, if you got the card in 2005, you would have been covered by the Act on Aliens

of 13 June 2003 (Journal of Laws of 2003, No 128, it. 1175). We can find it here

udsc.gov.pl/files/old_file/44e9bdd07d1b8_1-44043372d9359_cudzoziemcy.pdf

Would that have given you a permanent residence card?
No. It would not. That law did not give permanent residence cards. Have a look at Article 72, section 3. "The residence card issued to an alien who has been granted:

1)the residence permit for a fixed period shall be valid for the period of validity of this
permit
2)the permit to settle, shall be valid for a period of 10 years"
So you could not have permanent residency on the basis of that law.

Alternatively, you might like to claim that you actually have your permanent residence card because you are a family member of an EU citizen. Want to try that? OK. Let's go back to the act of 14 July 2006 on the entry into, residence in and exit from the Republic of Poland of nationals of the European Union Member States and their family members. More specifically, we go to Article 30 section 2 "2. The residence card of the Union citizen family member is valid for 5 years."

So you can't have a permanent residency card that way either.

Face the facts: you do not have a permanent residency card and can not have ever had one. Either read the laws I've quoted and admit that you are wrong or carry on living in your own little fantasy world.


No. You will not get those points at the moment.

However, if you get caught doing something which would get you banned as the holder of a Polish licence (e.g. drink driving), you will get your British driving licence taken away from you on the spot. The police will send it to the British embassy.

I just saw this - and it's nonsense. There are proposals and endless discussion - but London and Dublin can't agree, so it's unlikely that London and Paris (for instance) will ever agree upon them.

Heck, if Vienna and Berlin can't agree, who can be expected to do so?

Essentially, as long as you don't get the licence revoked (which is possible, given that most EU countries are operating 'ghost' licences for foreign licences) - points won't be passed from place to place. Can you honestly imagine any Polish judge accepting that a Polish driver should have points on his licence from the UK? thought not...

I am well confused just to clarify i have a british lisence and live in poland am i legal?secondly i have been going once every three months to the local government to register my pressence in this country and have been told that will have to carry on until i either marry my fiance or leave the country is that true?also where does this country stand on the registering of r/h/d cars as i have a van that is nothing special but i have some sentimental attatchement too and until recently have heard that i must convert it to l/h/d whilst contemplating the cost etc i have just today heard that the polish governmet are allowing the registration of r/h/d so i can now use the van legally please clear up my confusion as a new commer to this country i am unsure and unable to understand anyone with whom i have articulated my grievances with many thanks hope you can help

Yes you are fine. Some schools of thought (or legal interpretation) say that you need to leave Poland every six months but even if those are correct, it is impossible to prove that you have not left Poland within the last 6 months, so you're fine.


No that is not true. You get a maldunek from the gmina office (valid for up tp three months), then you need to get a Residency Registration Certificate confirming your stay in Poland (Zaświadczenie o Zarejestrowaniu Pobytu Obywateli Unii Europejskiej w Polsce). Then when you have that you can get a maldunek which is valid for five years. Being married has no effect at all on this: you still need to register. Details here:

ukinpoland.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/living-in-p oland/howtoobtainresidency


As long as your van is insured, you can use it here. This means it needs to have an MOT and tax disc if it is UK insured. As for registering RHD in Poland, that depends on who you ask and how you ask them. Theoretically it must be possible under EU law, good luck putting the theory into practice.

many thanks i will look into this a bit further, the van in question is no longer insured in england due to many reasons i allowed both the insurance and mot to lapse so now i am faced with the dillema sell it as it is change it to l/h/d or wait in the hope that they will allow me to register it here all of the aformentioned come with there own pitfulls and i have been to some garages and they all vary in prices and most look shady to say the least not sure who to trust and who not as i have already realised through learning the hard way that a lot of people say they can do things that they really cant in a blatant manner to get your cash i come from london originally and am used to scammers but these people are shameless and would con a family member if possible and think nothing of it so still not sure what to do i stupidly thought that being part of the eec would mean that i could register my van here insure it at a fraction of the cost of that in england and just get on with it whats the hold up and who do i need to speak to to get my van register'ed thank you so much for your help so far i am very happy living here and am sure that once i find my feet i.e a job and some friends life will be easier shame theres not a pub or some sort of rallying point to air these problms as i am sure there are questions we all need answering and that they will for the most part be the same or at the very least similar

Your best bet is to try and register it here. In theory you should be allowed to do so. You must apply to the Ministry of Transport for a special permit to have a right hand driven vehicle registered in Poland. The telephone number to the appropriate department within the Ministry (department of technical specifications) is: 022 630 12 52.

I really wouldn't bother changing it to LHD. Simply not worth the expense.


Where you based? There's expats all over Poland, must be a few near you.

One other thing: using punctuation (and paragraphs) would make your posts a lot easier to read!

Meldunek=Zameldowanie

"thanks",again harry!!!

Based in Bielawa, about 60km from wroclaw. I will have a go and try to register the van here. once again many thanks..

Penalty point system in Poland is slightly different than in the UK.

1. Points are not associated with your driving license but with your personal number (PESEL).
2. Points are being given only for Polish citizens (residents).
3. If you hold only UK passport you don't get any points, but you have to pay fines on straight on the road. The policemen may attend you on the way to cashmachine to get money to pay fine. If you don't have ability to pay straight on the road, your car is being trailed to police car park, and will be realased after paying fine.

4. If you hold UK licence and you are polish citizen, after collecting more than 24 points local authorities will issue the decision of sending you to checking exam. The decision is put on to the police system. When stopped on the road you might be fined with 500 PLN fine for driving without proper permits (doesn't matter that you still hold UK licence). The police might take your UK licence of you, and send it to local authorities, who send it back to DVLA.

In the UK, when you drive on polish licence you get points but you will not be banned after exceeding 11. Any questions please e-mail: liso123@poczta.onet.pl

All I know its possible to use canadian driving license for up to 90 days of one's stay in Poland, after that a driver has to change from his/her current license to a local license if he/ she is not in a possession of a international driving permit. Someone else has descirbed in details in regards to IDP regulations on this forum so I am not gonna repeat that. In reagrds to EU citizens residing in different EU states whever be it for work only, then the original driver license does not need to be exchange to local one. In case of taking up permanent residency then the license has to be exchanged. In regards to any traffic infractions or violations commited in one country, that infraction or violation will be only registered in police database in that country where violation was issued. Someone just had a violation in one country and is travelling in another EU country and a driver end up being pulled over let's say for routine traffic check then a driver's infracions or violations will not show on the local Police database in the country in which driver was pulled over and record was checked..

On the personal note: I love the idea of free travel and work and live around EU !!! I think african continent has a similar thing like EU.

Not true. An EU licence is valid until expiry in any other EU state.


Wrong. FR, DE and CH already exchange driver information.


Wrong. As I said above - FR/DE/CH already deal with driving offences together.

[Moved from]: Driving in Poland on a Tunisian or UK license?

Hello
i'm going to poland in march and i have a tunisian driving licence and a UK provisional driving licence as well so i'm wondering if any of them will allow me to drive in poland?

any ideas please :)

"tunisian driving licence and a UK provisional driving licence"
The tunisian licence should mean you can get an international driving permit, which will be all you need. the uk provisional licence wil not entitle you to drvive in pl.

NOT TRUE!!!! You cannot register a RHD car in Poland!!!