Can I drive in EU states and Switzerland with German proof of a surrendered U.S. license?

6/14/2019 2:20:28 PM

Since we don’t know much about your temporary document, it might be easiest to check with the relevant authorities for each of the countries you want to go to.

Indeed, the EU page on Driving licence recognition and validity advises to do just that:

Provisional or temporary licences, international driving permits (or any other certificates issued in your home country) are not regulated at EU level and may not be recognised in other EU countries.

Do you have a provisional driving licence and are moving to another EU country? Check the rules with the national driving licence authority in the country you’re moving to.

For Austria:

Driving licence recognition and validity

Registration

Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie (BMVIT)
Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT)

Radetzkystraße 2
AT-1030 Wien
Tel.: +43 17 11 62 65 0

For Switzerland (merely an info page with some contact options related to the Swiss consulate in Italy):

Article 42 of the Ordinance on the Licensing of Persons and Vehicles for Road Traffic Purposes (SR 741.51) stipulates that drivers from other countries may drive motorised vehicles in Switzerland provided that they are holders of:

  • a valid national driving licence, or

  • a valid international driving licence (in accordance with the International Convention on Motor Traffic [SR 0.741.11] and the Convention on Road Traffic [SR 0.741.10]), together with the relevant national driving licence.

I don’t think your case falls into either of those categories, but it won’t hurt to double check with the relevant authority. Alternatively, you could contact a Swiss representative in Germany. For example, the Swiss Embassy in Berlin.

For Liechtenstein:

Driving licence recognition and validity

Driving licence

Motorfahrzeugkontrolle (MFK)
Motor Vehicle Agency
Gewerbeweg 2
LI-9490 Vaduz

Website De
Tel.: +423 23 67 50 1
E-mail: [email protected]

6/14/2019 2:47:31 PM

Although your license is not revoked/suspended, you won’t be able to show an actual hard-copy drivers license document and can’t prove on the spot that you’re (still) permitted to drive (a copy of your original drivers license is not enough for authorities anywhere in Europe, as far as I know, and only the actual document is valid) and the temporary substitute document is , as you state, only valid for Germany.

A quick check shows that, in the unlikely scenario that you get checked and can’t show a valid license document

  • in Austria you run the risk of € 36,- fine. (Source here )

  • in Switzerland you run the risk of a CHF 20,- fine. (Source here)

and probably a bit of a hassle to provide proof that are permitted to drive and do a have a license, but simply that you have not yet received your new replacement license.

Bit since your itinerary takes you through countries where German is spoken a courteous explanation and the German documents “might” even be sufficient to avoid those fines entirely.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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