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Driving in Norway: How to exchange your licence for a Norwegian one

Foreign residents in Norway may need to exchange their driving licence for a Norwegian one to be able to drive on the country's roads.

Published: 12 January 2021 09:54 CET
Updated: 21 January 2022 10:46 CET
Driving in Norway: How to exchange your licence for a Norwegian one
Here's what you need to know about exchanging your driving licence in Norway. Pictured is somebody on a road trip. Photo by Alexandr Bormotin on Unsplash
EU/EEA citizens

If your driving licence was issued in an EU/EEA country, exchanging it for a Norwegian one is a fairly straightforward process and you don’t need to undertake any driving tests, practical or theory.

You do not need to exchange it in order to legally drive and can continue driving on the licence issued in your country, but it may be more convenient for renewal and identification purposes if you do exchange. 

Obviously your current licence needs to be valid.

As stated by Norway’s public road authority Statens vegvesen, you can do this either in person, or through the post.

If done in person, you can make an appointment at your nearest Driver and Vehicle Licensing Office (trafikkstasjon) to submit your application. 

Here is a link to the application form that needs to be filled out for the exchange. 

If you apply for a temporary driving permit while you wait, then you must apply in person. 

Remember to bring your passport to the registration office as a valid form of photo identity, as your foreign driving licence will not be accepted as one. You will also need to give your Norwegian social security number and proof of residence. Here is where you can order a valid residence certificate. After applying, it takes an average of seven days for your new licence to be delivered in the post. 

Depending on how you answered the health questions on the application, you may be required to submit a health certificate from your doctor to complete the process. Below is a list of health-related questions that will be necessary to fill out.

 

There is no charge for exchanging your license if you are from an EU/EEA country. 

Countries outside the EU/EEA 

For licences from non-EU/EEA countries the rules are stricter.

Whilst you can drive using the licence issued in your home country for the first three months (preferably with an international driver’s licence) in Norway, to continue driving after that period you must either exchange the licence for a Norwegian one or obtain one in the same way as first-time applicants from Norway.

Although for those with a residence permit beyond three months and a valid employment contract, you can drive in Norway with a driving licence from another country for up to six months.

The process for getting a Norwegian licence basically depends on what country you are from.

Norway has an agreement with a number of countries that allows for the exchange of a driving licence.

These countries are: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea, United Kingdom, all states in the USA ,Switzerland, Greenland, and Japan. 

If you are not from a country on this list then unfortunately you have to obtain your Norwegian driving licence in the same manner as first-time appliers from Norway.Only those residents from Switzerland and Japan can do a straightforward exchange, while residents from the other countries listed must still take a practical test.

One major difference to EU/EEA exchanges is that the fee for exchange of a non-EU/EEA national drivers licence is 400 kroner.

You will need to fill out the same application as those from EU/EEA countries do. You also need to have a valid form of identification, your Norwegian social security number, and a residence certificate. 

It’s important to note that you have one year (starting from the date you took up residency in Norway) to exchange your licence.

If you exchange after the one year deadline, then you are required to take all necessary driving courses and tests that Norwegians have to take to obtain a licence. 

The exchange must be completed within two years otherwise you lose the right to exchange and must start the process of getting licence in the same way Norwegian first-time appliers do.

Note that if you have any restrictions on your drivers licence from your home country you won’t be able to exchange it for a Norwegian one.

For example, a “Provisional Driving Licence”, which is issued in many American states, with restrictions that had not expired by the time you left the issuing country, cannot be exchanged for a Norwegian driving licence.

You must present a valid ID with your name, Norwegian national ID number (11 digits) and a photo in order to take the theory test and the practical driving test. 

Before taking the required tests, the driving school, or the training instructor must report to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration that you have completed the mandatory driving hours. 

Here is the price list for the necessary steps and courses needed to receive a Norwegian driving licence. Note that you can save a lot of money if you choose to pay beforehand and not at the licence and registration office.

If you are from a non- EU/EEA country that is not listed above, then you cannot exchange your licence and are required to take all necessary driving courses and tests Norwegians also take to obtain your licence.

What about Brexit?

The most recent government announcement on December 11th, 2020 gives the updated information pertaining to driving licences and Brexit from the first of January of this year. 

The most important news is that Brits can still use their British driving licences in Norway in 2021 and they can be exchanged for Norwegian ones on the same terms as EU/EEA countries.

Authorities say: “For (British) nationals who have permanent residence in Norway, including those who move to Norway after January 1st 2021 British driving licenses will continue to be valid for driving in Norway and for exchange for a Norwegian driving licence.”

“There will be no requirements for training or tests to be able to complete an exchange for a Norwegian driver’s licence.”

Norwegian authorities will not require an additional international driving licence along with a British one for British tourists who are visiting the country. 

A Norwegian driving licence will still be fully valid for driving (or exchanging) for a British one in the United Kingdom following the withdrawal from the EU.

Brits who are living in Norway and have exchanged their British driving licence to a Norwegian one already have full driving rights under the current rules. 

For commercial transport by truck, arrangements are in place to ensure that freight transport on the road between Norway and the United Kingdom can continue.

Helpful facts and vocabulary

Before you begin the process, Statens vegvesen has a requirement that only a valid driving licence is eligible for exchange. If your licence has expired, you will need to receive confirmation from the issuing country affirming that you still have a valid driving entitlement in that country.

Driving is considered to be a privilege here in Norway and the residents here treat it as such. Low speed limits, intensive training, and mostly law-abiding citizens have contributed to Norway being crowned the safest country to drive in 2019, according to Forbes.

Fartsbot – speeding ticket

Førerkort – drivers license 

Bil – car

E 18 – This abbreviation stands for Europavei 18 or European road 18.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about driving in Norway

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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