All driving licences issued by Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) are now issued in a new format - a plastic photocard and a paper counterpart. Old format style licences are still valid and will be updated gradually as they are renewed and replaced.
Photocard licences were introduced as a result of an EU directive requiring all member states to issue driving licences in a card format which contains the licence holder's image and signature.
There are many benefits that photocard driving licences offer, including:
Fields 1, 2 and 3 of your photocard licence record your surname, first names, date and place of birth.
The date shown in 4a is the date the photocard was issued. 4b shows the date the driving licence expires. The authority that issued the licence is shown in 4c. In Northern Ireland this is DVA.
Your unique eight digit NI driver number.
The new photocard licence has a black and white photo. This is because the laser technology used to burn the image onto the card producing a black and white photo is more secure. You will still need to give a colour photo with your application to be stored on your driver record.
This is digitally reproduced and burned into the photocard from the signature you gave on the application form.
This shows your permanent address in Northern Ireland.
The letters in capitals show the categories of entitlement covered by the European Community Directive. National categories are shown in smaller letters.
These pictures are representations of types of vehicles in those categories shown. Further information on the vehicles you are entitled to drive
The earliest date from which a driving category is valid from.
The date until which a driving category is valid to.
The code numbers printed in this area show what, if any, restrictions there are. To see what these mean, go to:
The driving licence also has tactile (raised) surfaces, tactile engraved text, changing colours, as well as complex background designs.
Photocard driving licences have been issued since 1 April 1999.
All licence types stay valid until their date of expiry shown at section 4b.
Changes made to the format of the Great Britain driving licences on 8 June 2015 have no affect on licences from the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) in NI.
NI licences are still made up of two parts, a plastic photocard and paper part which is known as the paper counterpart.
