Converting a Foreign Driving Licence in Germany

The six-month countdown that matters here starts from the date you establish permanent residence in Germany (your Anmeldung date, in practice) — not your arrival date, not your visa start date. From that point, a driving licence issued outside the EU/EEA remains valid in Germany for six months, after which you legally can't drive on it anymore without converting it.

If your licence is from an EU or EEA country, none of this urgency applies to you: EU/EEA licences are mutually recognized across all member states, and you can drive on your home licence in Germany indefinitely. If it happens to be nearing its own expiry, you simply exchange it at your local Fahrerlaubnisbehörde (driving licence authority) for a German one — no test required, just paperwork.

For licences from other countries, Germany has bilateral agreements with a specific list of countries (including, among others, most of the US on a state-by-state basis, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and several others) that allow conversion without a driving test — usually still requiring a vision test, a first-aid course certificate, and a translated/certified copy of your original licence, but not a full practical exam.

If your licence is from a country without such an agreement, you'll generally need to take at least a theory test, and often a full practical driving test as well — effectively similar to a German resident getting their first licence, though your existing driving experience isn't formally recognized in the process even if it's extensive.

Whichever category you're in, start the process well before the six-month deadline rather than at the last minute — gathering certified translations, scheduling a vision test, and booking an appointment at the Fahrerlaubnisbehörde all take real time, and driving on an expired foreign licence past the six-month mark is a genuine legal risk, not a technicality likely to be overlooked.

Special situations get their own rules: at the time of writing, Ukrainian licences held under temporary protection status remain valid without conversion until that protection status expires, rather than following the standard six-month rule — a reminder that these bilateral and humanitarian exceptions do shift over time, so check current status with your Fahrerlaubnisbehörde rather than assuming a rule you read once still applies.