Before you start

BRP registration at a Groningen address and a BSN — the exchange cannot be lodged before this
A foreign licence that is currently valid, not expired and not suspended
For the test-free route: an active expat ruling decision, yours or that of the family member you live with
For most non-EU exchanges: a CBR Certificate of Fitness obtained through the online Gezondheidsverklaring

Step-by-step

1
Register first, then count 185 days
For a non-EU/EEA licence the grace period runs from your municipal registration date. People who spend their first months in temporary or sublet accommodation before registering often assume the clock started when they landed and lose weeks. Note the registration date somewhere you will see it and work backwards — the RDW cannot expedite an exchange.
In personWho: You, at the IWCN or gemeente GroningenWeek 1Free
2
Check your licence's status on the RDW exchange list
The RDW publishes exactly which countries are designated and which categories transfer. Many designated countries transfer car category B only, so motorcycle or trailer entitlements are quietly dropped. Check the category detail, not just whether your country appears.
OnlineWho: YouSame dayFree
3
Complete the CBR health declaration if your route needs one
Buy and complete the Gezondheidsverklaring through Mijn CBR. A clean declaration is normally approved quickly; declaring a condition can trigger a medical review that takes months. Start it before you book the gemeente appointment rather than after, because the certificate is what the counter asks for.
OnlineWho: You, via Mijn CBRDays if clean; up to several months if reviewedCBR fee, €46.90 in 2026
4
Lodge the exchange at gemeente Groningen and surrender the old licence
Take your foreign licence, ID or residence permit, a passport photo to the Dutch matrix standard, the CBR certificate and, if using it, the expat ruling decision. The gemeente forwards it to the RDW and keeps your foreign licence. You collect the Dutch card about a week after the notification letter.
In personWho: You, at gemeente Groningen; decided by the RDWRDW needs at least 15 working days, then collectionGemeente issuing fee, capped nationally at €53.65 in 2026
5
Buy a bike and a serious lock before you think about a car
The 1977 traffic circulation plan split the centre into four sectors with no through route between them, so a two-kilometre drive across town can be a five-kilometre loop out to the ring. Central resident parking is zoned, capped and queued. Meanwhile the cycle network is the best in the country and fifteen minutes covers the city. Bike theft, on the other hand, is a genuine local sport — buy two locks, one of them a heavy chain, and never leave a bike unlocked for 'just a minute'.
In personWho: YouWeek 1€100-250 for a decent second-hand bike plus locks

Documents you’ll need

Valid foreign driving licence, with a sworn translation if it is not in Latin script
Passport or residence permit, plus BSN and BRP registration
Passport photo to the Dutch photo-matrix standard
CBR Certificate of Fitness, for most non-EU exchanges
Expat ruling decision letter, for the test-free route

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 185-day clock runs from municipal registration, and it is the single most common way people end up unable to drive legally.

Newcomers reasonably assume the grace period starts on arrival or on the licence's own expiry date. It starts on the day the gemeente registers you, and it applies to non-EU/EEA licences. Someone who lands in March, lives in a sublet and registers in May is off the road from roughly November unless the Dutch licence has actually been issued — the RDW is explicit that you may not keep driving while an application is in progress, and it does not offer an expedited route.

Source: RDW; Rijksoverheid

The expat ruling turns a non-exchangeable licence into a paperwork exercise, and the benefit extends to your household.

A US, Canadian, Indian, Chinese or Brazilian licence is normally not exchangeable and means sitting the Dutch tests from scratch. Holders of the expat ruling, together with a partner and adult children registered at the same address, may exchange any valid foreign licence without a test. It is the most valuable and least advertised element of the scheme, and it expires with the ruling — do it in year one, not year five.

Source: RDW

The city is deliberately hard to drive across, and the plan that made it that way is fifty years old.

In 1977 the council divided the centre into four sectors and removed the through routes between them, forcing cars back out to the ring road for any cross-town trip. It was fought bitterly and never reversed, and it is the direct cause of Groningen's cycling share. If you arrive assuming a car is the default and a bike the hobby, the city will spend a fortnight teaching you otherwise, mostly through one-way systems.

Source: Gemeente Groningen

The car earns its keep outside the ring road, not inside it.

Where a car genuinely helps in the north is the hinterland: the Wadden ferry ports, the villages, Drenthe, the German border and the Eemshaven. Public transport thins out fast beyond the city, and a job at a rural site or a partner working in a village changes the calculation entirely. The Dutch answer is usually to keep a cheap car parked outside the centre and cycle everywhere within it.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Counting the 185 days from arrival rather than from the BRP registration date, and being off the road before the Dutch licence arrives.
Surrendering a licence with motorcycle entitlements without first checking which categories your country actually transfers.
Leaving the CBR health declaration until after booking the gemeente appointment and turning up without the certificate.
Assuming a US, Canadian, Indian or Chinese licence is exchangeable without the expat ruling — it is not.
Buying a car for a city-centre life and then discovering the sector plan and the parking queue.

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