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Exchange a German driving licence

This page reads Annex 8e FeV for a German licence issued before 19 January 2013. A card issued on or after that day gets no exchange date here.

The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is stored.

Your German licence

Result

Enter your year of birth and the issue date.

The day stays the statutory calendar day, including when it is a Sunday. The annex does not move it.

Berlin says the new licence has to be in your hand on that day. The service page states no processing time, so this page does not subtract one.

This licence was issued on or after 19 January 2013. Annex 8e does not apply, including when you were born before 1953. The card is limited to 15 years. That is the document, not the end of the driving entitlement. Classes AM, A and B are issued without a time limit under section 23 (1) FeV. Classes C and D last at most five years. The first limit on the card is measured from the day the authority orders production. This page does not have that date, so it does not calculate an expiry.

This is a calculation aid for the document, not a statement about your driving entitlement and not legal advice.

A licence from another country

This is a different process from exchanging an old German document. An EU or EEA licence after you move is covered by section 28 FeV. For another country, section 29 (1) sentence 4 FeV states six months after ordinary residence begins, with a narrow extension in one case. Section 29 (3) FeV lists several reasons the entitlement does not exist at all. This page does not promise that every foreign licence lasts six months, and it does not calculate a date.

How the table is read

  • Issued before 19 January 2013 and born before 1953: 19 January 2033, whatever the issue year inside that legacy set.
  • Issued through 31 December 1998: the day follows the year of birth in part I of the annex.
  • Issued from 1 January 1999 through 18 January 2013: the day follows the issue year in part II, except for a birth year before 1953.
  • Issued on or after 19 January 2013: no exchange day from this table.

Sources, read on 8 November 2026: section 24a FeV, Annex 8e FeV, section 23 FeV, sections 28 and 29 FeV. Berlin: service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/121616/.

Common questions

Does a birth year before 1953 cover every card?

No. 19 January 2033 applies to a birth year before 1953 only when the licence was issued before 19 January 2013.

Source : Section 24a FeV , Annex 8e FeV

Do 15 years mean the driving entitlement ends?

No. The 15 years limit the card issued from 19 January 2013. Section 23 (1) FeV still governs the entitlement.

Source : Section 23 FeV , Section 24a FeV

Does the page subtract a processing time?

No. Berlin says the new licence has to be in your hand on the deadline and states no processing time. This page shows no fee and no fine.

Source : Berlin

What about a licence from another country?

This page does not calculate one. It does not promise that every foreign licence lasts six months.

Source : Section 29 FeV , Section 28 FeV

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