Driving and Driver’s Licenses in Sweden, part 1 Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 11, 2009 in Culture
So, let’s say you’ve been living in Stockholm, or in another big city for a while. You don’t own a car, because a) public transport is excellent, and b) you ride your bicycle pretty much everywhere pretty much year round. But then your sambo announces that he/she got a job in the sticks. And so you have to move, and buy a car, and drive everyday, even to buy milk and bread. And suddenly, you are faced with the challenge of getting a Swedish driver’s license.
If you are from an EU country, or from Switzerland and have permanent residency in Sweden, it’s easy, you can just saunter down to your nearest Länsstyrelsen office (or depending on what kind of setup your län has, it might be a Transportstyrelsen office, either way, it should be normally be somewhere near a Vägverket office) to exchange your current driver’s license for a Swedish one. The process is very straightforward – you just fill out some papers, pay some money and voila – your Swedish license will come in the mail.
Technically, you can drive in Sweden using your home country’s license for one year. After one year you should exchange it for a Swedish one (if you can), or go through the process of getting a Swedish license from scratch.
“Do I have to do that?” I hear you say. Well, it technically yes. But it all depends on how long you are planning to stay in Sweden. Let’s say, you are here on a two-year job contract and have no intention of staying in Sweden longer than that. And you have a license from your home country that is still good and valid. What can you do then?
There is a little-known option that allows you to drive in Sweden using your foreign license for longer than a year, providing that you can prove that you’re staying in the country only for a certain, limited time period. Like a two-year job contract. How to arrange this? First, make sure that your UT (uppehållstillstånd) is of the limited-time and job dependent variety, and not the permanent “spouse-visa” kind. Then you will need a letter from your employer confirming that and kindly asking Länsstyrelsen and Transportstyrelsen to allow you to drive on your foreign license for the duration of your contract.
You take that letter, your passport, proof of employment, your foreign driver’s license (if it’s in a funky language, get it translated into Swedish first!) and go down to the Länsstyrelsen (or in some place – Transportstyrelsen) office. Ask for the person who handles foreign driver’s license exchanges. Explain the situation to the person in charge of this process and get a paper to fill out. Don’t worry, Swedish officials are a very helpful sort (even if they don’t look it at first glance) and if you have any questions about the form you’re supposed to fill out, just ask. It’s also a well-known fact that they will not volunteer any information unless asked directly, so just ask away.
If your paperwork is all in order and your foreign license is valid and looks legitimate, you will be given a paper with payment info. After you transfer the applicable amount (don’t forget to put your personnummer in the reference field!), you sit back and wait. After a week or so, you should receive an official letter stating that you are legal to drive in Sweden using your foreign license for a certain time period, one year, or two years, or until your license expires, whichever comes first. Be sure to carry that letter with you at all times when you drive. And you’re good to go.
This handy bit of information is missing from the official Körkortsportalen website, and normally, this option will not be explained to you when you go down to the office to inquire about changing your foreign license to a Swedish one. Not so long ago, I was helping my friend with this process, and the lady at the office simply said: “Your friend didn’t ask about this specific option.” True, but she didn’t ask, because she didn’t know about it.
But then the lady very cheerfully explained that it was indeed possible, accepted the paperwork, copied my friend’s foreign driver’s license (American) and passport, and handed us a payment slip on which she marked the appropriate reference number and hand wrote the sum of 700 kronor. And that was all. Ten days later my friend got a letter stating that it was OK for her to drive on her American license even after her one year in Sweden was over.
However, as always, when dealing with all information that covers “official” stuff, please re-confirm all details with the appropriate authorities before attempting this process. And as always, when dealing with any Swedish officials, please follow the “three questions” rule – ask three different people the same question and then do what they majority said.
I will write more about driving in Sweden in the near future.
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Comments:
Steve Brammer:
The information about your license only being valid for 1 year is incorrect, if you come from another EU land. If you come from another EU land your license is valid in Sweden for as long as it is valid in your home land. If you come from U.K., like me, and have an old style paper license and not a new credit card style license, this means that your current license is valid until you are 70 years old. I have therefore not bothered to exchange my license for a Swedish one, I may choose to do this closer to when I’m 70, if I’m still living here. The only problem that might occur is if my U.K. license gets lost or stolen.
Agnieszka:
And now I am confused, as last year when I asked some frends about the driving licence they told me that if I have a licence from UE country I do not need to change it for Swedish one. That was what told me a girl who was from Asia and who was changing hers. She asked in the police station and that was what they told her. So now I do not know what to do with mine, as I am here for longer then 1 year and it seems like I will have to do some strange things with it now…
Anna Ikeda:
Agnieszka, please read carefully, the above applies to people from non EU countries. You don’t have to do anything strange with your license. If you WANT to, you CAN exchange it for a Swedish one if you’ve been in Sweden for longer than one year and plan to stay there permanently.
Steve,
when I spoke to a person from Transportstyrelsen (several in fact) to clarify the information on the internet, this is what I’ve been told and what I explained to Agnieszka above:
If you plan to stay in Sweden PERMANENTLY and are from another EU country, you are strongly advised to exchange your EU license for a Swedish one after living one year in Sweden. As it was explained to me, it will make things a lot easier for you in case you are involved in a traffic accident, or are stopped for a traffic violation. My insurance company also implied to me that having a Swedish license will influence your car insurance rates.
Agnieszka:
I might read not so much carefull, but you’ve wrote about going to the office and get some papers then. That was something I was reffering to. I did nothing like that so I started to be a bit anxious. That is it 🙂
samer:
Hi folks, thanks for the info. Do you know of the list of countries Sweden accepts to exchange their licenses to a Swedish one?
Ray:
Hej all, I have a question…. I have a UK drivers license and i would like to know how long will it take to change it to a swedish one…
some people say six months…..
Anyone with the correct answer
Clinton Treciokas:
Hi There,
I am a UK resident and plan on moving to Sweden to be with my partner permanently so know all about the personal number and things,my only problem is this. I lost my UK licence, regretably through drink driving! having checked with the DVLA I have found that recieving a ban of any sort by a GB court only applies in GB so am there for entitled to still drive in the EU which I can do with an international drivers permit. So basicly my question is will the Swedish authorities still exchange my UK (unvalid) licence for a Swedish one?…Any help with this would be greatly appreciated as we have a baby on the way 🙂
Prabha:
I have a srilankan license. I want to change to swedish license. can I drive in sweden. I am haveing permanent visa. and swedish passport.
Please let me know how to change the license.
Prabha
Subrat Sahoo:
Hi
I would like to know, the “one year” rule is counted on what basis? Is it from day one, I landed in Sweden or from the day my visa was issued.
Thanks,
Subrat
Richard:
Just to say nicely put together and great info ! top!
Jimmy:
I have a driving licence uk British for a HGV one please can I drive a HGV in Sweden or do I nead to do the test in Sweden.
Jenson:
Thanks so much – this is such a relief and great info!