Driving licence

If your driving licence is from outside the EU and EEA, you can normally use it for six months after taking up ordinary residence in Germany. Qualifying Ukrainian protection cases have special recognition. Exchanging an EU/EEA licence has test exemptions, though medical and vision checks can still apply.

In short

• A licence from outside the EU and EEA normally continues for six months after ordinary residence begins. The period starts with ordinary residence, not with the Anmeldung alone unless that registration establishes ordinary residence. The authority may extend it by up to six months only if you credibly show that the stay will not last more than twelve months.
• If you hold a valid Ukrainian licence and have the protection status covered by Regulation (EU) 2022/1280, special recognition lasts for that protection. The ordinary six-month limit does not apply to that recognition, and no certified translation or international driving permit is required.
• For exchange of an EU/EEA licence into the corresponding German class, section 30 waives the listed driving test, first-aid and training requirements. Medical and vision exemptions have exceptions under sections 23/24, including C/D-class validity and renewal cases. Check the class, expiry date and any restriction with the driving-licence authority.
• The German licence is handed over only against surrender of the foreign licence. A learner permit is not enough to drive under section 29.
• Where section 29 applies—before ordinary residence, or to a non-EU/EEA licence after ordinary residence during the permitted period—check its translation rule and the transport ministry’s guidance, unless the protected Ukrainian rule applies. An EU/EEA licence after ordinary residence follows section 28 instead. Germany waives a translation for national licences from Andorra, Hong Kong, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, Switzerland, and Senegal. A required translation may be made by a German automobile club, an internationally recognised automobile club of the issuing state, an official body of the issuing state, a court-appointed and generally sworn interpreter or translator, or the captain of a German sea-going ship. Matching annex 6 alone is not a translation exemption. As a practical precaution, carry your national licence with any international driving permit and ask the driving-licence authority about the exact requirements. The ministry says a 1968 Convention permit is valid only with its underlying national licence.
• Under section 29(3) No. 2 and No. 2a, the domestic driving right is excluded both when a third-country licence was issued while the holder already had ordinary residence in Germany and when an EU or EEA licence was issued in that situation. The EU or EEA exception is narrow: the licence was obtained during a stay of at least six months strictly as a pupil or student within section 7(2). A valid EU or EEA licence is otherwise generally usable under section 28 until the expiry date on it, unless another exclusion applies. Classes C and D follow shorter validity rules.

What you need to know

Section 29 says the holder of a foreign driving licence may drive in Germany within its scope if they do not have ordinary residence here. Conditions attached to the foreign licence still apply.

If the holder of a licence issued in another EU member state or another EEA state takes up ordinary residence in Germany, the further right to drive follows section 28. Under section 28(1), a valid EU or EEA licence may generally be used in Germany, within its scope, until the expiry date shown on it, unless an exclusion in section 28(2) to (4) applies.

For classes C, C1, CE, C1E, D, D1, DE and D1E, section 28(3) applies shorter validity rules: the licence is valid for five years from the date it was issued abroad, even if the issuing state printed a longer date. If those five years have already passed when ordinary residence in Germany begins, the right continues for six months from that date.

If the holder of a licence issued in a state outside the EU and EEA takes up ordinary residence here, the right continues for six months. The driving-licence authority may extend that period by up to six months if the applicant credibly shows that ordinary residence in Germany will not last more than twelve months.

Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2022/1280 provides a separate rule for valid driving licences issued by Ukraine. It applies while the holder enjoys temporary protection or adequate protection under national law in accordance with Directive 2001/55/EC and Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382. The licence remains recognised for that protection, without conversion after six months, a certified translation or an international driving permit.

National restrictions, suspension, withdrawal or cancellation of the driving right still apply. The authority may ask for a passport, temporary-residence document or other adequate identity proof. Check with the driving-licence authority if your protection status or licence validity is unclear; Ukrainian nationality alone does not establish this exception.

For a case governed by section 29—before ordinary residence, or for a non-EU/EEA licence during the permitted period after ordinary residence—the following document and translation rules apply, subject to the protected Ukrainian recognition above. Section 29(2) names national licences and international driving permits under the 1926, 1949 and 1968 conventions.

As a practical precaution, carry your valid national licence whenever you use an international permit and ask the driving-licence authority about the exact requirements for your permit. The ministry says a 1968 Convention permit is valid only with its underlying national licence.

An EU/EEA licence holder after ordinary residence follows section 28, not this translation route.

Section 29(2) requires a translation of a foreign national licence unless the conditions in that subsection are met or Germany has waived carrying a translation.

The transport ministry’s guidance requires you to carry a translation when the national licence was not issued in an EU or EEA state, is not written in German, or does not correspond to Annex 6 of the 1968 convention. Matching Annex 6 alone is not a translation exemption.

The same guidance waives the translation for national licences from Andorra, Hong Kong, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, Switzerland, and Senegal. Section 29(2) says the translation must come from an internationally recognised automobile club of the issuing state or from a body named by the federal transport ministry.

The ministry’s non-EU leaflet names German automobile clubs, internationally recognised automobile clubs of the issuing state, official bodies of the issuing state, court-appointed and generally sworn interpreters and translators, and captains of German sea-going ships. A qualifying international driving permit avoids a separate translation.

Section 29(3) excludes the domestic driving right in the cases it lists. Under No. 2, it is excluded when a licence from a state outside the EU and EEA was issued while the holder already had ordinary residence in Germany. Under No. 2a, it is also excluded when an EU or EEA licence, or undeniable information from the issuing state, shows that the holder already had ordinary residence in Germany when the licence was issued.

The No. 2a exception is narrow: the holder obtained the licence during a stay of at least six months strictly as a pupil or student within the meaning of section 7(2). That means someone who already had ordinary residence in Germany and keeps it while staying in another EU or EEA state exclusively to attend a school or higher-education institution. There is no matching pupil or student exception in No. 2.

Section 28(4) No. 2 applies the same EU and EEA residence-at-issue exclusion, and the same exception, once section 28 governs. Section 29(3) also excludes a learner permit or other provisional licence, some holders under the German minimum age, people whose German licence was withdrawn or refused, and people under a driving ban. Read the number that matches your case.

Section 30 governs exchange of an EU/EEA licence into the corresponding German class. An ordinary valid B-class exchange generally does not require a new driving test, first-aid course or training. The medical/vision exemptions do not override examinations required under sections 23/24.

Expired C/D licences and their sub/trailer classes follow the special renewal rules in section 30(2); other expired EU/EEA licences also have their own handling there. Ask the authority before driving on an expired licence. The German licence is handed over against surrender of the foreign licence.

Section 31 applies to a licence from outside the EEA agreement. If both the issuing state or territory and the class are listed in Anlage 11, check that row’s separate theory-test and practical-test columns and its footnotes. A listing can waive both tests or only one; it is not automatically a test-free exchange. The authority can also order a test when facts suggest that the required knowledge and skill are no longer present.

If the state is listed but the class is not, paragraph 2 applies. If the state is not listed in Anlage 11, the training rules are not applied, but the tests are not waived by that provision. This page does not reproduce the annex. The German licence issued under section 31 is handed over only against surrender of the foreign licence, with the custody rules in section 31(4). A fee and an appointment are local and are not stated here.

What to do

1. First check whether the protected Ukrainian recognition above applies. Otherwise, an EU or EEA licence after ordinary residence follows section 28. Section 29 covers a foreign licence before ordinary residence and the permitted initial period for a non-EU/EEA licence after ordinary residence; the ordinary six-month period applies to the latter.
2. Carry the documents required for your route. The protected Ukrainian case above does not require a certified translation or international driving permit. If section 29 applies, follow section 29(2), including a translation when required; for an EU/EEA licence after ordinary residence follow section 28 instead.
3. If you need a German licence, ask the driving-licence authority whether section 30 or section 31 applies. For Anlage 11, check the issuing state or territory, licence class, both test columns, and all applicable footnotes.
4. Surrender the foreign licence when the German one is handed over, as sections 30 and 31 require. Ask about an extension of the six-month period only if you can credibly show that your stay will not pass twelve months.

Start conversion before the driving right expires

If you need conversion, contact the authority early for its document and test checklist. Allow for appointments, translation, tests and production of the German licence, and budget alternative transport if needed. A conversion application, booked appointment or processing delay does not itself extend the ordinary six-month driving right. Stop driving when your entitlement ends unless the authority has granted an applicable extension or you have another valid entitlement.

The narrow temporary-stay extension described above is different from waiting for conversion. Local processing pages can help planning: Berlin expressly says its processing-status information does not establish a collection date. Check your own authority; do not treat another city’s backlog as a national timetable.

Common mistakes

• Reading the EU exchange rules in section 30 as if they applied to every foreign licence. Section 31 is the other route, and it does not skip the test for every state.
• Relying on a list of countries without checking the current Anlage 11 for your licence class.
• Assuming a learner permit is enough. Section 29(3) excludes a learner permit and other provisional licences.
• Treating an EU or EEA licence as usable in Germany even though it was issued while you already had ordinary residence here. Section 29(3) No. 2a excludes that right unless the pupil or student exception applies. Section 29(3) No. 2 excludes a third-country licence issued in that situation, and it has no pupil or student exception.