Before you start

A valid foreign driving licence
PESEL and a registered address in the Tricity
A sworn translation by a tłumacz przysięgły
A PKK candidate profile, if a theory exam applies

Step-by-step

1
Check whether you need to exchange at all
EU and EEA licences require no action, ever. A non-EU licence stops being valid in Poland six months after you take up residence, and the clock starts at residence rather than at your first drive.
OnlineWho: You
2
Get a sworn translation
Only a court-registered tłumacz przysięgły produces an accepted document. Ordinary professional translations are refused at the counter regardless of quality.
In personWho: YouTypically PLN 60–150
3
Apply at your own municipality
Licence exchange is handled by the city you are registered in — the Urząd Miejski in Gdańsk, or the equivalent office in Sopot or Gdynia. Take the licence, translation, photograph, PESEL and proof of address.
In personWho: YouPLN 100 for the Polish licence
4
Take the theory exam if required
Applicants from outside the road-traffic conventions need a PKK candidate profile from the city first, then a slot at WORD Gdańsk. The theory test can be taken in English.
In personWho: You
5
Buy the right transport ticket instead of a car
The MZKZG communal metropolitan monthly ticket, PLN 156, covers the buses, trams and trolleybuses of ZTM Gdańsk, ZKM Gdynia and MZK Wejherowo — which between them serve Sopot too. If you also need the SKM, the rail-and-communal version is PLN 330. Any single-city pass leaves you fare-dodging the moment you cross a municipal boundary.
Mobile appWho: You
6
Budget for the A1 if you drive south
State motorways are free for cars, but the A1 Gdańsk–Toruń is a private concession with its own barriers and charges. It is not covered by the national e-TOLL system and it catches everyone once.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence
Sworn Polish translation
PESEL confirmation and proof of address
Photograph to Polish specification
Medical certificate, where required by category or age

Things most newcomers don’t know

The A1 south of Gdańsk is Poland's privately tolled motorway and your national account does not work on it.

Since mid-2023 cars use state motorways free of charge, and the national e-TOLL system covers what remains. The Gdańsk–Toruń section of the A1 is operated under a separate concession with its own barriers and tariffs. Anyone driving to Warsaw, Łódź or the mountains meets it in the first hour, and the assumption that Polish motorways are free is nearly universal among newcomers.

Source: Polish motorway concession arrangements

A single-city transport pass is a fine in waiting.

Three municipal operators plus two railway operators run the Tricity, each with its own tickets. A Gdańsk ZTM monthly pass is worthless on a Gdynia bus and on the SKM. Only the MZKZG metropolitan tickets cross the boundaries — PLN 156 a month for the communal one, PLN 330 for the version that includes SKM rail. Almost everyone buys the cheaper city pass first, because that is what the ticket machine at their nearest stop sells.

Source: MZKZG — metropolitan ticket tariff

The conurbation is linear, which makes rail unusually competitive with driving.

Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia sit in a 40-kilometre line between the moraine hills and the sea, and the SKM runs the full length every ten to fifteen minutes. There is one congested road corridor doing the same job. Commuting by train here is faster than driving at peak in a way that is not true of most Polish cities, and it changes whether you need a car at all.

Source: community-reported

The six-month exchange window bites through your insurance, not your licence.

After six months of residence a non-EU licence is no longer valid for driving in Poland. The immediate consequence is not usually a police stop — it is that a claim made while not validly licensed can be refused. The exchange itself is cheap and quick where no exam applies, and the cost of leaving it is asymmetric.

Source: Polish road traffic law