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If you want to drive a car in the Netherlands, you need a valid driving licence. Can you use the one from your home country? It depends on where it comes from. A licence from outside the EU stops being valid in the Netherlands 185 days (about 6 months) after you come to live here. After that, you need a Dutch licence. Some people can simply exchange their foreign licence for a Dutch one. Others must take Dutch driving tests, even after many years of driving. Which group you are in depends on two things: the country that gave you your licence, and whether you have the 30% ruling (a tax benefit for some expats). This guide explains, from the start, how long you can drive on your current licence, who can exchange it without a test, the papers and costs in 2026, and what to expect if you have to take the Dutch exams.
The idea in simple words
A licence from a European country keeps working here for years. A licence from anywhere else works for only about 6 months after you move here.
Before those 6 months end, you should get a Dutch licence. If your country has a deal with the Netherlands, or if you have the 30% ruling, you just fill in some forms and exchange your licence. If not, you must pass the same tests as a Dutch learner driver.
Start early. The paperwork takes weeks, and while you wait for the exchange, you can't drive at all.
The most important facts
- Licence from the The EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (the EEA), and Switzerland.: keep using it, up to 15 years after it was issued. You don't need to exchange it straight away.
- Any other licence: valid for 185 days after you start living here. After that, driving with it counts as driving without a licence.
- Exchange without a test if your licence comes from one of the countries or regions with a deal, such as the UK, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, or the Canadian provinces Alberta and Québec.
- The 30% ruling lets you exchange a licence from any country. Your partner and children can too.
- Everyone else must pass the Dutch theory and driving exams.
- Start early: you first need a health declaration from the Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen: the Dutch office that runs driving exams and checks if drivers are healthy enough to drive., and that alone can take weeks.
How long can you drive on your foreign licence?
| Where your licence is from | How long it's valid once you live here |
|---|---|
| EU, EEA or Switzerland | Until 15 years after the date it was issued (for a car licence). If it was already older than 15 years when you moved, you can use it for 2 more years from the day you register. You can also exchange it at any time, even if it has expired. |
| Any other country | 185 days after you come to live in the Netherlands. In practice, that's counted from the date you register with your The local government of your town or city. In Dutch: gemeente. You register your address there when you move in.. Tourists and short visitors who don't register can use a valid foreign licence for longer. |
If your licence isn't written in the Latin alphabet (the letters used in English), carry an A booklet that translates your licence into several languages. You get it in your home country, and you carry it together with your own licence. or an official translation with it. Driving after the 185 days without a Dutch licence means driving without a valid licence. You can get a fine, and your car insurance can refuse to pay after an accident.
Can you exchange your licence? The three routes
The Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer: the Dutch government office for vehicles and driving licences., the government office that gives out Dutch licences, allows an exchange without a test in three situations.
1. Your licence is from the EU, EEA or Switzerland
You can always exchange it, even if it has expired. Most people only do this when the 15-year limit gets close, when they lose their licence, or when they want a Dutch card because it's easier. A Dutch licence also works as ID for the DigiD ID check.
2. Your licence is from a country with an exchange agreement
The Netherlands has exchange agreements with these countries and regions, for the types of licence shown. (Licence types have letters: B is a car, A is a motorcycle.)
| Country or region | Types you can exchange |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) | All (BE, car with a heavy trailer, only if you took a separate exam for it) |
| Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Monaco | All |
| Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten | All |
| Japan | A and B (car, and motorcycle over 400 cc) |
| Singapore | A (class 2) and B (class 3) |
| South Korea | B (1st and 2nd class ordinary licence) |
| Taiwan | B |
| Israel | B |
| Andorra | B |
| Canada: only Alberta and Québec | B (class 5) |
Some big countries are not on the list: the United States, India, China, Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, Australia and the other Canadian provinces. If your licence comes from one of these, you need the 30% ruling or the Dutch exams.
There is one more rule that surprises people: you must have lived in the country that gave you the licence for at least 185 days in the year you got it. If you got or renewed your licence during a short visit, you may need to prove you lived there at the time. For example, with stamps in your passport, a registration paper, or a letter from your employer with payslips.
3. You have the 30% ruling
The 30% ruling (officially the expat scheme) is a tax benefit for some workers hired from abroad. It is also the big shortcut for your licence. With a valid ruling decision (beschikking) from the tax office, you can exchange a licence from any country. Your partner and children who live at the same address can too. That makes it the route for most Americans, Indians and others whose country has no deal.
- You need the ruling decision letter itself. Your employer gets it from the tax office (Belastingdienst), so ask HR for a copy.
- The ruling must still be valid on the day you apply. Once your licence is exchanged, it stays yours, even after the ruling ends.
- Don't wait. If you change jobs or your ruling ends, you lose this chance for good.
You can still exchange after your first 185 days, as long as your foreign licence is still valid. But you may not drive in the meantime.
How to exchange your licence, step by step
- Fill in a health declaration (Gezondheidsverklaring) online at Your personal online page on the CBR website. You log in with DigiD. with your DigiD, and pay the fee of €46.90. It's a list of questions about your health. You need it for licences from countries with a deal and for the 30% ruling route. The CBR then decides if you are healthy enough to drive. If it asks you to see a doctor, this can take several weeks or months longer.
- Get a passport photo that follows the Dutch photo rules. Many municipalities only accept photos from a photographer or an approved photo booth.
- Make an appointment at your municipality. Bring the signed application form, your foreign licence, your passport or The document that allows you to live in the Netherlands if you are not from the EU., your photo, and, depending on your route, the proof that you lived 185 days in the country, or your 30% ruling letter. Licences that are not in the Latin alphabet need an official translation.
- Pay the fee to the municipality. Each municipality sets its own price.
- Pick up your Dutch licence at the municipality, usually a few weeks later. It is valid for 10 years.
You give up your old licence
When you apply, you hand in your foreign licence, and you don't get it back. Until your Dutch licence is ready, you have no licence to drive with, in the Netherlands or abroad. Plan around holidays and trips home. If you will need a licence to drive in your home country later, ask that country's licence office about getting a new one before you apply.
What it costs in 2026
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| CBR health declaration | €46.90 |
| Fee to the municipality for the licence | set by each town, for example €53.65 in The Hague and €64.65 in Amsterdam, plus extra if you want it fast |
| Passport photo | about €10 to €20 |
| Medical check, only if the CBR asks for one | paid to the doctor |
If you can't exchange: getting a Dutch licence through the CBR
Without a deal or the 30% ruling, you take the same exams as a Dutch learner driver, even if you have driven for decades. There is no minimum number of lessons. But very few experienced drivers pass the driving exam without some lessons. Dutch examiners look closely at things like In the Netherlands, at crossings without signs or lines, traffic coming from your right goes first. That includes cyclists., cyclists, checking your mirrors and roundabouts.
| Step | Cost in 2026 | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Theory exam (car) | €50.50 | A test about traffic rules, on a computer. Available in English. You book it yourself at the CBR. |
| Health declaration | €46.90 | Needed before the driving exam. |
| Driving lessons | usually €60 to €75 an hour | Experienced drivers often need 10 to 20 lessons to learn what the examiner wants to see. |
| Driving exam (car, type B) | €143.50 | Usually your driving school books it for you. |
Altogether, expect about €1,000 to €2,000 and a few months. In the big cities, you may wait a while for a driving exam date. If you take your driving exam in an automatic car, your licence gets code 78, and you may then only drive automatic cars.
Special cases
- United Kingdom: UK licences can still be exchanged after Brexit, for all types.
- United States: no US state has a deal with the Netherlands. Use the 30% ruling if you have it, or take the exams.
- Canada: only licences from Alberta and Québec can be exchanged directly, and only for cars.
- Ukraine: people with temporary protection can keep driving with their Ukrainian licence while the protection lasts.
- Lost or stolen foreign licence: the RDW must check with the country that gave it out that it is real. This can take a long time.
- Licences for trucks and buses (types C and D) have extra medical and training rules.
Bringing or buying a car too?
Once you are registered here, a car with foreign number plates must be registered in the Netherlands. Read our guide to expats and cars in the Netherlands about registration, insurance and running costs. Use our car import tax calculator to see if you'll pay Belasting van personenauto's en motorrijwielen: a one-time Dutch tax on cars, paid when a car is first registered in the Netherlands. (car tax) on a car you bring.
Your driving licence checklist
- Write down the date you registered: a licence from outside the EU is valid for 185 days from then.
- Check if your country is on the exchange list, or if you have the 30% ruling.
- Ask HR for a copy of your 30% ruling letter, and use it while it's valid.
- Send your CBR health declaration as soon as you have DigiD.
- Book an appointment at the municipality, and plan for a few weeks without a licence.
- Can't exchange? Book the theory exam and a few lessons early.
Official sources and useful links
- RDW: exchanging a foreign driving licence, rules and country list (Dutch)
- RDW: driving with a foreign driving licence
- CBR: health declaration, theory and driving exams
This is general information based on the RDW's rules and the CBR's 2026 fees. Fees are different in each municipality, and the list of exchange countries can change. Check the RDW website and your municipality before you apply.
