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Your state decides: no exam, theory only, or both
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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...
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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...
- Six months: you can drive on your US license for six months after moving to Germany. Then you need a German license, and the exchange is a question of your state.
- Three groups of states: 27 states and Puerto Rico swap the license with no exam. 10 states and Washington DC require the theory exam only. The remaining 13, among them California, New York, New Jersey and Georgia, require the theory and the practical exam. No state requires the practical exam alone, and nobody has to attend driving school.
- What you get: a class B car license, whatever your US license allowed. You hand in the US license, and it is returned to your state.
Germany has a reciprocity agreement with each US state separately, which is why the rules differ from state to state. The agreements cover car licenses only. The licensing office issues class B and nothing else, even if you held a commercial license at home. The general rules for the six months, the documents and the fees are on converting a foreign driving license.
Your state: no exam, theory exam, or both exams
| Requirement | States |
|---|---|
| No exam (27 states and Puerto Rico) | Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming |
| Theory exam only (10 states and DC) | Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee |
| Theory and practical exam (13 states, not on the list) | Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont |
| Source: Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, Annex 11, retrieved 4 November 2026. The US embassy’s lists from 2021 match. Guam, the US Virgin Islands and other territories are not on the list. | |
Four details from the fine print of the list:
- Learner and instruction permits are never exchanged. Texas and Washington State provisional licenses are, but only if you are 18.
- Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon and Texas holders show proof of eyesight even though the exam is waived (or limited to theory). An eye test from an optician is enough.
- Iowa class C with restriction code 2 and Virginia class M with code 6 are learner or motorcycle-only documents and cannot be swapped.
- If you have a license from a listed state but in a class the list does not name, you are treated like a holder from an unlisted state: both exams.
If your state needs no exam
Apply at the licensing office with your passport, residence permit, a biometric photo, the original US license and, depending on the office, a translation. Berlin accepts an English-language license without translation. Munich and the federal leaflet ask for a German one, which automobile clubs and sworn translators provide. You also declare that the license is still valid and, if the card does not show the issue date, prove how long you have held it. Berlin and Munich charge €37.50. Munich quotes up to 14 weeks until the card arrives.
If your state needs the theory exam
The exam is 30 questions on a PC, in English if you choose, and you pass with no more than 10 error points. No driving-school lessons are required, but you name a driving school on the application, because the school registers you with the test center. The office fee is €45.10 in Berlin and Munich, the exam fee €21 per attempt. Everything about the exam is on the page German theory test in English.
If your state is not on the list
Holders from California, New York and the other eleven states take the theory and the practical exam, plus an eye test and a first-aid course of nine units of 45 minutes. The driving-school training itself is waived. For the practical exam you need a driving school anyway: it provides the dual-control car and the instructor who is in the car during the 55-minute exam. The US embassy’s long-standing advice is to book one or two lessons first, mainly to learn the German way of handling right of way, roundabouts and the motorway. The practical exam fee is €109.10 per attempt. The full procedure, including what the examiner looks for, is on the German driving test.
In the first six months
Carry your US license and, with it, either an international driving permit or a German translation. Which of the two your license needs is for the licensing office to say, and Berlin’s office puts it simply: most foreign national licenses need one or the other. An international permit is only valid together with the US license and is never exchanged for a German one. If you will stay in Germany for less than a year, apply for an extension of the six months before they run out, with a translation of your license and proof that you are leaving, such as a return ticket or a fixed-term contract.
Probation and your old license
The two-year German probation period is shortened by the years you already held the US license, so most adults get none. The US license itself is handed in when you collect the German card and sent back to your state. Your German license will note that it was issued on the basis of a foreign one.
After the license
Next come the car and the paperwork: registering a car in Germany, which needs proof of car insurance first, and buying a used car. Distances, speeds and fuel are metric, and the US to euro car units converter translates them.
Bottom line
Your state decides the route, so find it in the table before anything else. From a no-exam state you only handle paperwork. From any other, start early, because the exams come on top of the processing time.
Part of driving in Germany. Related: converting a foreign license · international driving permit · theory test in English.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, for six months after you take up residence, and without limit as a visitor. Carry the license together with an international driving permit or a German translation. After six months as a resident you need a German license.
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico. Indiana and Texas holders still show proof of eyesight.
No lessons are required by law. You take the theory and the practical exam, and the practical exam has to be driven in a driving school’s dual-control car with an instructor present, so you register with a school for the exam. One or two lessons beforehand are the usual advice, not a rule.
No. The agreements with the US states cover car licenses only, so the German license is class B. A motorcycle class has to be earned with the German motorcycle exam.
No. It is handed in when you collect the German license and sent back to the issuing state. If you return to the US, you can apply for a new license there.
Only if you have held your US license for less than two years. The time you already drove on it counts towards the two-year German probation, so most adults have none.
Sources and legal basis
Sources and legal basis (retrieved on 4 November 2026)
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung (driving license regulation), Annex 11: the list of US states with the exam columns; footnote 1 (class B only), footnote 3 (commercial classes include the car class), footnotes 4 and 5 (Iowa and Virginia restrictions), footnote 7 (proof of eyesight for Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon and Texas), footnotes 8, 9 and 15 (Washington State and Texas provisional licenses, no instruction permits).
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 31: exchange with reduced requirements for listed states, training waived for all others, surrender and return of the foreign license, note on the German license.
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 29: six months after taking up residence, extension for stays under twelve months, international permit or translation.
- U.S. Mission Germany, Driving in Germany (25 April 2021): state lists, the extension with translation and proof of departure, driving schools’ advice to take one or two lessons.
- City of Berlin, exchange of a license from outside the EU (fees €37.50 and €45.10, English-language licenses without translation, international permits are not exchanged) and information on licenses from outside the EU (most foreign licenses need an international permit or a translation).
- City of Munich, exchange of a foreign license: translation, proof of how long the license has been held, fees, up to 14 weeks of processing.
- Federal Ministry of Transport, leaflet on licenses from outside the EU and EEA (4 April 2022): translation, instructor present at the practical exam, international permit only valid with the national license.
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 19 (first-aid course of nine units) and Annex 7 (theory exam 30 questions and 10 error points, practical exam 55 minutes).
- Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr (fee schedule), Annex: fee numbers 401.1 and 401.3 (theory exam €21 in total) and 402.3 (practical exam €109.10).
- Straßenverkehrsgesetz (road traffic act), section 2a: probation period, years held abroad credited.