Hello all,
I am non-eu and live in Swiss for 3 years. At the moment I did not switch my third country driving license into Swiss one yet(not permitted to drive in Swiss after one year).
Me and my friends are planning to travel in the neighbor countries and initially we decided to rent a car in Germany, and maybe go to Italy passing through Swiss afterwards.
In this case I think I am ok to rent and drive in German as a tourist. But how about the Swiss part in our routine(several hours)? I suppose no. The traffic police will not accept our argument that the destination is Italy if there is an inspection.
Thanks.
You said it yourself, you are not allowed to drive in Switzerland. Renting a car does not make any difference, you‘d still be driving in Switzerland.
As Roegner says, you are not allowed to drive in Switzerland. But are you sure you would be about to drive in Germany and Italy.
Next question is, are you sure you can swap your licence if non-EU? Many countries have to re-take.
Most important question though, if you have not driven for several years, how safe do you think your driving will be? For you, your guests, and more importantly, other road users.
Avoid the uncertainty and exchange your license. Problem solved.
Also the German rules say in §29 FeV , that you cannot drive in Germany if:
“solange sie im Inland, in dem Staat, der die Fahrerlaubnis erteilt hatte oder in dem Staat, in dem sie ihren ordentlichen Wohnsitz haben, einem Fahrverbot unterliegen oder der Führerschein nach § 94 der Strafprozessordnung beschlagnahmt, sichergestellt oder in Verwahrung genommen worden ist.”
Or paraphrased: If you are not allowed to drive in your country of residence, you are not allowed to drive in Germany. However it depends on the definition of Fahrverbot, and if your inability to drive in Switzerland is the same as a Fahrverbot.
Further, if you, as a Swiss resident, intend to drive a foreign rental car in Switzerland, you will have to stop at the border, declare, and get a an temporary use exemption. https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/en/ho…-benutzen.html
Depending on your nationality, or the country where the license was issued, you may need to do your driving license from scratch. Check the website of the StVA to see if you can still swap your license.
What about Insurance???
Residents from EEA countries can exchange their license without having to take any tests. If you’re from one of the following countries you can exchange your foreign driver’s license after 12 months by taking only the practical driving test (not the theory test):
Andorra
Australia
Canada
Israel
Japan
Korea (North and South)
Monaco
Morocco
New Zealand
Saint-Martin
Singapore
Taiwan
Tunisia
United States
Are you from one of the above countries? If so, you can't exchange your licence after 3 years, and will have to retake practical test.
If from another country, you will probably have to retake all, theory, first aid and practical.
Nobody has to do the license from scratch. As long as they pass the Kontrollfahrt.
What about that? Insurance comes with the rental car.
It misses a few countries such as the UK, and North Korea should not be on it. “Saint-Martin”, should be San Marino. http://www.astra2.admin.ch/media/pdf…-15_2685_d.pdf
No practical test or Kontrollfahrt needed if you have a license from any of the above listed country. Also not after 3 years. After 5 years the authorities can request that you must proof that you have regularly driven vehicles or you must do a Kontrollfahrt. This even if you have a license from an EU or EFTA country.
Nope. Just do the Kontrollfahrt which you have to do anyway. To prepare for the Kontrollfahrt you get a special permission to drive in Switzerland if you apply for a license exchange, even if the one year period has passed. Careful: If you do not pass the Kontrollfahrt you will have to start from scratch
https://asa.ch/wp-content/uploads/on…020/index.html
https://www.expatica.com/ch/living/t…erland-102892/
just depends on which country, it seems.
And yes, you are right, Post Brexit UK drivers can still exchange within 1 year. But not sure what happens after that.
Where is your link in English, please.
Linking to wrong and incorrect third party information does not help, when it contradicts the information from the official sources which I have linked. It is still wrong.
Official language of the country is not English. But there is www.deepl.com for your convenience.
In addition, you can find all, if not most the information in great detail here in English: [Drivers licence] Conversion and questions, Mark II
I do believe that is is an EF rule to use English, English links or at least a translation of the main points/issues.
Are you stating that all licences can be swapped within a year, whichever the country, without any restrictions.
Are you also stating that wahtever the country of the original licence, if you miss the 1 year deadline, you only have to take a shortened practical test, and NO theory or First Aid. Absolutely without exceptions. Just to be clear.
A said the information can be found in English here: [Drivers licence] Conversion and questions, Mark II
Also, I will usually not link to third party sources, but as far as possible to the original source. No matter what the language might be. The main points are in my posts.
Simple enough. Just yes or no for both. Thanks.
Insurance can come with rental- but not without a valid licence, Invalid licence = invalid Insurance.
If you have been resident in Switzerland for three years, your current license may not even be valid anymore in Germany.