Exchanging a foreign licence
Find out how to exchange your foreign driving licence for a Swiss one.
Procedure for exchanging a foreign licence
If you hold a valid foreign driving licence and move to Switzerland, you have 12 months from the date of your arrival to exchange your foreign licence for a Swiss document.
Holders of a foreign driving licence valid for driving cars (category B) may use it from the age of 17 and only if they are accompanied by a person over 23 who holds a driving licence that is more than 3 years old and is no longer on probation.
Procedures vary depending on the country issuing the foreign licence. In all cases, however, you must present your original driving licence and pass an eye test.
Driving test (control test)
Depending on the country where your driving licence was issued, you will have to take a test.
If you hold a category C, D, C1 or D1 driving licence or an authorisation to transport people professionally in category B, C, B1, C1 or special category F, you may also need to take a theory test.
If you have a driving licence from an EU or EEA country (see list below), you do not need to do a test drive or take the theory test. Your foreign licence will be returned to the issuing authority.
If you have a driving licence from one of the following countries, you do not need to take a test. However, you will need to take a theory test if you hold the following categories of licence and wish to keep them: categories C and D, sub-categories C1 and D1, as well as categories B and C, sub-categories B1 and C1 and special category F for authorisation to transport people for professional purposes.
Residents of all other countries generally have to pass theory and practical tests to exchange their licence for a Swiss licence. You will have to pay the test fees as well as any additional costs, for example for driving lessons or theory study guides.
We can help you with your licence exchange
Would you like to exchange your foreign driving licence for a Swiss one? Auto-école Lémanique in Geneva offers you a 50-minute manual or automatic driving course tailored to your needs.
Entirely tailor-made, it will enable you to target your strengths and areas for improvement, and will make you aware of the subtleties and different rules of Swiss traffic.
It’s also an opportunity for us to go over a few manoeuvres that you might want to improve, and to show you around Geneva and the surrounding area.
