I tried to renew my driving licence on the DVLA’s trashy-looking website. After I had supplied the required passport details, a message appeared stating that I could not continue with the application because passports must be valid in order to confirm identity. My passport was issued in 2021 and I use it monthly to travel to France. I then discovered an article from August 2022 reporting that a “technical” glitch was affecting online applications from some new passport holders. A year on, the “technical glitch” is still unresolved, and I can’t use my shiny blue passport to renew my driving licence. This means I have to go to more effort to apply by post, pay more, and feel like I’m living in a developing country.
AM, London
The DVLA will not say how many are affected other than that it’s such a small number that it cannot see the point in putting a warning on the web. The glitch forces applicants to fork out a higher fee. It costs £17 and takes four weeks to renew licences by post. Online it is £14 and five days.
The DVLA urges those who can’t apply online to visit a participating Post Office. From there it’s a five-day turnaround and costs £21.50. In other words, drivers have to pay a 54% surcharge because of governmental incompetence. So what’s the problem?
It is “digital signatures”, according to the DVLA. Since 2016, passports have been signed on receipt. Before that, signatures were provided on applications, which meant HM Passport Office (HMPO) held a digital copy for each passport holder to verify applicants for driving licences, among other official services.
HMPO is unlikely to have a digital signature for those who applied for a first passport from 2016, and it’s those unfortunates who may find themselves stymied when they try to renew a licence online. I suspect that it is not the insignificant number the DVLA makes out.
You became a British national in 2021 and provided a digital signature along with your biometrics. The Home Office, of which HMPO is part, should have a record of it.
The DVLA says: “For the vast majority we are able to use the digital signature from HMPO. For those who do not have a signature on file, we are working on a solution we hope to launch later this year.”
I’d be interested to hear from anyone else affected by this.
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