I reside in Germany on a Blue Card. I am originally from Brazil.
Is there a way to get a driver’s license in any other European country? Perhaps in a country where it is a faster process and it would still be valid in Germany?
asked Oct 6, 2016 at 12:57
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I think there was a recent change in law to stop people from getting a driver's license from other EU countries and using it in Germany (So-called "driver's license tourism"). So generally it might not be a very good idea and it might be best to just get the license in Germany.– xjiCommented Oct 14, 2016 at 16:09
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2 Answers
In the EU, you should by default get a license from the country you live in. EU countries are not supposed to let you pass the exam or to issue a license if you are not a resident. Conversely, if you lose your license, it gets stolen or expires, you should apply for a replacement to the authorities of the country where you live, and not from the country where it was originally obtained (if necessary by submitting evidence that you passed the exam elsewhere). That’s a general principle defined in the relevant EU directive.
At the same time, EU countries have to recognize driving licenses from other EU countries. So a license from another EU country (e.g. a license obtained before moving to Germany) is in principle valid in Germany or can at least be exchanged easily when it expires. That’s another general principle that’s valid EU‐wide.
Where things become complicated is what happens if you do manage to get a license from another EU country while living in Germany. It’s not supposed to happen but in practice, not every country enforces the residence requirement very strictly and legally it’s not entirely clear whether it’s up to the receiving country to enforce as well. It’s a sensitive topic in Germany because it has a particularly stringent penalty point/license cancellation system so that many German citizens try to (ab)use the system to recover a license and there are several court cases about this. I don’t remember all the details but you should not presume that you will easily be able to get a license elsewhere and use it in Germany.
Rules for licenses originally obtained outside of the EU are more complicated and vary from one country to the next.
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4Yeah, in Germany there is an explicit mention that your driver's licence is void if you obtained it in another EU country while you were officially living in Germany. Other countries are not so strict– SztupY ♦Commented Oct 6, 2016 at 15:41
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Here is info on renewing licences issued in other EU countries: europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/driving-licence/… Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 10:00
Directive 91/439/EEC (“second driver’s license directive”) restricted obtaining a driver’s license in the EU. EU member states had to implement that directive by July 1, 1996. Since that date, EU member states are not allowed to issue you a (new) driver’s license anymore unless you have have you have your normal in that member state.
Article 7 of the EU directive 2006/126/EG (“third driver’s license directive”, which superseded the 1991 directive) stipulates:
Driving licences shall be issued only to those applicants:
[…]
(e) who have their normal residence in the territory of the Member State issuing the licence, or can produce evidence that they have been studying there for at least six months.
Normal residence is defined in article 12, subsection 1:
For the purpose of this Directive, “normal residence” means the place where a person usually lives, that is for at least 185 days in each calendar year, because of personal and occupational ties, or, in the case of a person with no occupational ties, because of personal ties which show close links between that person and the place where he is living.
The directive tightened the definition of normal residence and requires you to have lived in the country for six months before getting a driver's licence. For third-country citizens like yourself, this means that you need a long-stay visa or residence permit from the country where you will apply for a licence.
If you need to, it's possible to take lessons before the six-month mark but it should not be possible to register for the exam or get the licence earlier.
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Why would being homeless prevent you from getting a driving license? What do you mean with “matter of public record”? I assume that in Germany (and a bunch of other EU countries) you would need a registered address but that's not really a thing in EU law or some EU countries.– RelaxedCommented Aug 20 at 0:02
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Instead, the rule is simply that you must live in the country, which typically entails holding a visa or residence permit. In fact, that's typically how this is enforced, the whole personal and professional ties business is especially relevant for EU citizens, not so much for third-country citizens, who need additional paperwork to stay 6 months in a country, digital nomad or not.– RelaxedCommented Aug 20 at 0:03
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@Relaxed You need a paper trail. The necessary 185 days of domestic residence must be registered with the authorities. As far as I know you cannot register vague locality descriptions “I’m sleeping rough somewhere in Berlin”. While you can get registered as “without permanent residence” (ohne festen Wohnsitz), this evidently does not entail any restriction to national borders, so it is questionable whether you have been homeless in Germany or homeless in another country. This is indeed not written explicitly in the EU directives, but an implication of enforcement. Commented Aug 20 at 9:34
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That's… not true. You're just projecting the way this is handled in Germany but that's nowhere to be found in the directive because it is completely at odds with administrative practices in some countries like Ireland or France. To give you a specific example, there is just no such things as “registering your residence with the authorities” in France, it does not exist. Instead, when you need to prove your address, you use a utility bill, a letter signed by your host, etc.– RelaxedCommented Aug 20 at 11:30
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Homeless people struggle with that too but it's possible to get a shelter or non-profit to provide an address. That's just one example of the way this is wrong but the important thing is that it's all baseless speculation that's not relevant in this Q&A. Another important distinction is that EU citizens might have a little more trouble with this but third-country nationals who have been in a country for more than 6 months would have a residence permit. That is actually how enforcement works in this situation and would also cover, e.g. “digital nomads”.– RelaxedCommented Aug 20 at 11:33