Before you start

Registration with the city and a national register number
Your original foreign licence, valid and obtained before you registered in Belgium
For non-EU licences: confirmation your country is on the FPS Mobility recognition list
A recent passport photograph

Step-by-step

1
Check the FPS Mobility recognition list first
Exchange of a non-EU licence is only possible for recognised countries and territories — Australia, Canada, the United States and many others are on it, but the list is specific and changes. If yours is not on it there is no exchange, only the full Belgian test.
OnlineWho: You
2
Apply at your district counter
Driving licences are handled municipally, at one of the city's district offices rather than centrally. Bring the foreign licence, your eID or Bijlage 15, and a photograph. Your original licence is surrendered and returned to the issuing authority.
In personWho: YouWithin 185 days of registration
3
Register a foreign-plated vehicle with the LEZ before driving in
Vehicles registered outside Belgium must be declared online before entering the Antwerp low emission zone. Not declaring attracts a penalty even if the car meets the standard — a trap for anyone driving their own car over during the move.
OnlineWho: YouBefore your first trip into the zone
4
Check your vehicle against the current Flemish LEZ standard
Antwerp introduced Belgium's first low emission zone in 2017 and Ghent followed. On 19 September 2025 the Flemish Government postponed the tightening that had been planned for 2026, so the existing access rules continue for now. That is the opposite direction from Brussels, where the Euro 5 diesel ban took effect on 1 January 2026 — so a car legal here can be illegal there.
OnlineWho: You
5
Plan around the Oosterweel works rather than through them
The Oosterweel link is one of Europe's largest infrastructure projects and it is rebuilding the Ring, the Scheldt crossings and the northern approaches in phases through the 2030s. Junction closures and diversions change on a schedule published by the project. If you are choosing where to live by commute, check the works map before the map app.
OnlineWho: You
6
Consider not owning a car at all
Antwerp is compact, flat and comprehensively cycled, with a bike-share system, a dense tram network including the pre-metro tunnels, and paid parking almost everywhere inside the Ring. A residents' parking permit is district-specific. For a life inside the Ring a car is mostly a liability.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Original foreign driving licence
eID or Bijlage 15
Passport
Passport photograph to Belgian specification
Proof the licence predates your Belgian registration

Things most newcomers don’t know

Antwerp and Brussels run different low emission zones on diverging timetables.

Antwerp's zone, Belgium's first, opened in 2017 under Flemish rules; Brussels runs its own under regional rules. In September 2025 Flanders postponed the tightening planned for Antwerp and Ghent in 2026, while Brussels' Euro 5 diesel ban took effect on 1 January 2026 after the Constitutional Court annulled an attempted postponement. The upshot: a vehicle that is fine on the Antwerp Ring may be barred from the Brussels region, and anyone commuting between the two must satisfy the stricter of the two zones.

Source: Flemish Government; lez.brussels

A foreign-plated car must be declared to the zone before it enters, even if it is compliant.

Both Belgian zone systems read number plates and match them against the national vehicle register, in which a foreign car does not appear. So the vehicle has to be registered online in advance, and the penalty for failing to do so is separate from the emissions penalty. A perfectly clean foreign car can be fined purely for arriving unannounced — which catches almost everyone driving their own vehicle over for the move.

Source: Flemish LEZ scheme; lez.brussels

The 185-day exchange window runs from registration, not arrival.

A recognised foreign licence covers you for roughly 185 days from the date you enter the population register. People who spend two months finding a flat before registering misjudge when the clock started, and others discover late that their country was never on the recognition list at all and the exchange route never existed for them. Check the list in your first week rather than your sixth month.

Source: FPS Mobility and Transport

The Oosterweel works are a decade-long fact of life, not a temporary diversion.

The project is rebuilding the Ring, adding a new Scheldt crossing and covering sections of motorway in phases running well into the 2030s. Junctions close, slip roads move and journey times shift by phase rather than by day. If your decision about where to live rests on a twenty-minute drive, look at the published works phasing before signing a lease, because the route that exists today may not exist next year.

Source: Port and regional infrastructure programme reporting

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a non-EU licence is exchangeable without checking the recognition list.
Letting the 185-day window lapse and losing the exchange route.
Driving a foreign-plated car into the zone without declaring it online.
Assuming Brussels LEZ news applies to Antwerp — the two zones diverged in 2025 and 2026.
Choosing a home by today's Ring commute without checking the Oosterweel phasing.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.