Exchange of a driving licence

The application procedure should be initiated at any Document Service Centre in the country.

Driving licences shall be issued only to those applicants who have their normal residence in the territory of the Republic of Hungary and if the applicant is not a Hungarian citizen but he/she has stayed at least six month in Hungary, before  issuance of the driving licence.

Definition of normal residence:

• 'normal' residence means the place where a person usually lives, that is for at least 185 days in each calendar year, because of personal and occupational ties, or, in the case of a person with no occupational ties, because of personal ties which show close links between that person and the place where he is living.
• the normal residence of a person whose occupational ties are in a different place from his personal ties and who consequently lives in turn in different places, situated in two or more Member States shall be regarded as being the place of his personal ties, provided that such person returns there regularly. This last condition need not be met where the person is living in a Member State in order to carry out a task of a definite duration. Attendance at a university or school shall not imply transfer of normal residence.

The driving licence issued by a foreign authority shall be considered valid:

• If the holder of the driving licence declares that at the issuance date of the foreign driving licence he/she had a normal residence or address of domicile in the territory of the issuing country, and
• If the holder of the foreign driving licence meets the Hungarian age requirements at the time of the procedure.

If the driving licence submitted for exchange was issued in a country which joined the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, the holder of the driving licence can drive a vehicle for one year from the continuous residence, after that the driving licence has to be exchanged for a Hungarian one without any exam.

If the driving licence was issued in a third country which did not join the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and if the authentic Hungarian translation of the foreign driving licence contains the category’s content which complies with any Hungarian category’s content, the foreign driving licence can be exchanged for a Hungarian one after a successful theoretical exam. If the category’s content of the driving licence submitted for exchange does not comply with any Hungarian category’s content the holder of the foreign driving licence can get a Hungarian driving licence after successful practical and theoretical exams.

The following documents should be submitted to the application for exchanging the driving licence issued by a foreign authority:

• driving licence issued by a foreign authority
• medical test if the foreign driving licence doesn’t contain the term of the medical eligibility or its date is different from the date determined by current Hungarian law
• official document verifying the normal residence
• The receipt of paying the administration fee of the issuance of a driving licence (6 .200 HUF)
• aptitude certificate if the exchange of the driving licence is required by a professional driver
• authentic Hungarian translation of the foreign driving licence ( if the driving licence was issued in a country which did not join the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic)
• certificate of exam of the free training course (if the authentic Hungarian translation of the foreign driving licence doesn’t contain the category’s content)

The following documents should be presented at the Document Service Centre during the process:

• document verifying the client’s identification (ID card or passport) and
• document verifying the client’s address of domicile, place of residence or place of accommodation.

During the exchange process the driving licence issued by a third country shall be withdrawn and on the reciprocity our Office shall send back the foreign document to the issuing authority.