Driving licence
Keep it, exchange it or get a Swedish licence
With a licence from another country you can often drive in Sweden, but for how long depends on the country. Choose where your licence was issued. You'll see whether it's valid here, whether you can exchange it for a Swedish one, or whether you need to get a new one. Swedish traffic rules apply when you drive here.
- Always carry your licence when you drive.
- Transportstyrelsen (the Swedish Transport Agency) decides on licences. Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration) runs the tests.
Which countries are EU/EEA?
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Switzerland and the UK are not.
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A licence from an EU/EEA country is valid in Sweden as long as it's valid in the country that issued it and you haven't exchanged it. That still applies once you're folkbokförd (registered) here. You don't need to exchange it.
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You can exchange it if the licence is valid and you're permanently resident in Sweden. That means you live here at least 185 days every calendar year because of personal and work ties.
Order the form Ansökan om utbyte av utländskt körkort (application to exchange a foreign licence) from Transportstyrelsen, and send it with your original licence.
While your application is processed, you don't have your licence. The police decide whether you may drive. Transportstyrelsen advises carrying a copy of the licence and valid ID.
Was your EEA licence first a licence from outside the EEA?
Then you can only exchange it if you held the EEA licence for at least five years before you became permanently resident here, if your first licence was from the Faroe Islands, the UK, Japan or Switzerland, or if you got the EEA licence after passing a driving test in an EEA country.
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If your application is approved, you get a payment slip for making the licence: SEK 375. Then go to one of Trafikverket's driving test offices to have your photo taken and give your signature. The photo costs SEK 200. Bring valid ID.
The licence is sent by registered post (REK) to a Postnord agent. You collect it yourself and show approved ID. Your old licence goes back to the authority that issued it.
The licence waits at the agent for 14 days. After that it goes back to Transportstyrelsen.
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A licence from the UK or the Faroe Islands is valid in Sweden as long as it's valid and not exchanged, even after you've been folkbokförd (registered) here for more than a year. You don't need to exchange it.
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You can exchange it if the licence is valid, you're permanently resident in Sweden, and you meet the personal and medical requirements for a Swedish licence. Permanently resident means you live here at least 185 days every calendar year because of personal and work ties.
Send this to Transportstyrelsen:
- the form Ansökan om utbyte av utländskt körkort
- a health declaration (hälsodeklaration) and a basic eyesight certificate (grundläggande synintyg), for a car or motorcycle
- your original licence
- a certificate that the licence is valid, from the licensing authority that issued it
While your application is processed, you don't have your licence, and you must always carry it when you drive. If you're stopped, the police decide, and you may be fined.
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If your application is approved, you get a payment slip for making the licence: SEK 375. Then go to one of Trafikverket's driving test offices to have your photo taken and give your signature. The photo costs SEK 200. Bring valid ID.
The licence is sent by registered post (REK) to a Postnord agent. You collect it yourself and show approved ID. Your old licence goes to the licensing authority that issued it.
The licence waits at the agent for 14 days. After that it goes back to Transportstyrelsen.
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A licence from Switzerland or Japan is valid in Sweden for one year from the day you were folkbokförd (registered). To keep driving without a break, your exchange application must reach Transportstyrelsen before then.
Skatteverket sends its decision on your registration (folkbokföring) in a letter. If you're unsure of the date, ask Skatteverket.
If you only have a samordningsnummer (coordination number), you're not folkbokförd yet. Then your licence is still valid.
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You must have a valid licence, be permanently resident in Sweden, and meet the personal and medical requirements for a Swedish licence. Permanently resident means you live here at least 185 days every calendar year because of personal and work ties.
Send this to Transportstyrelsen:
- the form Ansökan om utbyte av utländskt körkort
- a health declaration (hälsodeklaration) and a basic eyesight certificate (grundläggande synintyg), for a car or motorcycle
- your original licence
- a certificate that the licence is valid: for a Japanese licence from the Embassy of Japan in Stockholm, for a Swiss one from the licensing authority that issued it
While your application is processed, you don't have your licence, and you must always carry it when you drive. If you're stopped, the police decide, and you may be fined.
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If your application is approved, you get a payment slip for making the licence: SEK 375. Then go to one of Trafikverket's driving test offices to have your photo taken and give your signature. The photo costs SEK 200. Bring valid ID.
The licence is sent by registered post (REK) to a Postnord agent. You collect it yourself and show approved ID. Japanese licences go to the Embassy of Japan in Stockholm, Swiss ones to the authority that issued them.
The licence waits at the agent for 14 days. After that it goes back to Transportstyrelsen.
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Your licence must be valid in the country that issued it. Then it's valid in Sweden until you've been folkbokförd (registered) here for one year.
- Is the licence not in English, German or French, and not made to the international conventions (Geneva 1949 or Vienna 1968)? Then it's only valid with a certified translation into English, German, French, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. An international driving permit counts as a translation, but it can't be issued in Sweden.
- If the licence has no photo, also carry a photo ID.
- Do you have a residence permit under the Temporary Protection Directive, for example from Ukraine? Then the licence is valid as long as the directive applies.
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One year after you were folkbokförd, your licence stops being valid in Sweden, and it can't be exchanged for a Swedish one. To keep driving, you need to get a Swedish licence.
Skatteverket sends its decision on your registration (folkbokföring) in a letter. If you're unsure of the date, ask Skatteverket.
If you only have a samordningsnummer (coordination number), you're not folkbokförd yet. Then your licence is still valid.
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Are you studying here temporarily, do you have a time-limited job, or did you come with someone who does? Then Transportstyrelsen can grant an exception so you may drive longer on your licence. The purpose of your stay and how long you stay decide. A residence or work permit isn't enough on its own.
You write the application as an ordinary letter. Include your personnummer, your contact details, why and how long you're here, a copy of the licence, a study certificate or employer's certificate, and a copy of your residence permit.
Send it when a few months remain of your first year. The answer usually takes 8–12 weeks, longer in May–August. No exception is given because test times are hard to get.
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At the optician and at Trafikverket's tests you must show valid ID. Passports from outside the EU aren't accepted, except passports from the UK, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. At the tests, Freja eID and digital BankID cards aren't accepted either.
Skatteverket's ID card is accepted. If you don't have accepted ID, you can apply to Trafikverket for someone else to confirm who you are, at least two weeks before the test. At the optician, a close relative with valid ID can confirm who you are.
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You need a learner's permit to practise and to take the tests. It's free. Apply in Transportstyrelsen's e-service with e-legitimation, or on a paper form. You fill in a health declaration and have an eye test at an optician, who often sends the eyesight certificate digitally.
It usually takes up to four weeks, and the permit is valid for five years. To get a Swedish licence you must be permanently resident in Sweden, or have studied here for at least six months.
The eyesight certificate may be at most two months old when you apply.
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With a driving school, the learner's permit is enough. To practise privately you also need a supervisor (handledare) approved by Transportstyrelsen. The supervisor must be at least 24, have a valid licence from Sweden or another EEA country, and have held a car licence for at least five of the last ten years. A licence from outside the EEA isn't enough.
Since 1 August 2026 no introduction course is needed. Approval usually takes up to four weeks. The ÖVNINGSKÖR (learner driver) sign must be visible from behind.
Some of Transportstyrelsen's English pages still mention the introduction course. Their Swedish page says it was dropped on 1 August 2026.
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The risk course has two parts. Part 1 is about alcohol, drugs, tiredness and other risks. Part 2 is about speed and driving in different road conditions, among other things, with a skid track. Both parts must be done before the theory test.
If you're at a driving school, the school books you in. Otherwise you contact a course provider yourself. The risk course is valid until you get your licence, at most five years.
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You book and pay on Trafikverket's website. The test has 70 questions and takes 50 minutes, and you need 52 points. It's available in 15 languages, including English, Arabic, Persian, Somali, Tigrinya, Sorani and Turkish. You can also apply to take it with an interpreter.
Arrive at least 30 minutes early: your photo for the licence is taken before the test. The theory test costs SEK 420 in the daytime and SEK 520 after 18:00 and at weekends. The photo costs SEK 120.
Book the theory and driving tests at the same time, a few weeks apart. Then you have time to retake the theory test if needed.
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A passed theory test is valid for one year. Within that time you must pass the driving test. The driving test costs SEK 1,000 in the daytime and SEK 1,400 after 18:00 and at weekends.
If you take the test in a car with automatic gears, you get condition 78 and may only drive automatic cars.
Cancel at least 24 hours before the test, or you pay anyway.
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Issuing a licence costs SEK 375. The licence is sent by registered post (REK) to a Postnord agent. You collect it yourself and show approved ID. E-legitimation isn't accepted.
The licence waits at the agent for 14 days. After that it goes back to Transportstyrelsen.
Read more on the blog
Sources
- Transportstyrelsen: I have a driving licence (foreign licences, exchange, permanent residence)
- Transportstyrelsen: Apply for an exemption – non-EEA licences
- Transportstyrelsen: Ukrainian driving licences in Sweden
- Transportstyrelsen: Questions and answers on foreign licences (in Swedish)
- Transportstyrelsen: Exchanging a licence from the UK, the Faroe Islands, Japan or Switzerland (in Swedish)
- Transportstyrelsen: Learner's permit (in Swedish)
- Transportstyrelsen: B licence, car and light lorry (in Swedish)
- Transportstyrelsen: Supervisors (in Swedish)
- Transportstyrelsen: Learning how to drive (risk course)
- Transportstyrelsen: Licence fees (in Swedish)
- Transportstyrelsen: Collecting your new licence (in Swedish)
- Trafikverket: Passenger car and light lorry
- Trafikverket: Theory test in another language
- Trafikverket: Before the test
- Trafikverket: Prices for tests and photos
- Trafikverket: Book, pay and cancel tests
- Skatteverket: Moving to Sweden (in Swedish)