10.—(1) The Secretary of State may consider an application for the grant of a licence before the date on which the grant of the licence is to take effect if the application is received by him—
(a)in the case of an application for a Group 2 licence, during the period of three months ending on that date,
(b)in any other case, during the period of two months ending on that date,
and may during such period grant the licence so that it takes effect on that date.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1A)(b) of section 89 of the Traffic Act the holder of an exchangeable licence satisfies the relevant residence requirement if he has been normally resident in Great Britain for a period of not more than five years.
(3) An applicant for a licence who before the licence is granted is required to satisfy the Secretary of State that he has passed a test shall at the time when he applies for the licence deliver to the Secretary of State—
(a)a valid test pass certificate, or
(b)a certificate corresponding to that certificate furnished under the law of Northern Ireland or Gibraltar.
(4) A person may not present a certificate in support of an application as evidence that he has passed—
(a)a test or a theory test, or
(b)a test corresponding to any of those tests conducted under the law of Northern Ireland or the law of Gibraltar,
if the applicant took the test in respect of which the certificate was issued at a time when he was ineligible, by virtue of an enactment contained in the Traffic Act or these Regulations or a corresponding provision of the law of Northern Ireland or the law of Gibraltar, to take the test to which the certificate relates.
(5) An applicant for a Group 2 licence shall, if required to do so by the Secretary of State, submit in support of his application a report (in such form as the Secretary of State may require) signed by a qualified medical practitioner, prepared and dated not more than four months prior to the date on which the licence is to take effect, for the purpose of satisfying the Secretary of State that he is not suffering from a relevant or prospective disability.