German driving licences can only be issued in Germany by German authorities and must therefore be applied for in Germany. If your German driving licence has been lost or stolen, please contact your nearest police station and report the loss.

How to obtain a new driving licence

If you are registered in Germany, please contact your local authority in Germany and apply to them for a new driving licence.

If you are no longer registered with a local authority in Germany, you cannot obtain a German driving licence. To obtain a British driving licence, you should:

1. Apply to the Kraftfahrt Bundesamt (Federal Motor Transport Authority, KBA) in Flensburg or to the competent department of your local authority in Germany for an extract from the Zentrale Fahrerlaubnisregister (Central Driving Licence Register, ZFER). For more information and application forms click here
2. You can then use this register extract to apply for a British driving licence.

An application form and information leaflet are obtainable from any British post office. The fee is about 50GBP and applications take about 3 weeks to process. Information on British driving licence regulations can be found at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) website.

International driving licence

If you are registered in Germany, please contact your local authority.

If you are no longer registered in Germany, you can apply for an international driving licence in the UK. Click here for the relevant information

In order to apply for an international driving licence, however, you need a British driving licence. To obtain this, you should:

1. Apply to the Kraftfahrt Bundesamt (Federal Motor Transport Authority, KBA) in Flensburg or to the competent department of your local authority in Germany for an extract from the Zentrale Fahrerlaubnisregister (Central Driving Licence Register, ZFER). For more information and application forms click here
2. You can then use this register extract to apply for a British driving licence.

An application form and information leaflet are obtainable from any British post office. The fee is about 50GBP and applications take about 3 weeks to process. Information on British driving licence regulations can be found at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) website.

Validity of German driving licences in the United Kingdom

Under an EU directive of 2006, from 19 January 2013 the Member States of the European Union can only issue driving licences with a validity of 15 years. Driving licences issued before this date are valid until 19 January 2033.

This means that holders of a German driving licence resident in the UK must exchange it for a British driving licence by 19 January 2033 or (if earlier) their 70th birthday. The DVLA will do this just for a fee and no test need be taken.

However, this only applies if the driving licence was issued in Germany, the driving test was taken in an EU member state and there was no exchange of a non-EU driving licence in Germany or another EU member state.

German driving licences which were not obtained through a test in an EU member state are now only valid in Britain for one year after taking up residence. Holders of these driving licences must take a British driving test in Britain within a year to obtain a British driving licence.

For further information on the validity of foreign driving licences in the United Kingdom, you can download a quick check list to see what applies to you

Validity of foreign driving licences in the Federal Republic of Germany

Please download the following leaflets for more information: