If your licence is not from the EU, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you may drive on it in the Netherlands for 185 days from the day you become resident here.
Not 185 days from arrival, and not from when you found a flat: from the date of your registration with the gemeente.
After that the licence stops working here, and driving on it is driving without a licence.
Six months sounds generous.
It is not, because whether you can swap the licence at all depends on which country issued it, and if you cannot, the alternative is the full Dutch test, which takes longer than six months to arrange from a standing start.
If your licence is European
You are largely fine and you do not have to do anything urgently.
An EU or EEA licence for the ordinary categories, AM, A1, A2, A, B and BE, stays valid here for 15 years from its date of issue.
The professional categories, C1, C, D1, D and the trailer versions, get a maximum of 5 years from issue.
The edge case that catches long-standing residents: if your licence was issued more than 15 years ago and is somehow still valid, you may drive on it for 2 more years from the date you came to live in the Netherlands, and then it must be exchanged.
Exchanging early is still often worth it.
A Dutch licence is valid for a maximum of 10 years, it is accepted as identification everywhere here, and it removes the problem of renewing a document in a country you no longer live in.
If your licence is not European
Two routes exist and you need one of them.
The first is the country list.
The Netherlands has exchange agreements with a specific set of places outside the EU and EEA, and only those licences can be swapped without a test.
The list currently includes Andorra, Monaco, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Quebec, and the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom.
It also carries category restrictions that vary by country, and it changes.
Check the RDW’s own table for your country rather than trusting any summary, including this one.
The second is the 30% ruling, and it is the reason this article exists for so many people in The Hague.
If you hold the expat ruling from the Belastingdienst, you can exchange a licence from any country, list or no list.
You need the valid Beschikking expatregeling as evidence, which your employer normally applies for with you.
One condition sits underneath both routes and is easy to miss: you must have lived in the issuing country for at least 185 days in the year the licence was issued.
A licence collected during a short stay somewhere convenient does not qualify.
Partners and family members covered by the same ruling can generally exchange on the same basis, which is worth checking before one of you starts booking driving lessons.
What it costs and where you go in The Hague
The exchange costs 53.65 euro, paid at the moment you submit the application.
You apply in person at the Publiekszaken counter at the Stadhuis on Spui or at Stadskantoor Leyweg, by appointment, and you cannot do it online.
Payment is by card or cash at Spui and by card only at Leyweg.
Credit cards are not accepted at either.
That is a small detail that sends people away and back again.
Bring a colour passport photograph no more than six months old, a valid passport or identity document, and the licence itself, which is handed in and not returned.
If the licence is written in a script not used here, bring a translation by a sworn translator, an embassy or a consulate.
Non-EU licences also need a gezondheidsverklaring from the CBR, which is a health declaration you complete online through Mijn CBR with DigiD.
It costs 46.90 euro in 2026.
EU and EEA applicants sometimes need one too, depending on circumstances, so check before your appointment rather than at it.
The RDW tells you when the Dutch licence is ready to collect, and it must be collected within three months.
If you cannot exchange
Then you take the Dutch test, in full, as a new driver.
The theory exam for a car is 50.50 euro in 2026 and the practical exam is 143.50 euro, both set by the CBR, which raised its tariffs by an average of 3.6% that year.
Those are the exam fees alone.
Lessons are the real cost, and Dutch lessons are not cheap.
The theory exam can be taken in English, which removes one obstacle.
The practical exam is a Dutch driving exam conducted to Dutch standards, and experienced drivers from countries with different road conventions fail it regularly.
Roundabout priority, cyclists having right of way in places you do not expect, and the sheer density of the bike lanes are what catch people out, not the parking.
Book with a driving school in The Hague that teaches in English if your Dutch is not up to being corrected at speed, and start well before your 185 days run out.
Waiting times for practical exams have been a national problem for years.
The question worth asking first
Do you need to drive here at all.
The Hague has the largest tram network in the country, trains to everywhere from two stations, and parking rules expensive enough to be a policy position.
A second household car costs 346.65 euro a year in permit alone before it has moved.
Plenty of people here keep the licence current for holidays and hire cars and do not own a vehicle.
If that is you, the exchange is still worth doing while you are eligible, because eligibility is the thing with a deadline on it.
The car can wait.
Sources
- RDW, rijden met een buitenlands rijbewijs: EU and EEA licences valid here for 15 years from issue for categories AM, A1, A2, A, B and BE and a maximum of 5 years for C1, C, D1, D and the trailer categories; a licence issued more than 15 years ago but still valid giving 2 further years from the date of taking up residence; non-EU and non-EEA licences usable for up to 185 days after you live in the Netherlands, after which a Dutch licence is required
- RDW, buitenlands rijbewijs omwisselen: exchange only for licences from the EU, EEA and designated countries with an agreement; a colour passport photograph, the foreign licence and any old Dutch licence required; a CBR gezondheidsverklaring required for licences from outside the EU and EEA and sometimes for those from inside it; the valid Beschikking expatregeling from the Belastingdienst where the 30% ruling is the basis; applications made at your gemeente with costs that vary by municipality
- Gemeente Den Haag, rijbewijs buiten EU/EER of Zwitserland omwisselen and rijbewijs uit EU/EER of Zwitserland omwisselen: 53.65 euro payable at application, cash or card at Stadhuis Spui and card only at Stadskantoor Leyweg with credit cards not accepted, in-person application by appointment, passport photograph no older than six months, sworn translation where the licence uses other characters, collection within three months of RDW notification, and a Dutch licence valid for a maximum of 10 years
- RDW country table as summarised by Dutch municipalities: designated non-EU and EEA jurisdictions including Andorra, Monaco, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Quebec, and Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius, with category restrictions varying by country
- CBR, tarieven 2026: theory exam for motorcycle, car and moped categories 50.50 euro, practical exam and interim test for car categories 143.50 euro, gezondheidsverklaring medische beoordeling 46.90 euro, and an average tariff increase of 3.6% for 2026
- Gemeente Den Haag, parkeervergunning voor bewoners: 346.65 euro a year for a second resident parking permit
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