Driving to a bright future with my foreign driving licence: or should we rather say driving to misery?

Gepubliceerd: 24/03/2023

Belgium is a multicultural country home to nationalities from all over the world. Often, these individuals hold foreign driving licences. The question arises as to whether one may drive in Belgium with a valid foreign driving licence.

A distinction is made between a European national driving licence, a non-European national driving licence and obtaining the driving licence when residing in Belgium.

European-national driving licence

A European national driving licence is a driving licence delivered by a member state of the European Union or the European Economic Area (European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).

A person holding a valid European national driving licence is allowed to drive on public roads in Belgium.

If the European national driving licence does not specify an administrative validity date and the person has been registered in Belgium for at least two years, the foreign driving licence must be compulsory exchanged for a Belgian driving licence with a new validity date. As soon as one is registered in Belgium, one thus has two years to exchange the licence at the municipality.

If the European national driving licence does mention an administrative validity date, the driving licence does not have to be exchanged for a Belgian licence as long as the validity period has not yet expired.

Non-European driving licence

A national non-European driving licence is a driving licence delivered in a country outside the European Union or the European Economic Area.

A person in possession of a valid non-European national driving licence – with the same nationality – is allowed to drive on public roads in Belgium for a maximum period of 185 days. Afterwards, the driving licence must be exchanged for a Belgian licence.

Depending on the third country, a non-European driving licence may be exchanged in full or subject to a reservation. The Federal Public Service for Mobility and Road Transport (Federale Overheidsdienst voor mobiliteit en wegvervoer) lists the countries outside the European Union that deliver recognised driving licences. You can consult this list here: mobilit.belgium.be.

Obtaining driving licence when registered in Belgium

When a person is registered in Belgium and wants to obtain a driving licence, he or she is obliged to obtain the driving licence in Belgium. When one is registered in Belgium, it is not allowed to obtain the driving licence in another country. In that case, the foreign driving licence will not be converted in Belgium, which means that one cannot drive in Belgium with this foreign licence.

The theoretical driving test in Belgium can be taken in Dutch, French, German or English.

If someone is registered in Belgium and goes to get their driving licence abroad, they can even be prosecuted in Belgium for not possessing a valid Belgian driving licence, which can result in a criminal record, a driving ban, retaking driving tests and serious fines. Misery best avoided!

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