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It's a bit of an odd one, but I'm just checking so I don't get into too much trouble.

I had two driving licenses: Israeli + UK (took tests in both countries). In the UK I also took the automatic bike test up to 125cc as well (category A or something like that. I believe it's automatically upgraded to 500cc after a couple of years, but I moved out of the UK since).

When I moved to Germany a few years ago, I exchanged my Israeli license to a German one. So I now have both UK and German licenses. The German license however doesn't include the bike license, because my Israeli one didn't have it.

My UK license is about to expire, and as far as I understand it, I cannot renew it unless I'm a UK resident. I am therefore considering exchanging it in Germany. I'm a bit concerned about already having one German license however...

Should I just go with my UK license and try to exchange it? Should I show my German license upfront, or only if asked?

It would be nice to "keep" two licenses, since I did take several tests and kinda "earned" it, but it's not a major concern even if I "lose" one of them. Mostly trying to figure out how to go about this.

JonathanReez
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gingerlime
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  • My guess is that you could just add the bike entitlement to your German licence by doing an "exchange". At the end you would only have one licence, where the extra informational codes would show that the car test was done in Israel, while the motorbike test was done in the UK. I have to check, but I think it's worth giving the German authorities a call to do this. – SztupY Apr 11 '16 at 13:42
  • Thanks. Unfortunately my German is pretty bad, let alone trying to explain this rather strange situation (or understand the answer). Even if I walk in and tell them I want to merge my UK + DE licenses upfront, I won't get in trouble for not mentioning that I had a UK license when I exchanged my Israeli license previously? – gingerlime Apr 11 '16 at 14:47
  • It shouldn't be a problem, especially as in Israel your UK driving licence would have been invalid anyway (as far as I know), so you had to get a new one there. Germany only cares that you didn't get a driving licence in another country while being a resident of Germany, which I think you didn't. – SztupY Apr 11 '16 at 16:46
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    Another way to look at it: Forget about "merging", what you really want is to get your UK license converted, as EU law entitles you too. If you have to give up the other German license, it's probably not too bad, assuming you can just get/renew a regular Israeli license. The latter would cover you in Israel or in any country that recognize Israeli licenses, while the German license obtained on the basis of the test you passed in the UK has you covered in the whole EU (for the time being, at least...) – Gala Oct 28 '16 at 09:09

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