Driving Licence in Norway: Using and Exchanging a Foreign Licence

An EU/EEA driving licence works in Norway as it is and can be swapped for a Norwegian one without tests. Most licences from outside the EEA are only valid for three months after you are registered as living in Norway. US, Canadian and Australian licences can be exchanged, but only after you pass a Norwegian theory test and a practical driving test; licences from countries not on Statens vegvesen's list cannot be exchanged at all, so those drivers start from scratch.

How long can you drive in Norway on a foreign licence?

EU/EEA licences are valid in Norway for as long as they are valid at home, though you are subject to Norwegian health requirements (Statens vegvesen). Licences from the UK and Switzerland are treated the same way.

Non-EEA licences are a different story (Statens vegvesen, using a non-EU/EEA licence):

• Normal residence: three months from the date you are registered in the National Population Register (Folkeregisteret) as normally resident. Earlier temporary stays do not extend this.
• Temporary stay: three months, or up to six months if you have a residence permit and an employment contract in Norway lasting more than three months. Carry both when you drive.
• Exceptions: Japanese licences are valid in all categories for three months, and category B for one year. Ukrainian licences are valid while Norway offers temporary collective protection to Ukrainians.

After those three months, the foreign licence is no longer valid for driving in Norway. The registration date is the one on your Folkeregister record, which is why sorting out your ID number early matters; see D-number, BankID and first steps in Norway.

Do you need an international driving permit?

Only sometimes. Statens vegvesen says you need one alongside your own licence if, for example, it has no photo, it is written in a non-Latin alphabet such as Arabic, Cyrillic or Japanese, or its categories differ from those in the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna road traffic conventions (Statens vegvesen). A photocard licence in English with standard categories normally does not need one. When you apply to exchange a licence whose text is not in English, French or German, you must attach an international driving permit or an approved Norwegian translation.

How do you exchange an EU/EEA, UK or Swiss licence?

No tests. You exchange it for a Norwegian licence in the corresponding category (Statens vegvesen, EU/EEA exchange):

1. Fill in the paper application form (no personal health statement needed for EU/EEA exchange).
2. Book an appointment at a trafikkstasjon (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Office) and hand in the form with your original licence, or post both.
3. If you hand it in yourself and would have been allowed to keep driving, you get a temporary permit, valid in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Posting the documents means no temporary permit.

Your old licence is returned to the country that issued it. Light categories (car, motorcycle, moped) on a Norwegian licence are normally valid for 15 years. Heavy categories may need a medical certificate. The same procedure applies to UK licences, whether issued before or after Brexit, and to Swiss licences.

Watch out: if your EU/EEA licence was itself obtained by exchanging a licence from outside the EEA, Norway usually treats it according to the original country. A Spanish licence swapped from a US one is processed as a US licence; a Polish one swapped from a Russian one cannot be exchanged. Holding the EU/EEA licence for at least ten continuous years before moving to Norway changes that. Statens vegvesen has announced changes to these rules from 1 January 2027, so check the page if this applies to you.

How do you exchange a US, Canadian or Australian licence?

Licences from Australia, Canada, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea and the USA can be exchanged, but you must pass both tests (Statens vegvesen, exchange for this group). This is the question Americans ask most, so here is the whole process.

Eligibility. You must have held a full driving entitlement when you moved to Norway, and it must still be valid when you apply. If you got the licence while registered as living in Norway, you have to show you were resident in the issuing country at the time, or abroad for at least six months.

1. Apply. Submit the application form, your original licence and a certificate of residence (bostedsattest, from Skatteetaten) showing when you took up normal residence. Hand it in at a trafikkstasjon (book first) or post it. The form includes a personal health statement.
2. Temporary permit. If you apply within your three months, you may get a temporary driving permit, as long as you show valid ID at the office. It cannot outlast your foreign licence.
3. Decision. Normally within four weeks, sent to your digital mailbox. In parallel, the police check your conduct history, which normally takes up to four weeks.
4. Theory test. Taken on a computer at a trafikkstasjon. Category B is offered in Norwegian, Sami, English, Sorani, Arabic and Turkish. Unlimited attempts, but a two-week wait after a fail. You pay the test fee and the licence photo on the day, and take an eyesight test unless you already sent a certificate.
5. Practical test. Up to 75 minutes: vehicle preparation, a safety check question, and the drive itself. You must rent an approved car from a driving school. Pass in a manual car and you can drive both; pass in an automatic and your licence is restricted to automatics.

The two-strike rule. You get two attempts at the practical test, with a four-week wait after the first fail. Fail twice and you cannot exchange for category B; you would have to go through the full Norwegian training. Once your exchange is approved you have two years to pass both tests.

No deadline, but a clock. There is no deadline to apply for this group. The real deadline is the three months you can legally drive on your US licence. Even drivers with decades behind the wheel usually book a lesson or two at a driving school first, since you are renting their car for the test anyway and the two-attempt limit leaves little margin. For the rest of the move, see moving to Norway from the USA.

What about Japan and countries not on the list?

Japan: category B can be exchanged without tests, but no other categories. You must apply within one year of taking up normal residence, and normally order the Norwegian licence within that year too (Statens vegvesen, Japan).

Everyone else: if your licence is from a non-EEA country that is not named on Statens vegvesen's exchange pages (UK, Switzerland, Japan, Greenland, and the Australia to USA group above), it cannot be exchanged (Statens vegvesen). You can drive on it for the three months, then you need a Norwegian licence the ordinary way (category B steps). If you are 25 or older you skip the 17-hour basic traffic course but must take the night driving ("Road users in the dark") and first aid modules, then the mandatory training steps, a theory test and a practical test. Budget for driving school lessons; this is the expensive route.

How much does it cost in 2026?

Statens vegvesen's fees from 1 February 2026 (Statens vegvesen, fees):

• Theory test: NOK 480 per attempt.
• Practical test, car (B): NOK 1,540 at the trafikkstasjon, NOK 1,490 online.
• Issuing the licence: NOK 270 at the counter, NOK 160 online.
• Photo: NOK 100.

An EU/EEA exchange costs little beyond the licence and photo. For the US group, add the driving school car rental for the test and any lessons, which driving schools price themselves. If you cancel a practical test later than the second-to-last working day before it, you pay anyway.

What happens if you miss the three months?

You must stop driving on the foreign licence. For the US group, you can still apply for exchange, because there is no application deadline, but the temporary driving permit is tied to applying within the three months, so expect to be off the road until you pass both tests. For Japanese licences, the one-year application deadline is real: miss it and the test-free exchange is gone. For non-listed countries nothing changes, since there was never an exchange to miss.

If you work somewhere you need a car, plan this in your first weeks. Our service centres for foreign workers guide and the tax card guide cover the other first-month paperwork, and long-term residents will find the next milestones in permanent residence in Norway.

What should you know about winter driving and tyres?

Norway does not have a single date when winter tyres become compulsory for cars. The rules are about grip and tread (Statens vegvesen, tyre requirements):

• From 1 November to the first Sunday after Easter Monday, tyres need at least 3 mm of tread (in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark from 16 October to 30 April). In summer the minimum is 1.6 mm.
• Studded tyres are only allowed in that same winter period, on all four wheels, unless conditions make them necessary outside it.
• Non-studded winter tyres can be used all year.
• Summer tyres are not allowed on winter roads; the driver is responsible for sufficient grip, with chains if needed.

In practice most Norwegians switch to winter tyres in October or early November and keep a set of each, often stored at the tyre shop. If you are only visiting and renting a car in winter, ask the rental company what tyres are fitted; our travel tips for Norway cover the rest of getting around as a visitor.

Sources

Statens vegvesen: foreign driving licence in Norway, using a non-EU/EEA licence, using an EU/EEA licence, exchanging an EU/EEA licence, exchanging non-EU/EEA licences, Australia, Canada, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea and the USA, UK, Switzerland, Japan, getting a category B licence, fees (Norwegian) and tyre requirements. All checked November 2026.