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  • Breadcrumb

    1. Home
    2. Motoring
    3. Driving licences
    4. Renew, exchange or apply for a driving licence
    5. Identity documents and photographs

    Providing proof of identity for a driving licence

    If you want to apply for a photocard driving licence, you may need to provide some form of identification. The Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) can’t issue a driving licence until your identity is confirmed.

    When identity documents are needed

    If you currently hold a Northern Ireland (NI) or UK photocard licence, identity documents are not normally required.

    If this is your first NI licence, or if you are changing your name or correcting your date of birth on your existing licence, you must provide valid identity documents.

    Identity documents accepted

    If you need to provide identity documents, they must be originals. DVA will not accept photocopies or laminated certificates.

    DVA prefers one of the following methods as confirmation of your identity:

    • a full valid current UK or Irish passport in your current name
    • a share code
    • a UK or Republic of Ireland birth certificate or adoption or naturalisation certificate

    You should not send your passport if you are likely to need it for travel purposes soon. DVA cannot guarantee its return for a specific date or event.

    Prove your identity using a share code

    You can prove your identity by obtaining share code through your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. You will have a UKVI account if you’ve ever:

    • applied to the EU Settlement scheme
    • used the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to prove your identity when applying for a visa
    • created one when applying for a visa (you’ll have received a UKVI account confirmation email)
    • created one to get access to an eVisa (an online record of your immigration status) – you will have received an email about this

    How to get a share code

    Get a share code from the view and prove your immigration status service.

    Choose the ‘something else’ option when you’re asked what you need the share code for.

    Write the code on your application form. Do not send a physical identity document.

    If you do not have a UK passport or a share code

    You’ll need to send an identity document by post to prove your identity.

    Send one of the following with your application:

    • a current and valid foreign passport that’s not from an EU or EEA country, with a visa sticker or stamp (called a ‘vignette’) showing you have permission to live in the UK
    • a current and valid Irish passport - it does not need to have a visa sticker or stamp
    • a travel document
    • a UK birth, adoption or naturalisation certificate - you’ll need to send further proof of identity with this
    • evidence you receive a state pension

    UK birth, adoption and naturalisation certificates

    You can use a UK birth, adoption or naturalisation certificate, but you must send it with one of the following:

    • National Insurance card, or a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions or HM Revenue and Customs showing your National Insurance number - find your National Insurance number if you’ve lost it
    • photocopy of the front page of a benefits book or an original benefits claim letter
    • P45, P60 or pay slip
    • your marriage or civil partnership certificate
    • your divorce or end of civil partnership document (decree nisi, decree absolute, conditional order or final order)
    • a gender recognition certificate

    college or university union card, education certificate or PASS proof of age card (issued after June 2014)

    If you’re a pensioner

    If you’ve reached State Pension age, you can send a recent (within three months) bank or building society statement showing your pension payment and National Insurance number.

    How to send your identity document

    You must send the original document with your driving licence application.

    You cannot use:

    • photocopies or laminated certificates
    • certified copies including those certified by the Post Office document certification service

    Consider delaying your driving licence application if you need your passport in the next four weeks.

    Get your form and photo signed

    You must get someone else to sign your form and photo to verify your identity.

    You do not need to get your form or photo signed by someone else if you proved your identity using a UK passport or a share code.

    The person signing the form and photo must:

    • hold a valid  NI photocard driving licence
    • be resident in the UK
    • know you personally
    • not be a relative
    • not be living at the same address as you

    Suitable people include a current or retired:

    • local business person or shopkeeper
    • librarian
    • professionally qualified person, for example a lawyer, teacher or engineer
    • police officer
    • bank or building society staff member
    • civil servant
    • minister of religion
    • magistrate
    • local councillor
    • Member of Parliament, Assembly Member, or Member of the Scottish Parliament

    If they’re retired, you’ll need to write their former job on the form, for example ‘retired teacher’.

    DVA will contact the person who signs your application.

    When you do not need your photo signed

    You do not need someone to sign your photo if you’ve agreed to have DVLA check your identity by:

    • contacting HM Passport Office
    • providing a current passport or travel document
    • using a share code to show digital confirmation of your immigration status

    You do not need someone to sign your photo if you’re renewing your licence with a new photo.

    If your name or gender has changed

    You must provide additional evidence if your name or gender has changed since your identity document or driving licence was issued.

    If you’ve changed your name, you need to provide at least one of the following:

    • your marriage or civil partnership certificate (if you’ve changed your surname)
    • your divorce or end of civil partnership document (decree nisi, decree absolute, conditional order or final order), along with your birth or adoption certificate, or UK certificate of naturalisation
    • a deed poll
    • a statutory declaration

    If you’ve changed your gender identity, you need to provide at least one of the following:

    • a deed poll
    • a statutory declaration
    • a gender recognition certificate

    You must also provide the identity document or driving licence that shows your previous name or gender identity.

    Get a statutory declaration

    You can get an official statement confirming that you’ve changed name or gender (called ‘a statutory declaration’) from:

    • a solicitor
    • a magistrate
    • a commissioner of oaths

    Proof of residency

    If you are exchanging a licence other than a licence issued in Great Britain, or you have previously been resident outside Northern Ireland and wish to apply for a provisional licence, you must provide DVA with proof of residency.

    Documents accepted by DVA as proof that you are resident in Northern Ireland are listed below. At least one of these documents is needed:

    • utility bill like a gas or electricity bill
    • bank account or credit card statement (signed and stamped by bank official) 
    • hospital appointment notice
    • court notice 
    • correspondence from a United Kingdom government department for example Northern Ireland domestic rates bill or HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) income tax notification
    • correspondence from a Northern Ireland university confirming that you've been on a course of study for at least the last six months 

    Your document must be an original copy, not a photocopy.

    Your document must be dated within the last three months, immediately preceding the date of your application for an exchange or provisional driving licence.

    The document supplied must also be in your name and show your Northern Ireland address.

    Return of supporting documents

    DVA will normally return your documents within ten working days, separate from your licence. If you don’t receive them, contact DVA :

    • Driver & Vehicle Agency - driver licensing enquiries

    The driving licence fee includes return of your supporting documents (where applicable) by second class post. If you would like your supporting documents returned by secure delivery, provide a suitable pre-paid Royal Mail Special delivery envelope.

    The DVA will not provide compensation for any loss or delay resulting from the use of second class post.

    DVA can't guarantee to return your documents by a set date, for example, a holiday.

    Driver & Vehicle Agency - driver licensing enquiries

    Photo

    In some circumstances a photograph is not needed.

    • Reasons when a photo for driving licence is needed

    More useful links

    • Driver licensing
    • Driving for a living
    • Exchanging your foreign driving licence
    • Getting your driving licence back after disqualification
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    Identity documents and photographs

    • Having your photo certified for a driving licence
    • Providing proof of identity for a driving licence
    • The photo for your driving licence

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