Well that’s a turn up for the books - DVLA

[colinm]

Driving licence (C1) due to expire 18th April having previously lost several weeks/months at renewal time as it was dated 3 years from date of issue rather than date of expiry of old licence and I always applied early. So sent it off with relevant D4 form late February. Just checked status on line and apparently it has been renewed but here’s the best bit - date of issue 19th March 2026, date of expiry 18th April 2029!

So it seems that DVLA have reverted to renewing it up to 3 years from date of expiry, rather than date of issue.

Mine came back yesterday, not only does it expire less than 3 years from expiry of the old licnce, it expires a week less than 3 years from date of issue! Fortunately I left it a bit late sending in the application so have only lost a month overall. I did update the photo, so I wonder if this is the reason?