A Foreign Licence Lasts 185 Days, and Whether It Can Be Exchanged Is a List of Thirteen Entries
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Honduras on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
116 exceptions recorded across 45 countries · none match Honduras to Netherlands · Driving and licence exchange
A driver on a Dutch road must hold a licence issued by the competent authority for the category of vehicle being driven. For a resident whose licence comes from outside the European Union, the EEA and Switzerland, article 108(1)(g) of the Wegenverkeerswet 1994 switches that requirement off for 185 days from the day they settled in the Netherlands, and no longer. What happens next is decided by a list. Article 46(5) of the Reglement rijbewijzen allows an exchange only where the licence and the way it was obtained have been designated by ministerial regulation as at least equivalent to the European driving licence directive, or designated as qualifying for exchange on grounds of general interest. The regulation that does the designating names thirteen entries, and they are Alberta, Andorra, Chinese Taipei, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom, Guernsey, Israel, Japan, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Monaco, Quebec, South Korea and Singapore. A second route is open whatever the licence says on it: the regulation also admits, on grounds of general interest, the licence of a holder who can show to the Dienst Wegverkeer that he, or someone in the household he lives with here, counts as an incoming employee to whom the proof rule for specific expertise scarce on the Dutch labour market applies.
At a glance
- How long a non-EU licence keeps you legal here
- 185 days from the day you settled in the Netherlands
Article 108(1)(g) of the Wegenverkeerswet 1994.
- Exchange without a Dutch examination
- Only for licences designated by ministerial regulation
Article 46(5) of the Reglement rijbewijzen.
- Who is on the designated list
- Alberta, Andorra, Chinese Taipei, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom, Guernsey, Israel, Japan, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Monaco, Quebec, South Korea and Singapore
Article 1 of the Regeling omwisseling niet-Nederlandse rijbewijzen, which lists them by name and by licence category.
- The second way on to it
- Being, or living with, an incoming employee to whom the proof rule for scarce specific expertise applies
Article 2(1) of the Regeling omwisseling niet-Nederlandse rijbewijzen, which calls this an exchange on grounds of general interest and points at the Uitvoeringsbesluit loonbelasting 1965.
- Residence in the issuing country
- At least 185 days in a year in which the licence was issued
Article 46(2)(b) of the Reglement rijbewijzen.
- EU, EEA and Swiss licences
- A separate article with its own conditions, and no designation needed
Article 45 of the Reglement rijbewijzen.
Requirements
- A valid licence issued in a year in which you lived in the issuing country for at least 185 days
- The licence and the way it was obtained designated by ministerial regulation
- A certificate of fitness registered in the driving licence register, not more than a year old
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Honduras
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«1 Aan de bestuurder van een motorrijtuig op de weg dient door de daartoe bevoegde autoriteit een rijbewijs te zijn afgegeven voor het besturen van motorrijtuigen van de categorie waartoe dat motorrijtuig behoort.»Our translation - not official
A driver of a motor vehicle on the road must have been issued a driving licence, by the authority competent to do so, for driving motor vehicles of the category to which that vehicle belongs.
The requirement itself, stated as a duty on the driver and not on the vehicle.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«g. motorrijtuigen, anders dan bromfietsen of andere dan bij algemene maatregel van bestuur aangewezen landbouw- of bosbouwtrekkers, motorrijtuigen met beperkte snelheid of mobiele machines, indien die bestuurders in Nederland woonachtig zijn en aan hen door het daartoe bevoegde gezag buiten Nederland, anders dan in een andere lidstaat van de Europese Unie of in een andere staat die partij is bij de Overeenkomst betreffende de Europese Economische Ruimte of Zwitserland, een rijbewijs is afgegeven dat geldig is voor het besturen van een motorrijtuig van de categorie waarmee wordt gereden, zo lang sedert de dag waarop zij zich in Nederland hebben gevestigd, nog geen 185 dagen zijn verstreken;»The grace period, and the exact boundary it is drawn around: a licence from outside the Union, the EEA and Switzerland, held by a resident of the Netherlands, for 185 days from the day of settling here.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«1 Indien de aanvraag betrekking heeft op de afgifte van een rijbewijs voor een andere categorie dan de categorie T tegen overlegging van een rijbewijs, aan de aanvrager afgegeven door het daartoe bevoegde gezag buiten Nederland, anders dan in Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, de openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba, in een andere lidstaat van de Europese Unie of in een andere staat die partij is bij de Overeenkomst betreffende de Europese Economische Ruimte of Zwitserland, dient bij de aanvraag aan de volgende vereisten te worden voldaan: - a. behoudens de in artikel 33 genoemde bescheiden wordt tevens het door dat gezag afgegeven rijbewijs overgelegd; - b. in het rijbewijzenregister is ten behoeve van de aanvrager een verklaring van geschiktheid geregistreerd voor iedere rijbewijscategorie waarop de aanvraag betrekking heeft, waarbij de datum van registratie niet langer dan een jaar vóór de aanvraag mag liggen, met uitzondering van de rijbewijscategorie AM.»The exchange article for a licence from outside the Union, the EEA, Switzerland and the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«2 Het over te leggen rijbewijs dient: - a. op het moment van de aanvraag nog geldig te zijn; - b. aan de aanvrager te zijn afgegeven in een periode van één jaar waarin hij ten minste 185 dagen in het land van afgifte van dat bewijs woonachtig is geweest.»Validity at the date of application, and 185 days of residence in the issuing country in the year the licence was issued.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«5 Het over te leggen rijbewijs en de wijze van verkrijging daarvan dienen bij ministeriële regeling te zijn aangewezen als zijnde ten minste gelijkwaardig aan rijbewijzen en de verkrijging daarvan zoals voorzien in richtlijn nr. 2006/126/EG, van het Europees Parlement en de Raad van de Europese Unie van 20 december 2006 betreffende het rijbewijs (PbEU L 403), dan wel dient het over te leggen rijbewijs bij ministeriële regeling te zijn aangewezen als een rijbewijs dat om redenen van algemeen belang voor omwisseling in aanmerking komt.»The designation requirement. Two ways to satisfy it: equivalence to the directive, or general interest.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Voor omwisseling tegen een Nederlands rijbewijs komen in aanmerking de door de hierna genoemde landen afgegeven rijbewijzen, voor de daarbij aangegeven categorie of categorieën: - Alberta (provincie): class 5 (personenauto) - Andorra B (personenauto) - Chinees Taipei: B (personenauto) - Gibraltar en het Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittannië en Noord-Ierland: alle rijbewijscategorieën, indien de houder: - a. op of na 1 januari 2021 in Nederland is komen te wonen, mits het om te wisselen rijbewijs geen voorlopig rijbewijs (‘provisional driving licence’) of een learners permit betreft - b. in de periode tussen 1 februari 2020 en 1 januari 2021 in Nederland is komen te wonen, maar niet voor 1 januari 2021 een omwisselingsaanvraag heeft gedaan, mits het om te wisselen rijbewijs geen voorlopig rijbewijs (‘provisional driving licence’) of een learners permit betreft - c. voor 1 februari 2020 in Nederland is komen te wonen, maar niet voor 1 mei 2021 een omwisselingsaanvraag heeft gedaan, mits het om te wisselen rijbewijs geen voorlopig rijbewijs (‘provisional driving licence’) of een learners permit betreft - Guernsey: alle rijbewijscategorieën, mits het om te wisselen rijbewijs geen voorlopig rijbewijs (‘provisional driving licence’) of een learners permit betreft - Israël: B (personenauto) - Japan: IB (non-professional-carrying drivers: private car & motorcycle) - Jersey (Staten van: alle categoriëen - Man (Eiland): alle categoriëen - Monaco: alle categorieën - Québec (provincie): classe 5 (véhicule de promenade) - Republiek Korea : 1 st class en 2 nd class ordinary - Singapore: Class 2 (motorfiets met meer dan 400 cc) Class 3 (personenauto)»The list, reproduced as the regulation prints it, with the publisher's own spacing and spellings kept. Several entries are provinces, dependencies or territories rather than states, and several are limited to one licence category.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«1 Om redenen van algemeen belang komen voor omwisseling tegen een Nederlands rijbewijs in aanmerking door het daartoe bevoegde gezag buiten Nederland afgegeven rijbewijzen die niet op andere wijze voor omwisseling in aanmerking komen en waarvan de houder ten genoegen van de Dienst Wegverkeer kan aantonen dat hij dan wel een van de personen van het gezin waartoe hij behoort en waarmee hij in Nederland samenwoont, dient te worden aangemerkt als een ingekomen werknemer in de zin van artikel 10e, tweede lid, onderdeel b, van het Uitvoeringsbesluit loonbelasting 1965 ten aanzien van wie op grond van zijn specifieke deskundigheid die op de Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt niet of schaars aanwezig is, de in artikel 10ea, eerste lid, van dat besluit bedoelde bewijsregel van toepassing is.»The general-interest route. It turns on a tax status rather than on where the licence came from, and it extends to the household the holder lives with in the Netherlands.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«1 Indien de aanvraag betrekking heeft op de afgifte van een rijbewijs tegen overlegging van een rijbewijs, aan de aanvrager afgegeven door het daartoe bevoegde gezag in een andere lidstaat van de Europese Unie of in een andere staat die partij is bij de Overeenkomst betreffende de Europese Economische Ruimte of Zwitserland, dient bij de aanvraag aan de volgende vereisten te worden voldaan: - a. behoudens de in artikel 33 genoemde bescheiden wordt bij de aanvraag tevens het door dat gezag afgegeven rijbewijs overgelegd;»The separate and much shorter route for a licence from another member state, an EEA state or Switzerland.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The list in article 1 of the Regeling is of licences, not of nationalities. What matters is the authority that issued the licence and the category it was issued for, which is why Alberta and Quebec are on it and Canada as such is not.
A licence not on the list and not reached by article 2 is not exchanged. What a holder faces instead is the Dutch examination route in the Reglement rijbewijzen, which was not read in full for this record.
The Uitvoeringsbesluit loonbelasting 1965, which decides who counts as an incoming employee under article 2(1), was not read for this record.
- consolidatesWegenverkeerswet 1994
Overheid.nl, Wettenbank
About this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- consolidatesReglement rijbewijzen
Overheid.nl, Wettenbank
About this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- consolidatesRegeling omwisseling niet-Nederlandse rijbewijzen
Overheid.nl, Wettenbank
About this source
The consolidated text of every Dutch regulation, each at a stable BWBR identifier and served whole as HTML. A date may be appended to the address to ask for the text as it stood on that day, and the page states the period the version it serves was in force.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The authentic text is Dutch. The English renderings that exist elsewhere are translations and may not be quoted as the instrument. Much of what decides a Dutch application is not here as law: the Vreemdelingencirculaire 2000 is a policy circular of the State Secretary, and the IND's own pages are an agency describing the law it applies. The reach of each instrument also differs inside the Kingdom - the Vreemdelingenwet 2000 governs the European Netherlands, the Caribbean Netherlands has its own admission Act, and Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten legislate their own admission entirely, while the Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is a Kingdom Act and applies across all of it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source