Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Venezuela on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Venezuela to Uruguay · Driving and licence exchange
Driving licences in Uruguay are a departmental matter, not a national one: you deal with the intendencia where you live, and the details can differ between departments. Whether you exchange your licence directly or sit exams depends entirely on whether your country has a convenio in force with Uruguay - and the list of countries that do is shorter than most people assume.
At a glance
- Who handles it
- The intendencia where you live
Departmental, so requirements and costs can differ across the country
- Countries with a convenio in force
- Spainas of 2026-03-17
- Italy
- Convenio expired in 2019
Exchange is no longer available on that basis; the revalidation route applies instead
- Without a convenio
- Revalidation, with exams
- Cost
- 0.25 to 1.25 Unidades Reajustables
Scaled by how many years the licence is issued for
- Page last updated by the publisher
- 2026-03-17
The Última actualización stamp the publisher prints at the head of the page - when the page was last touched, not when the rule last moved.
Requirements
- Apply to the departmental government (intendencia) where you live, not to a national authority
- Uruguayan identity document or a valid Uruguayan passport
- Surrender the foreign licence, and any Uruguayan licences you still hold
- No unpaid fines
- No disqualification in force from breath testing, THC or a court
- A psychophysical fitness examination, at the intendencia or an authorised institution depending on the licence category
- Evidence establishing that the foreign licence is valid
- Exams, unless your country has a convenio in force
In detail
The answer depends on your passport, not on your driving
An exchange agreement is a bilateral arrangement between two states, so whether you can swap your licence or must sit exams turns on where it was issued and nothing else. Two people with identical licences and identical driving records get different answers. That is the whole reason this site models rules by origin as well as destination, and licence exchange is the clearest case of it.
Departmental, which has consequences
Uruguay devolves this to the nineteen intendencias. The requirements recorded here are Canelones', read from its own page, and another department may differ in cost, in where the medical examination is done, or in what it asks to establish that the foreign licence is real. If you are comparing, compare the department you will actually live in.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Venezuela
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
«En el caso de homologación de licencias de conducir de otros países en Uruguay, las personas deberán dirigirse al Gobierno Departamental (Intendencia) en donde la persona resida.»Our translation - not official
In the case of homologation of driving licences from other countries in Uruguay, people must approach the Departmental Government (Intendencia) where they reside.
This is why there is no single national answer. Nineteen departments administer this, and the page below is one of them.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Uruguay's departmental governments, which administer driving licences, and their national coordinating body. Each intendencia publishes its own procedure pages on gub.uy, carrying a last-updated date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: There is no single national answer to record. A page published by one of nineteen departments states that department's requirements; another may differ on cost, on where a medical examination is done, or on what it accepts as proof. A rule read here should not be generalised to the country.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«España. Actualmente en vigencia.»Our translation - not official
Spain. Currently in force.
Listed under 'Países con convenio' - countries with an agreement - and it is the only one listed as in force.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Uruguay's departmental governments, which administer driving licences, and their national coordinating body. Each intendencia publishes its own procedure pages on gub.uy, carrying a last-updated date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: There is no single national answer to record. A page published by one of nineteen departments states that department's requirements; another may differ on cost, on where a medical examination is done, or on what it accepts as proof. A rule read here should not be generalised to the country.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«Italia. Venció en el año 2019. Puede realizar revalida por el mecanismo correspondiente para ese trámite.»Our translation - not official
Italy. Expired in 2019. You may carry out revalidation through the mechanism corresponding to that procedure.
An agreement that has lapsed rather than one that never existed. Guides written before 2019, and guides copied from them since, still list Italy as an exchange country.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Uruguay's departmental governments, which administer driving licences, and their national coordinating body. Each intendencia publishes its own procedure pages on gub.uy, carrying a last-updated date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: There is no single national answer to record. A page published by one of nineteen departments states that department's requirements; another may differ on cost, on where a medical examination is done, or on what it accepts as proof. A rule read here should not be generalised to the country.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The Spanish licence is surrendered and returned to Spain's Dirección General de Tráfico, so the exchange is genuinely a swap rather than a duplicate.
Going the other way, a Uruguayan licence is exchangeable in Spain only if it was obtained before you became resident there, and the foreign licence stops being valid six months after you take up normal residence.
We have read one department's page. The requirements of the other eighteen are not recorded here.
- administersCanje de permiso de conducir extranjero de países con convenio - Canelones
Intendencia de Canelones / gub.uy
About this source
Uruguay's departmental governments, which administer driving licences, and their national coordinating body. Each intendencia publishes its own procedure pages on gub.uy, carrying a last-updated date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: There is no single national answer to record. A page published by one of nineteen departments states that department's requirements; another may differ on cost, on where a medical examination is done, or on what it accepts as proof. A rule read here should not be generalised to the country.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
- administersHomologación de licencia de conducir
Congreso de Intendentes / gub.uy
About this source
Uruguay's departmental governments, which administer driving licences, and their national coordinating body. Each intendencia publishes its own procedure pages on gub.uy, carrying a last-updated date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: There is no single national answer to record. A page published by one of nineteen departments states that department's requirements; another may differ on cost, on where a medical examination is done, or on what it accepts as proof. A rule read here should not be generalised to the country.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source