Before you start

Established UK residence
Your foreign licence, which is surrendered on exchange
A UK address for the DVLA
Proof of identity, usually your passport plus an eVisa share code

Step-by-step

1
Check whether your country is a designated country
The DVLA publishes the list of countries whose licences can be exchanged without a test. If yours is on it the process is a form and a fee; if not, decades of experience count for nothing and you take the full UK theory and practical tests.
OnlineWho: YouBefore the twelve-month window closes
2
Act within the windows
You may generally drive on a valid foreign licence for twelve months after becoming resident. A designated-country exchange must be made within five years of that date. Missing either costs you options rather than money.
OnlineWho: You
3
Apply to the DVLA and expect to be without your licence
Exchange applications go to Swansea with your original foreign licence, which is retained and not returned. Processing takes weeks, so do not post it before a trip home where you intend to drive.
OnlineWho: You
4
Learn which cities near you do charge
The operating Clean Air Zones are Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside, and they are not the same class as each other — Birmingham and Bristol charge private cars, Sheffield and Bath do not. Leicester charges nothing. If your work takes you across the Midlands, check the specific city before each trip; an older diesel is free here and can be a daily bill an hour away.
OnlineWho: You
5
Decide honestly whether you need a car
Leicester has no tram, metro or local rail network inside the city, so unlike Nottingham up the road the car-free case rests on buses and a bicycle. The city is flat, compact and well provided with off-road routes along the Soar and the Great Central Way, which makes cycling genuinely realistic — but for the county and Charnwood Forest you will want a car or a lift.
Mobile appWho: You
6
Budget for parking in the middle, not at the edge
The city centre is small and largely pedestrianised, with the ring road wrapped tightly around it. Residents' parking zones cover most of the inner terraced streets — Clarendon Park, Highfields, the West End — so check whether a flat comes with a permit entitlement before you assume you can park outside it.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence
Passport and eVisa share code
Proof of a Leicester address
The DVLA application form appropriate to your licence's country of issue

Things most newcomers don’t know

Leicester charges nothing and Birmingham charges cars — and they are an hour apart.

GOV.UK lists seven operating Clean Air Zones and Leicester is not among them. Birmingham runs a Class D zone that charges private cars; Sheffield's Class C does not. People assume a national rule, drive an older vehicle into Birmingham for a meeting and pick up a charge they never budgeted. Check each city individually.

Source: GOV.UK — driving in a clean air zone

Twelve months on a foreign licence, and then it simply stops.

People drive for years on a home licence without realising it ceased to be valid after the first year of residence. Nothing flags it until an insurance claim after an accident, at which point the policy may not respond. Diary the date you became resident.

Source: GOV.UK — driving in Great Britain on a non-GB licence

Leicester is unusually good for cycling and unusually thin on rail inside the city.

There is one mainline station and no metro, tram or suburban network, which makes Leicester more car-dependent than Nottingham twenty-five miles away. Against that, the city is flat, the Great Central Way and the Soar towpath cut across it off-road, and journeys are short. Test a bicycle before you buy a second car.

Source: community-reported

The exchange surrenders your original licence and you do not get it back.

The DVLA retains the foreign licence on exchange. If you need it for driving in your home country, or as an identity document there, understand that before you post it — and do not post it in the weeks before a trip home.

Source: GOV.UK — exchange a foreign driving licence

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming your country is designated without checking the DVLA list.
Driving past the twelve-month window on a foreign licence and invalidating your insurance.
Assuming Leicester's lack of a clean air charge applies in Birmingham or Bristol.
Renting in an inner terraced street without checking the residents' parking position.
Posting the original licence to Swansea shortly before a trip home where you plan to drive.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.