Driving licence

If you arrived with a driving licence from outside Germany, three questions decide what happens next: where it was issued, when you last lived here, and how long you plan to stay. Get them right and the conversion is painless. Get them wrong and you could be driving illegally without knowing it.

Your first six months

A foreign driving licence is valid in Germany for six months after you take up residence here. The clock starts on the day of your Anmeldung, not on the day you arrived as a tourist. After six months you must either convert it (Umschreibung) or stop driving. There is no grace period for car insurance purposes — an expired licence means an invalid policy.

One exception. If you can prove you genuinely live abroad and Düsseldorf is just a temporary stay shorter than twelve months — for a study term or a contract assignment — the six-month rule can be waived. Bring evidence of your foreign main residence to the Führerscheinstelle and ask.

EU and EEA licences

If you hold a licence from another EU/EEA country, you can keep driving on it in Germany for as long as it is valid. There is no need to convert. When the licence expires, you renew it in Germany on the basis of your German address; the Düsseldorf Führerscheinstelle issues a fresh German card and forwards your old plastic to the issuing country.

Category A: full mutual recognition

Holders of licences from a short list of countries can convert without a test. The list is set by federal law and changes occasionally; at the time of writing it includes most American states (the bilateral agreement differs from state to state), Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore and several others. Some countries are recognised in full; some only for certain licence classes (cars but not motorbikes, for example).

If your country is in the full-recognition list, the conversion is a paperwork exercise: hand in the documents, pay the fee, collect your German licence a few weeks later.

Category B: theory test only

A second list of countries gets a partial pass: holders sit only the German theory test (multiple choice, available in English and several other languages at most Düsseldorf test centres) before the licence is converted. The practical test is waived.

Category C: full retest

If your country is on neither list — or no list applies to your particular licence class — you sit both the theory and the practical exam, exactly like a brand-new driver. In practice many people in this group enrol in a German Fahrschule for a short number of lessons before the practical, since the German road manners (priority signs, autobahn etiquette, parallel parking) differ from elsewhere.

Documents to convert (Umschreibung)

The Führerscheinstelle in Düsseldorf processes conversions. Book an appointment online. Bring:

Application form (downloaded from the city's website or filled in on the spot).
Your passport or national ID.
Meldebescheinigung confirming Düsseldorf as your residence.
Your foreign driving licence (original). If it is not in German, English or French, also a sworn translation by an ADAC translator or a publicly appointed translator.
A biometric passport photo, current.
An eye-test certificate (Sehtest) from any optician. Around €7. Some opticians do it on the spot without an appointment.
A first-aid course certificate (Erste-Hilfe-Kurs) covering nine teaching units. Around €30–€50. The DRK, Johanniter, ASB and Malteser all run these regularly, often on Saturdays and in English.
The fee, paid by EC card at the desk (about €40–€45 plus any test fees).

Processing takes four to eight weeks. The Führerscheinstelle keeps your foreign licence and sends it back to the issuing authority. If you need it for trips home in the meantime, ask in advance — some authorities will issue a temporary German Ersatzbescheinigung.

If you have never had a licence

Getting a German licence from scratch is a longer journey: a registered Fahrschule, mandatory theory hours, mandatory practical hours (including a quota of night, autobahn and overland driving), then both exams. Total cost in NRW is typically €2,500–€3,500. Plan three to six months. Test slots at the Düsseldorf TÜV and DEKRA centres can be the bottleneck.

Driving in Düsseldorf and on the autobahn

A few things that surprise newcomers:

The general urban speed limit is 50 km/h, often reduced to 30 km/h in residential streets. Tempo-30 zones are everywhere.
Right has priority at unsigned intersections, including some quiet streets in Düsseldorf where a car emerging from a side road can legally take precedence.
The inner city is an Umweltzone. Cars must carry a green environmental sticker (Umweltplakette) on the windscreen. You can buy one at TÜV, DEKRA and most service stations for a few euros if your car meets the emissions standard.
Parking is paid in most central districts and reserved for residents around them. Residents apply for a yearly Anwohnerparkausweis at the city.
On the autobahn there is no general speed limit, but there is an advisory Richtgeschwindigkeit of 130 km/h. Above it, you can be partially blamed in an accident even if you did nothing else wrong. The left lane is for overtaking only; sit in it and a long-distance Mercedes will appear in your rear-view mirror.
Phones must be hands-free behind the wheel. Fines and points are steep. Police occasionally check from overpasses.
Winter tyres are required situationally: if the road is icy or snowy, you must have them on, regardless of the calendar. Most drivers swap to winter tyres at the end of October and back in April.

Related reading: getting around, car insurance, glossary.