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.
