Driving License

If you want to drive a motor vehicle on the road in the Netherlands, you must have a valid driving license. A foreign driving license is not always valid in the Netherlands. Look at Changing a foreign driving license.

If you want to know whether you can use your Dutch driver's license abroad or need to exchange it there, we advise you to contact the authorities of the country where you live or are going.

Driving without a valid driver's license is punishable by law, and you are also no longer insured for damages with most insurance companies. In some cases, you can also use your driver's license as proof of identity.

1. First driving license: You passed a driving test for the first time. See also Moped license and Tractor license.
2. License renewal: If your license has expired or is damaged, you must renew it.
3. Category Expansion: If you have passed an additional driving license, you must apply for a new license and the new category will be credited.
4. Replacement with curtailment: This means that the driving license for a certain category is no longer valid. A new driver's license must then be applied for.
5. Missing driver's license
6. Exchange foreign driving license
7. Exchange military driver's license.

Before you take driving tests, your fitness to drive is assessed.
This must also be done in the following cases if you need to renew your driver's license:

• It involves a truck or bus driver's license
• the driver's license expires on or after your 75th birthday
• there are health problems.

See Statement of Health.

How long the driver's license is valid depends on the license category, your age and your health status.

• A driving license in categories A and B is valid for 10 years as standard. If you are between 65 and 70 years old, your license is valid until you are 75. If you are older than 70, your license is valid for a maximum of five years.
• Licenses in categories C and D issued before Jan. 19, 2013, are still valid for 10 years. New licenses in this category issued after Jan. 19, 2013 are only valid for five years. To become or remain professional drivers, a so-called code 95 on the driving license link icon is required.
• For medical reasons, a driver's license may be valid for a shorter period of time.

Well in advance, before your driver's license expires, you will receive a reminder letter from the National Road Administration (RDW) so you can renew it on time.

If you want to apply for a driving license, you must first apply for your companion pass through the website. Then you can apply for your driver's license at the municipality. Otherwise, the application procedure is the same.

To ride a moped, moped, motorized bicycle, microcar or spartamet, you need a moped license.

As of October 2006, the exemption for people born before June 1, 1980 for the moped theory exam has expired. They, like everyone else, will have to pass the theory and practical exam for the moped license.

From the age of 15.5 it is possible to take the theory exam moped driving license. The age for the practical exam is 16 years. For the moped license you do not need a Declaration of (medical) fitness from the CBR.

Since July 1, 2015, the tractor driving license (T license) has been introduced

The main reason is to improve road safety. A relatively high number of accidents occur with Agricultural or Forestry Tractors (LBTs) and Limited Speed Motor Vehicles (MMBSs).

The T-driving license allows you (16 years and older) to drive an LBT and an MMBS with trailer on public roads.

The T-driving license basically applies to all LBTs and MMBSs. There are two exceptions:

• LBTs and MMBSs that, including front interchangeable equipment, are not wider than 1.3 m and are used for such purposes as mowing, weed control, sweeping, etc. These vehicles may not be equipped with the ability to tow a trailer or towed interchangeable machinery.

• Forklift trucks, no wider than 1.3 m, without a trailer or interchangeable towed machine, and used for loading and unloading in the immediate vicinity of a factory hall or warehouse will not require a T-driving license. The training for drivers of forklift trucks that is already mandatory today will continue as before.

Do you have a valid car license with issue date before July 1, 2015 and are at least 18 years old? Then, between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2025, you will automatically receive the T-driving license at the next driver's license renewal. The earlier exchange is only necessary if you want to drive a tractor abroad.

A Dutch military driving license is intended as proof of driving ability within the military organization. Outside this organization this license is not valid.
You can exchange your military driving license for a normal driving license at the municipality, after your driving ability and fitness to drive have been registered with the Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen (CBR).

• a valid ID
• A good-looking passport photo, no older than 6 months, that meets all passport photo
• Your current driver's license if it is for renewal, a category addition or an exchange
• A valid residence permit (if applicable)

• You are registered as a resident of the municipality
• you apply for the driving license yourself
• You must be registered in the Netherlands for at least 185 days
• there must be no disqualification or invalidation of a driver's license
• a certificate of fitness less than 1 year old (if applicable) is registered with the CBR

You pay the fee directly at the time of application. Please remember that we do not accept €200 in paper money. This is for security reasons.

You can pick up your driver's license after five business days. To do so, you must make a pickup link-icon. You can do this online or by calling 0492-378 500. Do you opt for an urgent procedure and did you submit the application before 2 p.m.? Then you can pick up your driver's license the next working day.

Pick up within three months

You have three months to pick up your driver's license. Make a pick-up appointment to do so. After that, it is officially invalid and will be destroyed. You must then make a new application.

From July 1, 2021, it will be possible to register a loss or theft report of a Dutch driving license yourself, 24 hours a day. The report is made online via the link icon website. This immediately invalidates the driving license. After the report is registered, the RDW sends a written confirmation. To report loss, theft or misuse of the driving license online, you need a DigiD.

If you lose your driver's license, you no longer report it to the police, but to the municipality

At the front desk, fill out a form. You can then immediately apply for a new driving license. If you suspect your license has been stolen, it is important to report it to the police.

Driving license lost abroad

If you lose your driver's license while abroad, you must report the loss to the local police. You will be given a proof of loss. With this proof of loss you can apply for a new driving license when you return to the Netherlands. You cannot apply for a new driving license abroad.

Important text: Please note that until you have a new driver's license, you may not drive a vehicle. You will not receive a temporary document.