Municipality of Apeldoorn: exchanging a foreign driving licence for a Dutch driving licence

If you meet the set requirements, you can exchange your driving licence. The municipality will send your driving licence to RDW. The exchange of the driving licence may take several weeks. You may not drive during this period.  You can find more information on the RDW website.

You cannot submit an urgent application to exchange a foreign driving licence.

Not registered anywhere? Then you can submit your application in Apeldoorn. We will then send your application directly to the RDW. You must always pay the costs for processing your application, even if you cancel the application later or if the RDW does not approve it. You will therefore not receive a refund.

It takes 2 to 4 weeks for the licences to be exchanged. You will receive a letter from the Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer – RDW (Netherlands Vehicle Authority) when you can collect your driving licence. You must collect your driving licence in person. You have 3 months to do this after you have received the letter from the RDW. After that time, the driving licence will be destroyed.