NextSpring

Where your driving licence is recognised if your passport is from Estonia

One question, every country, with your nationality already applied. In 6 of them something is written that changes the answer for you; in the other 55 the general rule is what you get, and that is the answer rather than a gap. Every line is that country’s own record.

Where it changes for you
6
Where it does not
55
Blocs you are in
2

Where your nationality changes the answer

DenmarkVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

Your Licence Does Not Expire Here, and It Exchanges Without a Test or a Medical Certificate

reaches you through Nationals of the Union and the wider Economic Area

The general rule it sits on

Once you have your normal residence in Denmark you need a Danish licence. A licence from another Union or EEA state keeps working for its own validity period and exchanges without anything further. A licence from anywhere else keeps working for 180 days from the day you become normally resident, and after that it exchanges only if you pass a check test - unless it was issued in one of the countries that exchange without one. That list is the thing worth reading carefully. It is not in the licence regulation and it is not in the regulation that governs exchange without a test: that regulation, from 2016, says the traffic authority decides country by country on application and publishes an updated list on its own website. The only named list anywhere in the statute book is in the 2014 regulation the 2016 one repealed, carried forward by a transitional sentence saying those countries are taken to qualify without applying again.

FinlandVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

Your Licence Does Not Expire Here, and There Is No Clock on Exchanging It

reaches you through Nationals of the Union and the wider Economic Area

The general rule it sits on

The Driving Licences Act sorts foreign licences into three boxes and gives each a different clock. An EU or EEA licence entitles you to drive here for as long as it is valid, with no Finnish deadline at all, and may be exchanged under the ordinary licence rules. A licence from a state party to the Geneva 1949 or Vienna 1968 road traffic conventions is accepted for two years from the holder's entry in the population register, and inside those two years it may be exchanged for a Finnish category B or motorcycle licence without a new driving test. Any other licence from a state Finland recognises, in categories A1, A2, A or B, is accepted for one year from entry into the country or from registration, and section 61 provides no exchange without a test except for diplomatic staff. Two further conditions catch people out. A convention licence issued while the holder was already normally resident in Finland is not merely useless for driving - section 60(4) says it is not valid in Finland at all. And sections 60 and 61 both exclude Åland by name, so what a foreign licence is worth there is a question for Åland's own law.

IrelandVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

A Member State Licence Exchanges, and the Order Says So in Its First Line

reaches you through Nationals of the Union and the wider Economic Area

The general rule it sits on

Ireland does not recognise foreign driving licences in general. Section 23A of the Road Traffic Act 1961 lets the Minister declare by order that licences issued by a particular state are recognised for the purpose of exchange, and a licence that is not covered by such an order cannot be exchanged at all - the holder sits the Irish theory test and the Irish driving test like a new driver. The general order is the Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences) Order 2007, which covers every Member State and twelve named others: Australia, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, the Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Norway, South Africa, South Korea and Switzerland. Later orders add states one at a time, and Canada arrives not as a country but as a stack of provinces.

LatviaVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-11

No Deadline And No Examination - Unless The Licence Expired Three Years Ago, Which Catches A Union Licence Like Any Other

reaches you through Nationals of the Union and the wider Economic Area

The general rule it sits on

Article 47(1) of the Ceļu satiksmes likums says what a person may drive on in Latvia: a licence issued by an EU or EFTA member state or the United Kingdom, a licence showing the categories of the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic, or a licence showing no Convention categories - and that last one carries only category B, if the issuing state's licence allows driving a car, and a notarised Latvian translation if the entries are not in Latin letters. Article 47(2) then sets the clock: a driver arriving from abroad who stays longer than one year must exchange the licence, except an EU, EFTA or United Kingdom licence and except persons with diplomatic or consular immunity. What the exchange costs in effort is in Cabinet Regulation No. 103. Point 28 exchanges a Latvian, EU, EFTA or United Kingdom licence, and a licence from a state Latvia has a treaty with, without any examination. Point 29 exchanges anything else only after a category B driving examination, and then says in eight words what no summary mentions: a former USSR pattern licence is not exchanged. Point 28.1 adds a trap of its own: a licence that expired three or more years ago is exchanged only after both a theory and a driving examination for category B, even where it allows driving lorries or buses. Point 31 waives examinations where the person has previously held a Latvian licence for the same categories.

LithuaniaVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

An EU or EFTA Licence Needs Nothing: No Exchange, No Deadline

reaches you through Nationals of the Union and the wider Economic Area

The general rule it sits on

Article 13(9) of the Saugaus eismo automobilių keliais įstatymas settles two different questions in one paragraph. A licence issued in an EU member state or an EFTA country needs no Lithuanian licence at all, with no time limit stated. A national or international licence issued by a contracting party to the Paris Convention of 1926, the Geneva Convention of 1949 or the Vienna Convention of 1968, and meeting those conventions' requirements, is valid in Lithuania while the holder is not a permanent resident of Lithuania, and once he becomes one, for no more than six months from acquiring that status. The clock therefore starts not on arrival and not on the permit, but on a status the road safety act does not itself define - nuolatinis Lietuvos Respublikos gyventojas, which is the same phrase the income tax act uses in article 4 for a tax resident. The paragraph also refuses recognition in three cases: the holder is under the Lithuanian minimum age, the licence was issued to someone whose right to drive was taken away and not recovered under article 24, or the licence is restricted, suspended or withdrawn in the issuing state. A Lithuanian licence itself is issued for no more than ten years, and for the lorry and bus categories the right to drive lasts no more than five.

SwedenVerified with official sourceActively changing right nowlast checked 2026-10-10

Your Licence Does Not Expire Here, and It Can Be Exchanged Once You Settle

reaches you through Nationals of the Union and the wider Economic Area

The general rule it sits on

Sweden sorts foreign driving licences into exactly two classes and treats them completely differently. An EEA licence is valid here according to its content and can be exchanged for a Swedish one once you are permanently resident. Any other licence is a tredjelandskörkort - the Act defines it as a licence issued in a state outside the EEA - and since 1 May 2026 chapter 6, section 2 of the Driving Licence Act says such a licence ceases to be valid in Sweden once the holder has been registered in the population register for more than a year. Exchange is open to only four non-EEA issuers, named in chapter 6, section 7: the Faroe Islands, the United Kingdom, Japan and Switzerland. A licence from anywhere else cannot be exchanged at all, which means that after one year on the register the holder has to take a Swedish licence from the beginning. For the thirty-five countries of the Americas this site covers, that is the answer. While a foreign licence is still valid, a licence that is neither in the form of the Geneva or Vienna convention models nor written in English, German or French works only with a certified translation or an international driving permit, and a licence without a photograph works only with photographic identification.

Where the general rule applies to you unchanged

Nothing is recorded in these that treats a citizen of Estonia differently on this question, so what follows is what everyone gets.

Antigua and Barbuda

Driving in Antigua and Barbuda

Visitor's temporary driver's licence:
Up to 3 months
Driving test for a visitor:
May be waived
Resident's driving licence:
Valid 1 year
Argentina

Driving on a Foreign Licence

Basis:
Bilateral agreement with the issuing country
Recognition lapses after:
1 continuous year of stay
Professional and commercial licences:
Excluded
Austria

An EEA Licence Simply Becomes Austrian. Everything Else Stops Working After Six Months, and Only a Named List Escapes the Driving Test

EEA licence:
Counts as an Austrian licence while your residence is in Austria
Non-EEA licence: how long it works:
Six months from establishing a residence in Austria
Extension:
A further six months, on application, for someone in Austria under a year for work or training
Barbados

Driving in Barbados on a Foreign Licence

What the Act requires:
A valid driving licence authorising you to drive that class of vehicle
Does a foreign licence count as a driving licence under the Act:
Yes, since the definition was substituted in 2017
Visitor Permit fee, stays under two months:
$10.00 BBD
Belgium

Register in a Commune and Your Own Licence Stops Working; Whether You Exchange It Turns on a Convention

Once you are in a Belgian register:
You may only drive on a Belgian or a European licence
Before that:
A foreign national or international licence issued under the international traffic rules is enough
Exchange without sitting the tests:
An exemption from the examinations, not an entitlement of its own
Belize

Driving in Belize on a Foreign Licence

Driving on a valid foreign licence:
a period of twelve months from the date of his last entry into Belize
What restarts the twelve months:
Your last entry into Belize
Temporary driving licence for a bona fide visitor:
any period not exceeding three months
Bolivia

Driving and Licence Exchange

Licence validity for a resident foreigner:
The same as the foreigner's identity card
Minimum age:
18 for private and motorcycle, 21 for professional categories
Cost, most categories:
Bs 225
Brazil

Driving and Licence Exchange

Foreign licence valid for:
180 days
Counted from:
The date of entry into Brazilian territory
After 180 days, recognised licence:
Medical and psychological examinations
Bulgaria

A Year From the Day Your Residence Document Was Issued, and Whether You Sit an Exam Depends on One Convention

How long a non-EU licence lasts for a settled foreigner:
One year from the date the residence document was issued
Exchange without an examination:
Where the issuing state is a party to the Convention on Road Traffic and the licence meets Annex 6 to it
Otherwise:
A Bulgarian licence is issued only after passing an examination
Canada

No Federal Licence, and Ontario Names Two Countries

Federal licence:
None: no licence is issued under any federal Act, and licensing is provincial
Named in Ontario Regulation 341/94:
The United States, the United States Department of State, Canada Forces Europe and Japan
Of Latin America and the Caribbean:
None named in Ontario Regulation 341/94 or 340/94
Chile

Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence

Countries with a treaty in force:
Spain, South Korea, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Japan, Paraguay, Bolivia
Brazil:
Agreement signed, not yet in force
Licences obtained by exchange elsewhere:
Excluded
Colombia

Recognition of a Foreign Driving Licence

Who qualifies:
People born in a country with an agreement
Registration:
Fingerprint in the RUNT
Identity document:
Cédula de extranjería
Costa Rica

Your Foreign Licence Lasts Exactly as Long as Your Stay

How long a foreign licence is valid for:
A period identical to your authorised legal stay
Minimum uninterrupted stay before converting:
None
Who may convert:
Anyone with an approved migration status, or with an application pending
Croatia

One Year From the Day You Entered, Not From the Day You Got the Permit - and the Medical Certificate Depends on Who Issued the Licence

How long you may drive on the foreign licence:
Up to 1 year from the day of entry into Croatia
Driving test on exchange:
None
Medical certificate for a non-EEA licence:
Required, no older than 6 months
Cuba

Driving and Licence Exchange

Driving on a foreign licence:
6 months from entry, non-extendable
Categories covered:
A, A1 and B
After 6 months:
The Cuban national licence is necessary
Cyprus

A Member State Licence Is Simply Valid; Anything Else Lasts Six Months at the Most, and Only If the Registrar Has Said So

A European Union licence:
Recognised, with the same force as a Cypriot one
What changes on moving here:
The Registrar may apply Cypriot rules on validity, minimum age and fitness
A licence from anywhere else:
Recognised for no more than six months, and only by a published notification of the Registrar
Czechia

A Union Licence May Be Swapped at Leisure; Everything Else Has Three Months and Must Come From a Convention State

Union or EEA licence:
Recognised, and may be exchanged on request
Other foreign licence:
Recognised only if it conforms to the Vienna 1968 or Geneva 1949 Convention
Deadline to exchange a foreign licence:
3 months from being granted the residence
Dominica

Driving in Dominica

Visitor's temporary driving licence:
Up to 3 months
International driving licence:
Exempts you while valid
Dominican international driving licence:
12 months from issue
Dominican Republic

Driving: One Article for Foreign Licences, and Nothing for Visitors

Foreign licence conversion:
For residents, while the foreign licence is valid
Visitors driving on a foreign licence:
Not addressed in the law
Licence validity:
4 years
Ecuador

Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence

Cost:
USD 142, plus the bank's commission
Licence validity:
5 years
Shorter stays:
The licence is cut to the period authorised by the migration authorities
El Salvador

Driving on a Foreign Licence, and the Easiest Exchange in the Region

Driving on a foreign licence:
90 days maximum
What you may drive in that time:
Vehicles you own
Reporting on arrival:
Required, to the traffic directorate
France

One Year, and Then the Licence Stops Being a Licence

An EU or EEA licence:
Recognised in France while it is valid
A licence from anywhere else:
Recognised until one year after normal residence is acquired
What happens at the end of that year:
The licence is no longer recognised and the holder loses all right to drive
Germany

Conversion Without a Test Runs Off a List, and No Country in This Corpus Is On It

Conversion without a test:
Only for states named in Annex 11
Latin America and the Caribbean on that list:
None of the thirty-three
What the exemption switches off:
The medical examination, the eyesight test, the proficiency test, first aid and the training
Greece

An EEA Licence Swaps Over Without a Test, a Swiss One Lasts Twelve Months, and Everything Else Starts from the Beginning

Licences recognised without more:
Those of a Union member state, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
Exchange of an EEA licence:
No medical, theory or practical test
Residence condition for the exchange:
Normal residence in Greece, or six months as a student or pupil in the last twelve
Grenada

Driving in Grenada

Visitor's temporary licence:
Up to 3 months
Fee for the temporary licence:
Not stated in the Act
International driving licence:
Exempts you from holding a Grenadian licence
Guatemala

Driving in Guatemala

What is issued:
A permiso de conducir, not a licence
Available from:
While the temporary residence application is in process
Guarantor:
A Guatemalan by origin, guaranteeing no other foreigner
Guyana

Driving in Guyana on a Foreign Licence: Sixty Days, Then a Four-Week Permit

Driving on a foreign licence:
60 days after entry into Guyana
Instrument that allows it:
Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (The Use of Foreign Issued Driver's Licence in Guyana) Regulations 2022
Effective from:
26 August 2022
Honduras

Driving in Honduras

Driving on a foreign licence as a visitor:
Allowed, subject to reciprocity
Driving on a foreign licence as a resident:
Not provided for
Exchange of a foreign licence:
No procedure in the traffic law
Hungary

One Year of Driving on a Foreign Licence, Then Exchange - With No Test at All if the Issuing Country Signed Vienna or Geneva, and a Theory Test if It Did Not

How long a foreign licence lets you drive:
1 year from the start of your stay in Hungary
Exchange with no test:
Where the issuing country acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention or the 1949 Geneva Convention
Exchange from outside both conventions:
A theory test in traffic basics, with no course
Italy

Conversion Without a Test Exists Only Where Italy Has an Agreement With Your Country

Conversion without an examination:
Only where a bilateral understanding allows it
On what basis:
Reciprocity
What happens to your old licence:
Withdrawn and returned to the issuing authority, with reasons
Jamaica

Driving in Jamaica

Driving on a foreign licence:
No provision for it in the Act in force
Age of the foreign licence that unlocks the exemption:
Issued not more than twelve months before
What the exemption does not cover:
The licensing fee
Luxembourg

An EEA Licence Is Recognised and May Be Swapped at Leisure; Everything Else Has Twelve Months and Must Come from a Convention State

EEA licence:
Recognised on taking up normal residence, and exchangeable at any time
Non-EEA licence: deadline to transcribe:
Twelve months from taking up residence
Residence before you may apply:
185 days in Luxembourg
Malta

Twelve Months on a Third-Country Licence, and Only Three Countries Outside Europe Whose Licence Malta Will Exchange

Licence from another Member State:
Recognised in Malta
Licence from a third country:
12 months from the date of your last entry into Malta
Categories a third-country licence does not cover here:
C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D, DE and f
Mexico

Driving Licences in Mexico

National licence for a private car:
None - the states and Mexico City issue them
Validity of a state licence elsewhere in Mexico:
Full validity throughout the country
Maximum validity:
5 years in general; 2 years for emergency, medical, police and school transport vehicles
Netherlands

A Foreign Licence Lasts 185 Days, and Whether It Can Be Exchanged Is a List of Thirteen Entries

How long a non-EU licence keeps you legal here:
185 days from the day you settled in the Netherlands
Exchange without a Dutch examination:
Only for licences designated by ministerial regulation
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
Nicaragua

Driving in Nicaragua

Driving on a foreign licence:
For as long as that licence is valid
What triggers the need for a Nicaraguan licence:
The foreign licence expiring, not a period of stay
Nicaraguan licence validity:
5 years
Panama

Driving in Panama

Driving as a tourist:
90 days on a foreign licence
Can a tourist get a Panamanian licence?:
No, expressly
Can a tourist get one by extending the stay?:
No
Paraguay

Driving Licences for Foreign Residents

Issuing authority:
The municipality, not a national agency
Minimum age:
18
Migration document required:
The admission card issued by the migration directorate
Peru

Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence

Knowledge test waived for:
Spain, Korea and Chile
Medical and psychological assessment:
Required for everyone
Foreign licence validity:
Must be valid at the time of the exchange
Poland

Your Own Licence Works for Six Months After You Settle, and Whether You Exchange It Without an Exam Turns on the Document, Not on the Country

How long your own licence lasts after you settle:
6 months from the start of permanent or temporary residence
EU, EEA and Swiss licences:
Recognised in their own right, and exempt by name from the examination condition
What decides whether you sit an exam:
Whether your licence matches the Vienna Convention model and data range, not whether your state signed it
Portugal

Three Classes of Foreign Licence, and Which One You Are In Is Decided by a List

If your state is named under Decreto-Lei n.º 46/2022:
You may keep driving on your own licence, even after becoming resident
Age limit on that class:
Under 60
Age of the licence:
Not more than 15 years since issue or last renewal
Romania

The Instrument Is Named and Could Not Be Opened: Romania's Road Code Is Published Only Where No Tool Here Can Reach

The instruments:
Emergency Ordinance 195/2002 and Government Decision 1,391/2006
What this record states about exchange:
Nothing - neither instrument is in any document we have read
Where the publisher's text is:
legislatie.just.ro, which answered nothing
Saint Kitts and Nevis

Driving in Saint Kitts and Nevis

Visitor's temporary licence, maximum validity:
1 year
Fee for a visitor's temporary licence:
$50 for three months, $100 for one year
Driving test for a visitor:
At the officer's discretion
Saint Lucia

Driving in Saint Lucia

Visitor's driving permit:
Valid for not more than 3 months
Eastern Caribbean Protocol citizens:
No permit needed
Economic citizens of Protocol states:
Permit still needed
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Driving in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Temporary driver's permit:
EC$125.00
Validity:
6 months from the date of issue
One-year local driver's permit:
EC$125.00
Slovakia

A Hundred and Eighty-Five Days Before You May Swap, Sixty Days After That Before You Must, and Nothing At All for a Licence From Outside the Conventions

What is recognised:
An EEA licence, and a licence of a Geneva or Vienna Convention state
International driving permit:
1 year for a Geneva permit, 3 years for a Vienna permit
Earliest you may exchange:
185 days after residence is granted or registered
Slovenia

One Year to Drive on a Foreign Licence, Two if You Are Slovene Coming Home, and a Practical Test to Exchange It Unless the Minister Has Listed Your Country

Driving on a foreign licence:
One year from registering your address
A returning Slovene citizen:
Two years
EU, EEA and Swiss-adjacent licences:
No time limit
Spain

Six Months on the Licence You Brought, Then a Convention Decides Whether You Exchange It or Start Again

How long your own licence lasts here:
Six months from establishing normal residence
Without normal residence:
Six months from entering Spain lawfully
After that:
The licence is not valid to drive in Spain at all
Suriname

Driving: the Rijwet 1971 Governs It, and the Official Collection Does Not Publish It

Governing Act:
Rijwet 1971
Published in the National Assembly's collection:
No
Period a foreign licence may be used:
Not established
The Bahamas

Driving on a Foreign Licence: Three Months, Which Is Not the Eight Months Immigration Gives You

Foreign licence valid for:
A visit of not more than three months
Also required:
Not being employed in The Bahamas
Minimum age:
Seventeen, or fifteen for an excepted motor vehicle
Trinidad and Tobago

Driving in Trinidad and Tobago on a Foreign Licence

On an international driving permit:
While the permit remains valid, with no stated limit
On an ordinary foreign licence from a listed country:
3 months from the date of arrival
How the list is made:
By Notice of the Minister published in the Gazette
United Kingdom

Twelve Months on Your Own Licence, and a List of Exchangeable Countries Last Published Under a Repealed Act

How long a visitor may drive on a foreign permit:
Twelve months from the date of his last entry into the United Kingdom
Who that allowance is for:
A person resident outside the United Kingdom who is temporarily in Great Britain
How long a new resident may drive on a foreign permit:
One year after becoming resident in Great Britain
United States

There Is No Federal Licence - and the Federal Rule That Exists Ties Yours to Your Status

A national driving licence:
None - the states issue them
What federal law governs:
Which state licences a federal agency may accept
Temporary lawful status:
Required for a temporary or limited-term licence
Uruguay

Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence

Who handles it:
The intendencia where you live
Countries with a convenio in force:
Spain
Italy:
Convenio expired in 2019
Venezuela

Driving in Venezuela

Issuing body:
Instituto Nacional de Transporte Terrestre
Terms on which a foreigner is licensed:
Delegated by the Act to its regulation
Medical certificate:
Required, issued free by the health ministry