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. The list is specific and it changes. If yours is not on it there is no exchange at all, only the full Belgian theory and practical test.
OnlineWho: You
2
Apply at the municipal counter
Driving licences are handled by the city, not by a regional office. Bring the foreign licence, your eID or Bijlage 15, and a photograph. Your original licence is surrendered and returned to the issuing authority — you do not keep both.
In personWho: YouWithin 185 days of registration
3
Note that Leuven has no LEZ, but Brussels and the Flemish big two do
Flanders' low emission zones are in Antwerp and Ghent; Brussels runs its own, stricter one, where the Euro 5 diesel ban took effect on 1 January 2026. Leuven has none. So an older diesel is fine here and can be barred twenty-five minutes down the motorway — and a foreign-plated vehicle must be declared to a zone in advance even when it meets the standard.
OnlineWho: You
4
Learn the circulation plan before you learn the shortcuts
The 2016 circulation plan removed through traffic from the centre by routing cars back out to the ring and in again. As in Ghent, the consequence is that a journey that looks direct is not, and the ring road is the way between two points that appear adjacent. Satnavs have caught up; habits have not.
In personWho: You
5
Use the train rather than the car for Brussels and the airport
Leuven station puts Brussels at around twenty-five minutes and Brussels Airport at roughly a quarter of an hour, on frequent direct services. Season tickets are commonly reimbursed in full by employers, parking at either end costs more than the fare, and the Brussels emission zone does not care what your commute needs.
OnlineWho: You
6
Consider not owning a car at all
Leuven is small, flat and comprehensively cycled, with a centre designed to be crossed on two wheels rather than four, paid parking throughout and park-and-rides on the edge. For a life inside the ring the car is mostly cost — and in a city where a majority of short trips are made by bike, the cycle infrastructure is the transport system rather than an add-on to it.
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

Leuven has no low emission zone, and Brussels — twenty-five minutes away — has the country's strictest.

Belgium's zones are Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels. Leuven has none, so an older diesel can be bought, kept and driven here without a permit or a charge. But Brussels barred Euro 5 diesels from 1 January 2026 after the Constitutional Court annulled an attempted postponement, and an enormous number of Leuven residents commute there. Buy the car for the commute you actually have, and remember that a foreign plate must be declared to a zone in advance even when the vehicle is compliant.

Source: lez.brussels; Stad Gent

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

A recognised foreign licence covers you for roughly 185 days from the date you enter the population register. In a research city where people frequently arrive on one-year contracts and delay registering while they find housing, this catches an unusual number of people — and others discover late that their country was never on the recognition list, so the exchange route never existed. Check the list in your first week.

Source: FPS Mobility and Transport

The station, not the motorway, is why people commute from here.

Leuven is on the main east–west line with Brussels at about twenty-five minutes and Brussels Airport at roughly fifteen. That combination — a small, walkable university city with a fifteen-minute airport connection — is unusual anywhere in Europe, and it is the practical reason a lot of people who work in Brussels or fly weekly choose to live here. Weigh a flat's distance from the station more heavily than its distance from the Grote Markt.

Source: community-reported

Cycling here is the transport system, not an alternative to it.

The 2016 circulation plan pushed cars back to the ring and gave the centre to bikes and buses, and the city is small and flat enough that a bicycle beats a car for essentially every trip inside the ring. The corollary is bicycle theft, which is a real and constant problem in any student city — buy a second-hand bike and a good lock rather than the reverse, and register the frame number with the police.

Source: Stad Leuven; community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a non-EU licence is exchangeable without checking the recognition list.
Letting the 185-day window lapse — easy on a one-year research contract.
Buying an older diesel for a commute that ends in Brussels.
Driving a foreign-plated car into the Brussels or Ghent zone without declaring it.
Buying an expensive bicycle in a student city and a cheap lock.

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