Exchanging a Foreign Driving Licence in Spain: The DGT Canje

Covers: all of Spain (national rules). Where a step is run by your region or city council, the guide says so.

This guide is for internationals who have just moved to Spain and hold a driving licence issued in another country. After reading it, you will know whether your licence can be exchanged for a Spanish one, how long you can drive on it, which documents the DGT asks for, what the procedure costs, and what happens if your country has no agreement with Spain.

• What a canje is and which licences qualify
• The six-month limit for non-EU licences
• Conditions and documents
• Tests, fees and the day of the appointment
• Licences that cannot be exchanged
• FAQ

What a canje is and which licences qualify

A canje (licence exchange) is the recognition of a driving licence you already hold, which is then replaced by an equivalent licence issued by the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico, Spain’s national traffic authority). It is a national procedure. The DGT pages it draws on do not describe any step run by a region or a city council.

According to the DGT’s page on exchanging foreign licences, residents of Spain can exchange licences issued in:

• countries of the European Union;
• the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway);
• countries that have an exchange agreement with Spain;
• countries without an agreement, but only for professional licences.

Two points apply to every exchange. Your original licence is taken from you when the procedure is carried out. And the exchange covers every category you held: someone licensed for motorcycles, cars and buses in their home country gets those same categories on the Spanish licence, with no need for a separate exchange per category.

The DGT publishes a list of countries with an exchange agreement. It includes Andorra, Algeria, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Philippines, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, North Macedonia, Morocco, Moldova, Monaco, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United Kingdom, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and Uruguay. Each entry carries a date, such as 16/03/2023 for the United Kingdom and 29/09/2024 for Georgia and Moldova.

The six-month limit for non-EU licences

The DGT’s page on non-EU licence exchanges sets out the time limit. A licence from outside the EU is valid in Spain for a maximum of six months, counted from the date you acquire normal residence (residencia normal) in Spain. Anyone who wants to keep driving after that point is required to exchange it.

The six months run from residence, not from your arrival date or your first appointment. The pages used for this guide do not say how long licences from EU or EEA countries remain valid without an exchange.

Conditions and documents

For non-EU licences, the key condition is timing. A licence can be exchanged if you obtained it before becoming a legal resident in Spain, or before the date the agreement was signed. On the country list, the DGT notes one exception: for South Korea, the licence may have been obtained after legal residence began.

The non-EU exchange page lists the following documents:

• Proof of residence: a valid tarjeta de residencia (residence card).
• Proof that you did not live in Spain when the licence was issued: Spanish nationals with a DNI who acquired Spanish nationality in the other country before living in Spain provide a Certificado de Inscripción y Baja Consular (consular registration and deregistration certificate) from the Spanish embassy in the country that issued the licence. Everyone else provides one of the following: a residence, student or EU family member card; a certificate of registration in the foreigners’ register; or, for people who held a residence card before obtaining a DNI, a Certificado de extranjería (foreign residence certificate).
• A certificate from a Centro de Reconocimiento de Conductores (authorised driver assessment centre): you tell the centre the report is for obtaining a driving licence and which licence type you are exchanging. It is valid for 90 days, and your application has to be submitted before it expires.

The page also says that ticking the box in the appointment request form that authorises a check of your identity data means a certificate does not need to be provided. It does not make fully clear which certificate this refers to, so the office decides how to apply it.

Some countries have extra requirements. Argentine licences need a Certificado de Legalidad y Antigüedad (certificate of legality and length of licence holding), requested from the municipality in Argentina that issued the licence. It must then be legalised and apostilled by a notary with the Apostilla de La Haya (Hague Apostille, a stamp certifying the document is authentic). Venezuelan licences issued as PDFs cannot be exchanged because they do not meet European rules. Only licences issued on a plastic card in Venezuela are accepted.

Tests, fees and the day of the appointment

Whether you face a test depends on where the licence came from and what it covers. EU and EEA licences need no exam at all. For agreement countries, licences limited to classes A1, A, B and B+E (motorcycles, cars and light vehicles) are exchanged without any test. Licences covering C, D, C+E or D+E (lorries and buses) usually require a practical test, and sometimes a theory test too. The country list shows which tests apply to each country. Turkey, for example, requires a specific theory test plus an on-road test for lorries and buses, while Chile requires only the on-road test.

The fee (tasa) is shown on the country list:

• exchange without tests: fee type II.3, 28,87 €;
• exchange with tests: fee type II.1, 94,05 €;
• EU and EEA licences: always II.3, 28,87 €, for every category.

You receive a provisional licence on the day the procedure is carried out. The permanent licence follows in approximately one and a half months, and the DGT lets you check online how your application is progressing.

Licences that cannot be exchanged

The DGT lists the cases where an exchange is not possible:

• the issuing country is not on the list of agreement countries;
• the licence was itself obtained by exchanging one from a country that has no agreement with Spain;
• the licence was obtained while you were already a legal resident in Spain (South Korea excepted).

In the first case, the DGT states that you will need to obtain a new Spanish licence. The pages used here do not explain that process. For countries without an agreement, the main DGT exchange page mentions exchanges only for professional licences and refers readers to the entry for their country of origin, without setting out the conditions.

FAQ

Does a UK car licence require a test to exchange?

No. The DGT country list shows the United Kingdom with an agreement dated 16/03/2023, and motorcycle or car licences are exchanged without tests for a fee of 28,87 €. The list does not give details for lorry or bus categories from the UK.

Do I keep my original licence after the exchange?

No. The DGT states that the original licence is withdrawn when the procedure is carried out. You receive a provisional Spanish licence on the same day.

How long does it take to receive the Spanish licence?

The provisional licence is issued on the day of the procedure. According to the DGT, the permanent licence arrives in approximately one and a half months, and you can check its progress online.

What if I obtained my licence after moving to Spain?

Under DGT rules, a licence obtained while already a legal resident in Spain cannot be exchanged. The exception is South Korea, where the licence may be obtained after legal residence began.

Sources: dgt.es · dgt.es · dgt.es

Last verified: 9 November 2026 against the pages linked above. Rules and fees change; the responsible authority always has the final word.

This is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. For your own situation, ask the office that handles your case (the Oficina de Extranjería, your ayuntamiento, the Seguridad Social or the Agencia Tributaria), a lawyer (abogado) or a gestor administrativo.