Provisional Licence Identity Documentation Query: Help please!

Hi all:
After driving for 6 months on my US licence I figure I better get in gear (no pun intended) and apply for a proper UK licence.  Step one:  Provisional Licence.  I reviewed past posts on the topic but am still a tad confused as to non-UK identity documents I need/can send along (the DVLA documentation is of no help whatsoever).  Is my US passport the only document I can send?  Can I send my US driver's licence?  Going to Swansea in person is not an option but I am reluctant to send away my cherised passport.
Help please?
Thanks,
Ginger

You shouldn't have to go to Swansea.  If you go to the DVLA website, you can look up a DVLA office closer to you and go there.  This is what I did.  I simply took my application and my passport and they copied and sent it off to Swansea for me.  I got to keep my passport without sending it off and I got my provisional license in a few weeks.

I had no choice but to let them send my passport to Swansea, along with a copy of my marriage cert,, because I wanted my new married name on the provisional license, rather than my previous name, which was still the name on my passport. They needed proof of both my old, and new names. But once they knew I had a new married name, they wouldn't let me put it in my previous name, inorder to keep from sending my passport in. Hope that made sense.  I did get my passport back very quickly tho.

I went down to the Brighton DVLA today to apply for my provisional licence.  They told me they had to send my passport to Swansea and could not use it to verify identity on site.  They said they only do that these days with UK passports.  Oh well!  Good thing to know if anyone is in a similar situation as I am now sans passport for at least a week (best case scenario).

Ginger

If it makes you feel any better, I had my passport back in just over a week.  The provisional license comes first which is way scary when you are expecting them to come in the same envelope! The passport comes seperatly and may take up to 10 days after you recieve your provisional licence.

The  post office now offers a document identification checking service for a fee, but I am unsure if they will check US passports. Worth a try to the next person though.

Rosie

If it makes you feel any better, I had my passport back in just over a week.  The provisional license comes first which is way scary when you are expecting them to come in the same envelope! The passport comes seperatly and may take up to 10 days after you recieve your provisional licence.

The  post office now offers a document identification checking service for a fee, but I am unsure if they will check US passports. Worth a try to the next person though.

Rosie

Thanks Rosie. 

As far as the premium service at the Post Office, the DVLA documentation notes the following:

"For a fee, they will check your application to make sure it is correct and sent it to us...  Also, for no extra charge, they will check you UK passport or your pension book"

Again, only UK documentation.  US passports need to be sent in.  Also of note, I've changed my name on my US passport to my married name, which, as many of you know, basically means a "see page X" on the front and a notation later on in the the passport.  The woman at DVLA would have missed it had I not pointed it out (problem, as I am applying for a licence in my married name).  She made a special notation on the application to make sure the folks in Swansea see it.  I guess if you don't go to the DVLA in person, you could always just include your marriage certificate if you want to be super on the safe side.
Ginger

They would have let me keep mine, if I had wanted to have my married name on it. That is why they made me send mine as well as a copy of the marriage cert.    It's because the original name in the passport and the married name were different. Swansea likes to see it themselves.   

Like Wildrose tho, I got it back very quickly. 

They would have let me keep mine, if I had wanted to have my married name on it. That is why they made me send mine as well as a copy of the marriage cert.    It's because the original name in the passport and the married name were different. Swansea likes to see it themselves.   

Like Wildrose tho, I got it back very quickly. 

Unless the various DVLA offices have different rules, things must have changed (not sure when you submitted your application).  They told me that under no circumstances could I get away without sending in my passport.
Ginger

For me, it was a year ago July.  They said if I hadn't said I wanted my married name on there, I could have kept my passport, since it had the same name as my provisional would have. But since I had said I wanted my new married name,, they had to send it to Swansea.  I have no idea if anything has changed between then and now.  This was down in Bournemouth Dorset. 

I think all applications have to go in the post now - not sure since when, but pretty sure it is since Tebs got hers done.

Sheesh,, I have to get my butt moving on taking the test in automatic. I need a push 

Sheesh,, I have to get my butt moving on taking the test in automatic. I need a push 

You and me both. I have the application for the provisional but can't send it out until we've done the FLR visa. Or maybe I should since the license is faster. Hmmm. Anyway, I love driving an automatic over here so - YES - we can both do this!

Do you have an automatic car yet? I am about to do a serious hunt for one.

Do a search for something closer to you, but if you come up with nothing, check out this;

www.exetersmallautomatics.co.uk

They're not far from me and only do automatics. We got a VW Golf from them. 

OH wow! That is so excellent! Thanks B