Just did mine in Zurich a couple of months ago. Get the form, take the eye test (20 chuffs or free if you act like you are going to buy something) bring them both and your US drivers license to the gemeinde and you are good to go.

A US drivers license shows an issue date on it. In my case, I just renewed mine in July 2007. Swiss authorities feel this is not enough driving experience (6 months) so request proof that you had a license prior to that one. If you don't have a copy of your old license, you need to get a letter from the DMV back in the US from the respective state. Fortunately, I had my old license, faxed it to them that day and my Swiss license was delivered three days later.

If you have more than a year or two of driving experience that is proven by the issue date on your drivers license, just take the eye test, fill out the form, pay the gemeinde and you are officially rolling...

Thanks so much everyone...yes, we're in Geneva, so I'm not sure if it's a canton-specific rule or not. However, it seems like if we can get a record from the DMV demonstrating 10 years' driving history that should suffice. If it doesn't, well, I hope you'll wish us luck with the test because that will be our only other option.

Just to clear things up; you *can* drop off your swiss license exchange application at the Kreisburo. I did it this morning in Zurich Oerlikon (Kreis 11) before work. They charged me 20 CHF; possibly I could have saved on this by going straight to Strassenverkehrsamt, I'm not sure.

This is good news we never had before, thanks for the information.

No problem at all. This was verified by an email to info [at] stva.zh.ch : they are incredibly helpful and reply in English. By the way, Sehtest was done at Vis-u-lens in Oerlikon (drop in), 15 CHF.

Not sure if this mentioned further down the 363 posts but you can also just do it by post (Saint Gallen at least).

My daughter has to do this cours de formation complimentaire. Does anyone know if these courses are available in English in Vaud and if so where they are listed. I've searched for ages can't find anything.

Hi all,

How can I know if my driving license can be directly exchanged or whether i need to take the test from scratch ? Is there a list of countries for example ?
Im in Baden AG.

Thanks,
George

The list changes and sometimes you get different answers from different Kantons but AFAIK the current list of those that must take and pass a practical exam are:

• African countries excluding South Africa
• Asian countries excluding Japan
• Central and South American countries
• Portugal
• Turkey

as in the first post, if someone did actually read the thread, we'd know this:
[Drivers licence] Conversion and questions

Hello,
First of all, apologies if this question has already been asked/answered -- but I waded through the entire thread and couldn't find any similar questions!
The application form to convert a foreign driver's license for Kanton St Gallen has a section called "Vorstrafen und Massnahmen". The first question is "Sind Sie schon bestraft worden oder ist zur Zeit ein Strafverfahren gegen Sie hängig?" I roughly translate this as "Have you already been punished or do you have pending criminal conviction?" Does anyone know whether this strictly refers to an actual criminal conviction (under Swiss or Canadian law) or does it also cover any previous traffic accidents / tickets?
Any help interpreting this would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Matt

just take it as if you have any present or pending traffic bans coming along. If you do, I'll be avoiding SG roads

If you want to start from absolute zero, go ahead. Why would they find out? But what are you looking at in Scotland? Because you might actually find an arrest warrant issued for you - or worse an international one. Are you a UK citizen?

You'll have to do theory, first-aid, lessons and then the test.

My question was almost answered here, but not quite. I hope someone can help.

I'm a Danish citizen and moved to Switzerland just before my 18th birthday. This means that I wasn't able to acquire a Danish license before moving to Switzerland. I don't speak much French, so I can't really take the full license here.
I'm planning to go back to Denmark in the summer and take my license there. Will I be able to convert it? Why did the email above say that the license should be issued before entering Switzerland? Lastly, if I've lived here for a year without a license, and now I get one, is it still valid for driving use?

Thanks

No, that will not work.

The only way it will work is if you de-register from Switzerland. Re-register in Denmark. And after getting your license re-register in Switzerland again. But then you'll fall foul that 6 months haven't passed since you last left. (You must have the license/category for 6 monhs before entering CH). And you want to keep your job in Geneva right?
So, night classes in French it is then. I did my 1st motorbike test in German within a year of coming here, passed 1st time and my Deutsch wasn't fluent but I could understand, stop, go, right, left etc.

I am non-EU(indian passport) moving to switzerland from US. I have a US driving license. Could someone help me with information on how I can get driving license in switzerland.

read this thread.

Hi all, couple trick questions need your kind input

1. I have a L permit, then it expiried Dec 07, after that i found a new job, and i managed to get a new B permit, therefore, the start date of my permit B is Jan08, so how they really count how long I have been living in Switzerland? the start date of my permit B, or the start date of my permit L which is more than 1 year ago?

2. I hear if i didnt convert my licence in one year...then i will have to start from the very first beginning. how many hours i will have to spend in driving school minimum? (each hour is averagely 100CHF, what a good business!!!)

3. I heard something recently on the newspaper saying getting a swiss driving licence need 10 years? is this true? does any rules changed?

4. when they give me driving test date, can I choose or delay the date for the reason that i wont be in town? or it is solid fixed without any tolerence?

thank you all very much in advance!!

They go by the date on your permit. This along with your driver's licence is what they take from you. Mind you they also take a copy of your passport and there is likely an entry date in it.

I would chance it. If someone says something, just play ignorant. Chances are you'll get away with it.

You won't have to start at the beginning. You might have to do a kontrolfahrt. This means taking a shortened driving test without the theory and first aid exams.

For the kontrolfahrt you still need to take a few lessons. You can get lessons in Engilsh, search this thread for links to pages with English speaking instruction if you are going to take it. You will have to take anything between 5 and 10 hours of lessons.

I recommend taking the lessons because it's more about attitude readjustment than learning to drive.

You should not pay more than 75 - 80 CHF a lesson.

Don't believe everything you read. Believe even less things that you heard.

Does your B permit have your date of entry to Switzerland? I pretty sure mine did.

Despite having an L permit for my first 18 months here, I later got my C permit based on my entry date, rather than the date I first got a B.

I tried swapping my UK driving licence just before my first year here was up, but when I presented my L permit, they didn't want to know. Once I had my B permit (at 18 months), I started looking at cars and got one 3 months later. Registering the car the authorities wanted to see my driving licence, and that triggered a request to change it for a Swiss one. They gave me something like 3 weeks to do that.

I got the impression that the year to change licences only started ticking once I had got my B permit, but maybe I just got lucky.

As always, things can vary from canton to canton, and can depend on your country of origin. My experience was in Aargau, with UK passport and driving licence.