The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

These Regulations amend the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 ( S.I. 1999/2864 ) (“ the 1999 Regulations ”) in respect of holders of a permit to drive a motor bicycle, moped and car under the law of Ukraine (“a relevant Ukraine driving licence”).

Regulation 3 amends regulation 80ZA of the 1999 Regulations to insert two definitions in relation to the amendments made by these Regulations.

Regulation 4 amends regulation 80A of the 1999 Regulations to clarify that a person must have applied for Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme leave before 3:00pm on 19th February 2024 in order for this regulation to apply. Regulations 5 and 6 insert into regulations 80AA(1) and 80AB(1) of the 1999 Regulations an additional criterion that a person must not have applied to extend their Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme leave for those regulations to apply.

Regulation 7 inserts two new regulations, 80ABA and 80ABB, into the 1999 Regulations. These new regulations provide alternative scenarios in which holders of a relevant Ukraine driving licence who previously had Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship leave and subsequently have Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme leave, which they have applied for an extension to, are entitled to drive in Great Britain for up to five years or six years and six months after they become resident in Great Britain, depending on which scenario they fall into.

Regulation 8 inserts into regulation 80AD(1) an additional criterion that a person must not have applied to extend their Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme leave for that regulation to apply. Regulation 9 inserts a new regulation 80ADA into the 1999 Regulations, under which holders of a relevant Ukrainian driving licence who previously had Ukraine Extension Scheme leave and subsequently have Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme leave, which they have applied for an extension to, are entitled to drive in Great Britain for up to six years and six months after they become resident in Great Britain.

Regulation 10 inserts into regulation 80AF(1) an additional criterion that a person must not have applied to extend their Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme leave for that regulation to apply.

Regulation 11 inserts two new regulations, 80AG and 80AH, into the 1999 Regulations. New regulation 80AG provides an alternative scenario under which holders of a relevant Ukrainian driving licence who previously had Ukraine Family Scheme leave and subsequently have Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme leave, which they have applied for an extension to, are entitled to drive in Great Britain for up to six years and six months after they become resident in Great Britain. New regulation 80AH provides an alternative scenario under which holders of a relevant Ukrainian driving licence who were granted leave of the type described in paragraph UKR 29.3(b) or (c) of the Appendix Ukraine Scheme of the Immigration Rules, and who subsequently have Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme leave, which they have applied for an extension to, are entitled to drive in Great Britain for up to six years and six months after they become resident in Great Britain.

The Appendix Ukraine Scheme was inserted into the Immigration Rules by the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules laid before Parliament on 29 March 2022 (HC 1220, 29 March 2022) and has been subsequently amended.

A full Impact Assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it is not expected to have significant impact on the private, public or voluntary sectors. Instead a de minimis assessment has been prepared as this instrument is likely to entail some costs for businesses, but the net impact is estimated to be below £10 million per year.

The de minimis assessment is published alongside the Explanatory Memorandum to these Regulations at www.legislation.gov.uk .