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Six months to swap your license: who needs a test, who doesn't

A driving license from outside the EU stays valid for six months after you take up residence in Germany, an EU license indefinitely. Whether the exchange needs an exam depends on the issuing country or US state: Germany's list names those that swap without a test or after the theory exam only. All others take both exams but skip driving school. Berlin and Munich charge €37.50 without an exam and €45.10 with one.
Written by
Janine El-Saghir
Reviewed by
Erkan Boga

Converting your license in Germany: at a glance
  • The clock: a license from outside the EU is valid for six months after you take up residence in Germany. After that you need a German one to drive. An EU or EEA license stays valid with no deadline.
  • Test or no test: Germany keeps a list of countries and US states whose licenses are exchanged without any exam, or after the theory exam only. Everyone else takes the theory and the practical exam, but needs no driving school.
  • Cost and time: €37.50 without an exam and €45.10 with one in Berlin and Munich, plus the exam fees. Munich quotes up to 14 weeks of processing, so apply early in the six months.

Whether you can simply swap your license or have to sit an exam depends on one thing: the country or US state that issued it. Holders of a US, UK or EU license have their own pages: US driving license in Germany and UK driving license in Germany.

How long you can drive on your foreign license

The six months start when you establish your ordinary residence in Germany, which in practice means your first registration of address (Anmeldung). Munich counts from that date. During the six months you drive on the foreign license, with a translation or an international permit where one is required (see international driving permit in Germany). Any conditions on your license, such as glasses, apply in Germany too.

Two exceptions to the clock:

  • Short stays: if you can show that you will live in Germany for no more than twelve months, the licensing office can extend the six months by up to six more. Apply before the first six months run out, with proof such as a return ticket or a fixed-term work contract. Berlin charges a fee for this.
  • Commuters: if you live abroad and come to Germany only to work, you have no residence here and your license stays valid as long as it is valid at home.

After six months you may no longer drive, but you may still apply for the exchange. There is no deadline for the application itself. The only condition is that the foreign license is still valid and that you hand in the original.

Some licenses are never recognized in Germany: learner and provisional licenses, licenses issued before you reached the German minimum age, and a license from outside the EU that you obtained while you were already living in Germany. In those cases you take the full German driving test.

Three routes: which one is yours

What the licensing office requires, by where the license was issued
Your license comes from Exams Eye test and first aid Driving school
An EU or EEA country None. No exchange needed at all, except for expiring or truck and bus classes. No No
A country or US state on Germany’s exchange list, marked “no test” None Normally no. A few entries, among them the UK and some Australian and US states, may be asked for an eye test. No
A US state on the list marked “theory test” Theory exam only Eye test for some states No
Any other country or US state Theory and practical exam Both required No lessons required, but the practical exam is taken in a driving school’s car with an instructor present
Sources: Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung (sections 28, 30 and 31, Annex 11), Federal Ministry of Transport leaflet on licenses from outside the EU, City of Berlin. Retrieved 4 November 2026.

The exchange list (Annex 11 of the driving license regulation) covers all classes for Andorra, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Japan, Monaco, Montenegro, New Caledonia, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and the car class for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, French Polynesia, Israel, Kosovo, Namibia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Ukraine, every Canadian province, every Australian state and territory, and 37 US states. Moldova is the one country on the list whose holders take the practical exam. Where the list names only certain classes, you get class B, the car license, and nothing else. Taxi and similar commercial permits are never exchanged.

If your country is not on the list, the licensing office waives the training, not the exams. You register with a driving school for the practical exam only. The US embassy’s advice from 2021 still describes the practice: schools recommend one or two lessons to learn the German way of doing things before the exam.

How to apply

You apply in person at the licensing office of the city or district where you are registered (Fahrerlaubnisbehörde or Führerscheinstelle). Berlin lets you file the application at any citizens’ office with an appointment. Munich takes appointments only. Bring:

  • your passport or identity card, and your residence permit if you are not an EU citizen.
  • one biometric photo on paper (Berlin prints none on site).
  • the original foreign license, still valid. An international permit is never exchanged, the national license is what counts.
  • a translation of the license. Berlin asks for one only if the license is not in German or English. The federal leaflet and Munich ask for a German translation from an automobile club or a sworn translator, so check your office’s rule before you pay for one.
  • a declaration that the license is still valid, and proof of how long you have held it if the card does not show the issue date.
  • if an exam is required: the name of your driving school and test center, an eye-test certificate (no older than two years) and a first-aid certificate.
  • in Munich, if you first registered elsewhere in Germany: an extended registration certificate showing that first registration.

Fees and processing time

Fees for the exchange of a foreign license
Case Berlin Munich
Exchange without an exam €37.50 €37.50 (€38.30 if a probation period is set)
Exchange with an exam €45.10 €45.10 (€45.90 with probation)
Theory exam, at the test center €21.00 per attempt
Practical exam, class B, at the test center €109.10 per attempt
Sources: City of Berlin and City of Munich service pages (retrieved 4 November 2026) and the Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr, fee numbers 401.1, 401.3 and 402.3. Other cities set their own totals within the federal schedule.

Munich quotes up to 14 weeks from a complete application, including the production of the card by the federal printing office. If an exam is required, Munich produces the card first, then tells your driving school to book the exam, and you collect the license after passing. Berlin publishes its current processing times online and invites you to the exams in writing once the application has been processed. Either way, you cannot drive between the end of your six months and the day you collect the German license.

What happens to your old license

You hand in the foreign license when you collect the German one. The office sends it back to the authority that issued it, if Germany has an agreement with that country, or keeps it. You only get it back by returning the German license, and a license kept on file may be destroyed after three years. Your German license notes that it was issued on the basis of a foreign one, and it is valid for 15 years as a document. After that it is replaced without any exam or medical.

Probation period

A first German license comes with a two-year probation period. For an exchanged license, the years you already held the foreign license count towards it. If you have held it for two years or more, there is no probation. That is why Munich asks for proof of how long you have had your license, and why its fees have a “with probation” variant.

Next steps

With the license sorted, the car is next: registering a car in Germany, which starts with car insurance, and buying a used car.

Bottom line

Look up your country or state first, because that alone decides whether you swap, sit the theory exam or sit both. Then apply early in your first months here, since processing can outlast your time on the old license.

Part of driving in Germany. Related: US license · UK license · international permit · theory test in English.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. There is no deadline for the application, only for driving: after six months you must stop driving until you hold the German license. The foreign license has to be valid and in the original when you apply.

It depends on the office. Berlin accepts licenses issued in German or English without a translation. Munich and the federal leaflet ask for a German translation from an automobile club or a sworn translator. Ask your licensing office before ordering one. For driving during the six months, an international driving permit replaces the translation.

No. The training rules are waived for every foreign license holder. You take the theory exam and the practical exam, and for the practical exam you need a driving school’s car and an instructor in the car. Most people book a lesson or two beforehand, but the law does not require any.

Not while you hold the German one. The office returns it to the issuing country if there is an agreement, or keeps it. You can get it back only by handing in the German license, and a license kept on file may be destroyed after three years.

Only if you have held your foreign license for less than two years. The time you already drove on it counts towards the two-year German probation. Bring proof of the issue date if your card does not show it.

Yes, in that case. An EU or EEA license normally needs no exchange, but an expiring one and the truck and bus classes are swapped for a German license. No exam is required for the swap; Berlin and Munich charge €37.50.

Sources and legal basis

Sources and legal basis (retrieved on 4 November 2026)

  1. Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung (driving license regulation), section 29: six months after taking up residence, extension by up to six months for stays of no more than twelve months, translation or international permit, licenses that are not recognized.
  2. Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 7: ordinary residence, 185 days a year.
  3. Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 28 and section 30: EU and EEA licenses remain valid; voluntary exchange without exam.
  4. Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 31: exchange of licenses from countries on the list (no training, no first aid, no eye test, exam only as the list says) and from other countries (training waived only); surrender of the foreign license, return or safekeeping, destruction after three years.
  5. Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, Annex 11: the list of countries, US states, Canadian provinces and Australian territories with the exam columns; footnote 1 (class B only), footnote 7 (eye test) and footnote 22 (eye test at the authority’s discretion for the UK and Gibraltar).
  6. Federal Ministry of Transport, leaflet on licenses from outside the EU and EEA (dated 4 April 2022): commuters, documents, translation, practical exam with an instructor, taxi permits, 15-year validity.
  7. City of Berlin, exchange of a license from outside the EU (documents, English-language licenses without translation, fees €37.50 and €45.10, appointments) and information on licenses from outside the EU (extension with proof and fee, no deadline for the application, written invitation to the exams).
  8. City of Munich, exchange of a foreign license: six months from the first registration, documents, fees €37.50 to €45.90, up to 14 weeks of processing, exam after production of the card; and exchange of an EU license.
  9. Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr (fee schedule), Annex: fee numbers 401.1 and 401.3 (theory exam €11.10 plus €9.90) and 402.3 (practical exam class B €109.10).
  10. Straßenverkehrsgesetz (road traffic act), section 2a: two-year probation, time held abroad is credited.
  11. Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 24a: license card valid 15 years.
  12. U.S. Mission Germany, Driving in Germany (25 April 2021): driving schools recommend one or two lessons before the exam.
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About the authors
Janine El-Saghir Janine El Saghir is an editor at How-to-Germany.com, where she specializes in the practical aspects of daily life and integration for expatriates. With years of...
Erkan Boga Erkan Boga is the founder and CEO of qmedia GmbH, the publishing house behind How-to-Germany.com. He established the platform with the clear vision of creating... Read more