Where to exchange a foreign driving licence in the Netherlands

Applications start at your municipality, so pick your city

Only your municipality can send an exchange application to the RDW, so you apply where you are registered. Where you book, whether you phone first and when you collect the new licence once the RDW has checked your application all depend on the municipality.

About this serviceBrowse offices by city
1 office in Deventer

  • Deventer

    Stadhuis Deventer — Burgerzaken

    Grote Kerkhof 1, 7411 KT Deventer

    Expect to wait for the letter rather than the usual five days, and book the collection appointment when it tells you to.

    Book an appointmentOffice website+31 570 69 39 11

    Bring the foreign licence, compliant colour photo and any old Dutch licence. Check RDW’s checklist for required CBR (Dutch driving test and medical fitness assessor) health certification and any applicable expat-scheme decision. A licence using unfamiliar characters may need an authorised translation. A non-EU/EFTA licence must not expire before starting the exchange. You may be fined if unable to show a licence while driving during processing; RDW (Dutch vehicle and driving licence authority) advises against driving abroad during the exchange. A pending exchange does not extend the applicable period in which you may drive on the foreign licence. Once that period ends, you must have the Dutch licence to keep driving, even if the application is still being processed. If relying on the Ukrainian temporary-protection driving exception, check your status and RDW’s current guidance before applying ordinary driving deadlines. For an exchange, check the tax ruling and document-validity requirements separately: permission to drive with an expired Ukrainian licence does not guarantee that it can be exchanged.

Guides

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Netherlands

Driving license

Netherlands Foreign Licence Exchange

Validity, RDW exchange, and CBR tests

Find out if you can exchange your foreign driving licence in the Netherlands, calculate your validity deadlines, and prepare your municipal application.

Driving LicenceRDWCBR
14 min readRead guide

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Exchange a foreign driving licence

For newcomers with a licence from another country: who can exchange, what to bring and what happens if an exchange is not possible.

Exchange a licence in the Netherlands

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