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#21 13.08.2019, 10:13

	Quote:
	I've never seen a defined policy on this from any canton, but there have been a lot of cases mentioned in various threads of people successfully exchanging licences after several years in different parts of the country. Not that it's relevant to the OP anyway.

I read up on this in the year I moved to Switzerland and came across this, and never bothered to look any further since I exchanged my license pretty quickly anyway so it was not relevant to me.

https://www.comparis.ch/umzug-schwei...is-umschreiben

	Quote:
	Don't miss the deadline: If you are found driving on Swiss roads with your foreign licence after twelve months, this is considered driving without a valid licence, which can have unpleasant consequences. Depending on the canton, you will be required to do a test drive or to obtain a certification of your driving experience. In the canton of Zurich, it gets even more costly and time-consuming for those who still have no Swiss licence after 10 years. In such a case, the offender has to take the Swiss driving test.

It indeed does not say that there is a 10 yr limit for normal exchanging but mentions the situation where somebody has been driving without a valid license after having been here for 10 yrs.

trey · #22 13.08.2019, 11:23

The ruling BGer 1C_49/2014 from 25.06.2014 of the Federal Supreme Court even stated that a general need of a test drive ("Kontrollfahrt") after 5 years isn't backed by the law. This is only admissible if the contestant hasn't been driving any motor vehicle, including abroad.

aSwissInTheUS · #23 13.08.2019, 11:44

	Quote:	trey
	You have 10 years to exchange your foreign license!.

Bullshit. Point me to were it says so. Official source, any canton or federal one.

The rules are: License to be exchange must be valid. After 5 years they can and might request that you have recent driving experience. If you can not proof it, they can ask you to do a so called "Kontrollfahrt".

trey · #24 13.08.2019, 12:56

Maybe outdated information? Exchanged my license in 2011. Anyway, as the ruling says (and you), after 5 years they can ask for a Kontrollfahrt if you can't prove previous driving expereience. Apart from that, there doesn't seem to be a limit. So I stand corrected.