I have a driving licence

Renewing a driving licence

Periodical renewal

Licence categories AM, A1, A2, A, B and BE must be renewed no later than ten years after their issue. The Swedish Transport Agency will send you a licence renewal document in good time before this period expires. The document will be sent to the address in Sweden where you are registered. Licences for the higher categories (C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D and DE) are valid for five years.

If you have a licence that must be renewed every ten years, but have not received the renewal documents around one month before the licence is due to expire (as stated on licence), you must apply for a renewal yourself.

Extend validity of higher categories

For the higher categories (C, CE, D1, D1E, D and DE) you must apply to the Swedish Transport Agency before the validity period expires. You must show that you satisfy the necessary medical requirements. In some cases, you will have to supplement your application with a medical declaration and proof of good eyesight, and in other cases you may need a medical certificate.

The Swedish Transport Agency will send you the necessary documents once it is time to apply, along with information about the final application date and what you must include with it (medical declaration and proof of good eyesight or medical certificate). You can apply no earlier than one year before the category expires.

Licence photograph and fee

When you renew your driving licence, you can choose to have your photograph taken at one of the Swedish Transport Administration test centres, or submit a photograph with your application form (driving licence renewal document).

Have your photograph taken when renewing your licence (on the Swedish Transport Administration website)

For your new driving licence to be produced, you must first pay the production fee of 280 SEK to the Swedish Transport Agency.

Issuing your new licence

When your new licence has been produced, it will be sent to you as recorded delivery (REK) via one of the postal service collection centres. When you collect your new driving licence at one of these collection centres, you must do so in person. In order to be able to collect your licence, you must be able to prove your identity by presenting a valid and approved form of identification.

Lost, stolen or damaged driving licence

If you lose your driving licence, or it is destroyed or damaged and cannot be used, you must report it to us and apply for a new licence.

Report a lost Swedish driving licence (e-service in Swedish)

Foreign driving licence

Some licences issued in different countries may also be valid in Sweden.

Driving licences from EEA countries

A driving licence issued in a state within the EEA is valid in Sweden as long as it is valid in the country where it was first issued and as long as it has not been exchanged for a Swedish driving licence. The driving licence is valid even if you are registered in Sweden.

If you have a driving licence issued in an EEA state, you may also supervise private driving practice if you meet the requirements to do so.

Exchanging driving licences from EEA countries

In order to exchange your EEA state driving licence for a Swedish one, you must

• have a valid driving licence
• be a permanent resident of Sweden.

Find out more about permanent residency below.

How to apply:

• Order the form Ansök om utbyte av utländskt körkort (in Swedish).
• Send your application, enclosing your foreign driving licence in the original, to the following address:

Transportstyrelsen
701 97 Örebro

If you apply for an exchange of a driving licence with higher entitlements (C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D, DE), you may have to submit a medical certificate, or a health declaration and a certificate of visual examination. If that is the case, we will contact you when we have received your application.

If the Swedish Transport Agency approves your application, you will receive a decision requesting you to go to one of the Swedish Transport Administration's driving test offices to have your photo taken and provide your signature. Please bring an approved and valid identification document.

For your new driving licence to be produced, you must first pay the production fee of 320 SEK to the Swedish Transport Agency. A paying-in form will be enclosed with the decision sent to you. Your new driving licence will then be sent to you as a registered letter.

We will return your foreign driving licence to the authority from which it was issued.

Licences issued outside of the EEA

For a driving licence from a non-EEA state to be valid in Sweden, the following requirements must be met:

• The driving licence must be valid in the country where it was issued.
• The driving licence must not have been exchanged for a Swedish one.
• You must not have been a registered resident in Sweden for more than one year, except if the driving licence is from the UK or the Faereo Islands. If you have a driving licence from the UK or the Faereo Islands, you may use it in Sweden even if you have been a registered resident here for more than one year.

Driving licences issued in certain countries will not be designed in accordance with the international conventions on road traffic*. If your driving licence is not designed in accordance with either of these conventions, and if, in addition, it is not made out in English, German or French, it will only be valid together with a certified translation. The translation must be into English, German, French, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian.

Search for an authorised translator at the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency’s website. 

If there is no photograph on the driving licence, it will only be valid together with an ID with your photograph.

If you have a driving licence from a non-EEA country, the driving licence will cease to be valid in Sweden when you have been a registered resident here for more than one year. In some cases, however, the Swedish Transport Agency may grant an exemption from this rule, but only if you plan to stay in Sweden for a limited period of time and if the exemption does not involve any risks to road safety.

Find out more about exemptions from this rule.

* the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, 1949; the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, 1968

Exchanging driving licences from non EEA countries

Only driving licenses from the United Kingdom, the Faroe Islands, Switzerland or Japan may under certain circumstances be exchanged for a Swedish one.

Exchanging driving licences issued in Switzerland or Japan

A driving licence issued in United Kingdom, the Faroe Islands, Switzerland or Japan may be exchanged for a Swedish licence. To be able to exchange the licence, you must meet the personal and medical requirements for a Swedish driving licence and be a permanent resident in Sweden. Find out more about permanent residency below.

If you need to continue driving a car without interruption, it is essential that your application to exchange your licence is received by the Swedish Transport Agency within one year after you first register in Sweden, as your foreign licence will no longer be valid after this period.

What is permanent residency?

Permanent residency refers to a place where a person lives for at least 185 days every calendar year owing to

• personal and professional connections, or
• personal connection characterised by close ties between the person and the place where he or she lives.

If you live alternately in two or more states because your professional connection is not the same as your personal connection, your permanent residency will be the place to which you have a personal connection. This applies on condition that you go back there regularly.

However, if you are carrying out a time-limited task abroad, you need not go back regularly to the state where you have personal connections - you will be regarded as a permanent resident of that state anyway.

If you study at the university or any other educational institution, this will not affect your permanent residency.

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