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Exchanging a foreign driving licence for a Dutch driving licence in the Netherlands

Do you have a foreign driving licence and do you live in the Netherlands? You can drive temporarily in the Netherlands on your foreign driving licence. Later, you have to exchange your driving licence at your municipality.

Whether or not you are allowed to drive on your foreign driving licence depends on when you come to live in the Netherlands, and which country you were granted your licence. The rules applicable to you can be found on the Rijksdienst voor het wegverkeer – RDW (Netherlands Vehicle Authority) website.

The exchange of your foreign driving licence is subject to certain conditions. For example you must be registered in the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen – BRP) at your municipality. You can find all the conditions for exchanging your foreign driving licence on the RDW website.

You can also check whether you can exchange your driving licence (in Dutch) with the RDW chatbot. Choose "Rijbewijs omwisselen" and by answering a few questions the chatbot can provide your answer.

You can apply to exchange your foreign driving licence at your municipality. On the RDW website you can find out the steps to take to exchange your foreign driving licence.

If it is not possible to exchange your licence, you will have to take a theory and practical driving test at the Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen – CBR (central office for driving licences). On the CBR website you can find out more information about the licence classes that can be exchanged.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:
Informatie:

Here is some information from your municipality.

Exchange foreign driving license to Dutch driving license in the Netherlands

You can use your foreign driver's license for a while after arriving in the Netherlands. It depends on the country where the license was issued how long that is. After that you will need a Dutch driving license. You can read how that works on the website van de Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer (RDW).

Questions about this topic?

Contact the Municipality of Amersfoort

Visiting address

Stadhuisplein 1

3811LM Amersfoort

Opening hours
Monday
9:00 - 16:30
Tuesday
9:00 - 16:30
Wednesday
9:00 - 16:30
Thursday
9:00 - 16:30
17.00 - 20.00
Friday
9:00 - 16:30
Saturday
Closed
Sunday
Closed