Driving licence exchange 2026 — by 19 January 2027, €26.50

At a glance

Fee

€26.50

Processing time

Approx. 3–14 weeks

Method

In person or online

Next deadline

19.01.2027

Final deadline

19.01.2033

New validity

15 years

All exchange deadlines at a glance

Which deadline applies to you depends solely on your document. For the old grey and pink paper driving licences, the deadline depends on the holder’s year of birth; for card driving licences issued since 1999, it depends on the document’s year of issue. Both staggered schedules appear in Anlage 8e of the Driving Licence Ordinance. Check first which type of driving licence you hold, then read the matching table – in practice, almost only the card deadlines are still relevant in 2026.

Card driving licence — deadline by year of issue (field 4a)

Year of issue	Exchange by	Status
1999 – 2001	19.01.2026	Expired — act now
2002 – 2004	19.01.2027	Next open deadline
2005 – 2007	19.01.2028	Open
2008	19.01.2029	Open
2009	19.01.2030	Open
2010	19.01.2031	Open
2011	19.01.2032	Open
2012 to 18 January 2013	19.01.2033	Open — final deadline

Paper driving licence — deadline by year of birth

Year of birth	Exchange by	Status
before 1953	19.01.2033	Open
1953 – 1958	19.07.2022	Expired — act now
1959 – 1964	19.01.2023	Expired — act now
1965 – 1970	19.01.2024	Expired — act now
1971 or later	19.01.2025	Expired — act now

Where is the date of issue? On the card driving licence you find it in field 4a on the front, directly below the photograph. Do not confuse it with the date in field 10 on the back: that shows since when you have held the respective driving licence category – only field 4a is decisive for the exchange deadline.
Special rule for those born before 1953. If you were born before 1953, you do not have to exchange your licence until 19 January 2033, regardless of the document’s year of issue. This rule takes precedence over the staggered schedule by year of issue and mainly affects holders of old paper driving licences.
Has the deadline already passed? Then complete the exchange immediately – an application is possible at any time even after the deadline, and the driving licence authority must not refuse it. Your driving licence entitlement remains valid; only the document is invalid. The longer you wait, the longer you carry the risk of a check.
Final deadline 19 January 2033. By this date, all driving licences issued before 19 January 2013 must have been exchanged – after that, no old document will remain valid in road traffic.

Required documents

Old driving licence, original — The document to be exchanged itself, that is, the grey or pink paper driving licence or the old card driving licence. It must be submitted in the original; the driving licence authority does not accept copies or photos, because the document must be withdrawn or invalidated under § 25 Abs. 5 FeV. If your driving licence has been lost or stolen, the correct procedure is not an exchange but a replacement issue.
Valid identity card (Personalausweis) or passport — This serves as proof of identity and must be valid at the time of the application; an expired document leads to the appointment being cancelled. If you identify yourself with your passport, you should also bring a current registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung), because the passport does not contain an address and the authority must check local jurisdiction. You obtain both documents from the Bürgeramt (citizens’ office) of your place of residence.
Biometric photograph (35 × 45 mm) — The new card driving licence requires a current portrait-format photograph measuring 35 × 45 millimetres that meets the requirements referred to in § 21 Abs. 3 FeV. Unlike the identity card and passport, for which only digital photographs have been permitted since 1 May 2025, a paper photograph is still accepted for the driving licence. It is best to check in advance whether your authority can also scan in a digital photograph or requires a maximum age for the photo.
Karteikartenabschrift (index card transcript — a copy of your driving licence record) from the previous issuing authority — Required if your driving licence was not issued by the authority now responsible for you, for example after moving to a different district (Landkreis). The transcript of the driving licence index card provides complete proof of which driving licence categories were granted to you and when; without it, the application cannot be finally processed. You request it in writing or via the service portal from the previous issuing authority – each local authority sets its own fee, and some authorities also obtain the transcript of their own accord.
Completed application form or online application — The application form for the reissue of the driving licence is available at the driving licence authority and is usually also available for download on the local service portal. Many local authorities now offer the exchange fully online; the application is then submitted online and the documents are uploaded. Fill in the form in advance – this considerably shortens the appointment at the counter.
Proof of a change of name — If your current name differs from the name on your old driving licence, for example after marriage, divorce or a change of name, the authority requires evidence of this. This can be a marriage certificate, a civil partnership certificate or a corresponding extract from the population register. The marriage or civil partnership certificate is issued by the Standesamt (registry office) that recorded it; the extract from the population register, on the other hand, is issued by the registration authority, usually the Bürgeramt (citizens' office) of your place of residence.
Power of attorney for representation — If another person is to submit the application for you or collect the finished driving licence, they need a power of attorney signed by you, a copy of your identity document, and their own valid identity document. Whether representation is permitted at all for the application is decided by the respective driving licence authority – for collection, it is usually unproblematic.

Step by step

1

Work out your own exchange deadline

Take your driving licence in hand and establish which type of document it is. For a card driving licence, read the date of issue in field 4a on the front and look up the year in the table above; for a grey or pink paper driving licence, your year of birth counts. If you were born before 1953, you have until 19 January 2033 regardless of the document. Note the deadline and count back several months from there – this leaves a buffer for the Karteikartenabschrift and processing.

2

Identify the competent driving licence authority

The competent authority is always the driving licence authority of your place of residence, not the authority that issued the old driving licence. Depending on the federal state, it is called Führerscheinstelle, Straßenverkehrsamt (road traffic office) or Fahrerlaubnisbehörde and sits with the district, the independent city, or – in city-states – with the state office. First check on its administrative portal whether the exchange is offered as an online service: this saves a visit to the authority and in some local authorities even noticeably shortens the processing time.

3

Request the Karteikartenabschrift, if necessary

If your driving licence was issued by a different authority, you need a transcript of the driving licence index card from that authority. Request it early – informally in writing, by email or via the service portal of the former authority, stating your name, date of birth, place of birth, former address and driving licence number. Some driving licence authorities obtain the transcript themselves on request; ask about this, and you will not have to deal with the correspondence yourself. Allow for several weeks if the former authority has a heavy workload.

4

Assembling the photograph and documents

Have a current biometric photograph taken in the format 35 × 45 millimetres and have your old driving licence ready along with a valid identity card or passport. Take the time to check whether your name is unchanged – otherwise, the Eheurkunde or other proof is needed. If someone is representing you, sign the power of attorney and the application yourself beforehand. A complete set of documents is the most important time factor: if a document is missing, the application is put on hold until it is submitted.

5

Submit the application and pay the fee

Submit the application in person at the driving licence authority or – where offered – online via the local service portal. The fee due is €26.50: €25.50 under number 202.5 of the fee schedule of the GebOSt plus €1.00 under number 126.2. Optionally, you can choose direct dispatch by the Bundesdruckerei for €6.50, in which case the new driving licence arrives by post instead of being collected. Find out in advance which means of payment your authority accepts – credit cards are not accepted everywhere.

6

Receive the new driving licence and hand in the old one

Production is carried out centrally by the Bundesdruckerei; depending on the authority, it takes about 3 to 14 weeks until the new card driving licence is ready. On collection – or on direct dispatch after receipt – the old driving licence is withdrawn or invalidated under § 25 Abs. 5 FeV. If you want to keep the old document as a memento, say so explicitly: many authorities invalidate it visibly and permanently and give it back to you. Check the new driving licence immediately for errors in name, date of birth and driving licence categories.

Fees & costs

Service	Amount
Exchange / reissue (GebOSt Nr. 202.5)	€25.50
Additional fee under GebOSt Nr. 126.2	€1.00
Total fee for the exchange	€26.50
Direct despatch by the Bundesdruckerei (optional)	€6.50
Karteikartenabschrift from the previous authority	Set locally: from free of charge to approx. €15
Biometric photograph	No official fee — depends on the provider
Verwarnungsgeld for missing the deadline	€10
Means of payment	Depends on the competent authority

The exchange fee is regulated nationwide: it follows from the fee schedule of the GebOSt, last amended on 12 August 2026. Number 202.5 provides for €25.50 for the reissue of the driving licence, plus €1.00 under number 126.2 – together, therefore, €26.50. In practice, individual local authorities list differing amounts, because their fee information is not always updated on the same day: Berlin states €26.50, while Cologne’s overview still shows €25.30. The current fee schedule is always decisive.

Incidental costs are not included in the fee. The Karteikartenabschrift is charged by the former issuing authority under its own local by-law; there is no nationwide rate for this, and the range runs from free of charge to around €15. The photograph is not an official service but a market price and therefore depends on the provider chosen. If you do not want to collect the finished driving licence yourself, you pay an additional €6.50 for direct dispatch by the Bundesdruckerei. A Verwarnungsgeld for missing the deadline is not a fee but a sanction under regulatory offence law and is charged separately.

Important notes

The paper deadlines are almost all history. Many overviews still mention only the staggering by year of birth – but that applies exclusively to grey and pink paper driving licences, and there all stages except “year of birth before 1953” have passed. If you hold a card driving licence, you follow the year of issue in field 4a without exception.
Missing the deadline does not cost you your driving licence entitlement. After the deadline expires, the document becomes invalid, but the driving licence entitlement itself remains valid. Driving without a driving licence entitlement under § 21 of the Road Traffic Act (Straßenverkehrsgesetz, StVG) – a criminal offence – does not apply here; the regulatory offence (Ordnungswidrigkeit) is punished with a Verwarnungsgeld of €10.
Abroad, the risk is considerably greater. Foreign enforcement authorities often do not treat an invalid driving licence document as a minor matter: depending on the country, you risk substantial regulatory fines, being barred from continuing your journey, or problems with motor vehicle insurance and rental cars. If you regularly travel abroad, you should therefore not put off the exchange until the deadline.
15 years of validity — but not for all categories. Under § 24a Abs. 1 FeV, driving licences issued from 19 January 2013 are limited to 15 years. For categories C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D and DE, however, § 23 Abs. 1 Satz 2 FeV applies: these driving licences are granted for a maximum of five years only, so the document’s validity is correspondingly short. For the extension, the driving licence authority requires additional evidence – find out in good time.
Apply online where possible. Numerous local authorities offer the exchange via their service portal. Besides saving you a visit to the authority, this can speed up processing: Cologne states 6 to 8 weeks for the online application compared with around 10 weeks for the regular procedure. Whether the service is available is shown on the administrative portal of your driving licence authority.
Processing times vary considerably. Depending on the authority, a realistic estimate is about 3 to 14 weeks – Munich states up to 14 weeks, Cologne around 10 weeks. For an extra charge, the Bundesdruckerei produces the driving licence by express procedure in about 48 hours; ask your authority directly whether it offers this option. You should therefore apply for the exchange several months before your deadline if possible.
The old driving licence as a memento. § 25 Abs. 5 FeV requires that the previous driving licence be withdrawn or invalidated. If you want to keep your document, explicitly ask for it to be returned: it will then be visibly and permanently invalidated – for example by punching a hole or stamping it – and handed to you.
No reason for a new examination. The exchange does not change the existence or scope of your driving licence entitlement. For categories A and B, neither an eye test nor a medical examination, and neither a theory nor a practical examination, is required. Your old acquired rights, such as extended categories from earlier generations of driving licences, are also taken into account when the old categories are converted and are carried over into the new driving licence.

Common mistakes

Only checked the deadlines by year of birth

If you hold a card driving licence and look up your year of birth in an outdated table, you are lulled into a false sense of security. Only the year of issue is decisive: for the years 1999 to 2001, the deadline already expired on 19 January 2026, and for 2002 to 2004 it ends on 19 January 2027. The consequence of this mistake is an invalid document plus a Verwarnungsgeld of €10.

Underestimated the processing time

Depending on the authority, 3 to 14 weeks pass between the application and the finished driving licence. If you apply only a few days before the deadline, you will not have the new document in hand in time and will drive with an invalid driving licence in the meantime. Allow several months’ lead time, especially if a Karteikartenabschrift also has to be obtained.

Forgot the Karteikartenabschrift

If the driving licence was issued by an authority other than the one now responsible, the application cannot be finally processed without a transcript of the driving licence index card. The case remains pending until the former authority has responded – this regularly takes several weeks, during which your deadline continues to run.

Brought an unsuitable photograph

Holiday photos, phone printouts or old pictures in the wrong format are rejected. Without a usable photograph in the format 35 × 45 millimetres, the authority cannot complete the application; you will have to submit a new photo and, in the worst case, book a second appointment.

Applied for the exchange although the driving licence is missing

The exchange requires that you can hand in the old document in the original. If it is lost or stolen, the procedure is different: you must then apply for a replacement issue, for which the authority requires a declaration of loss and, depending on the case, a police report – with a different fee and additional time involved.

Simply kept driving after the deadline passed

Some people wait after the deadline “until someone notices”. In Germany, it remains a Verwarnungsgeld of €10 – abroad, the same situation can lead to significantly higher fines, being barred from continuing the journey, or difficulties with rental cars and insurance. The exchange is possible at any time even after the deadline has passed and should be completed immediately.

Frequently asked questions

When do I have to exchange my driving licence?

This depends on your document: for paper driving licences, the year of birth counts; for card driving licences, the year of issue counts. The deadline for the years of issue 1999 to 2001 expired on 19 January 2026; the next open stage is 19 January 2027 for the years of issue 2002 to 2004. At the latest by 19 January 2033, all driving licences issued before 19 January 2013 must have been exchanged.

Where do I find the date of issue of my driving licence?

On the card driving licence, the date of issue is in field 4a on the front, directly below the photograph. The year of this date is decisive for the exchange deadline, not the date of your driving test in field 10 on the back.

What does the driving licence exchange cost?

The fee is €25.50 under number 202.5 of the fee schedule of the Fee Schedule for Measures in Road Traffic, plus €1.00 under number 126.2, totalling €26.50. An optional €6.50 is added for direct dispatch by the Bundesdruckerei; a Karteikartenabschrift from the previous issuing authority is billed locally.

What happens if I miss the deadline?

The old driving licence becomes invalid on the deadline, but your driving licence entitlement remains valid. You are therefore not driving without a driving licence entitlement within the meaning of § 21 StVG, but committing a regulatory offence, which is punished with a Verwarnungsgeld of €10. Abroad, however, an invalid document can be sanctioned considerably more harshly, so you should complete the exchange immediately.

Do I have to take an examination or an eye test?

No. The exchange is purely a document exchange; your driving licence entitlement and your driving licence categories remain unchanged. Neither a theory nor a practical examination, nor an eye test or a medical examination, is required for the exchange of categories A and B.

How long is the new card driving licence valid?

Under § 24a Abs. 1 FeV, all driving licences issued from 19 January 2013 are limited to 15 years; after that, another exchange follows, again without an examination. An exception applies to categories C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D and DE: under § 23 Abs. 1 Satz 2 FeV, these driving licences are granted for a maximum of five years only, so the driving licence is also valid for only five years.

How long does processing take?

The processing time varies greatly from authority to authority and in practice is between about 3 and 14 weeks. Cologne states around 10 weeks for the regular application and 6 to 8 weeks for an online application, Munich up to 14 weeks. For an extra charge, the Bundesdruckerei produces the driving licence by express procedure in about 48 hours.

Can I apply for the exchange online?

In many local authorities, yes: the application is submitted via the local service portal, and the photograph and documents are uploaded or submitted afterwards. Whether your city or district offers the online service is shown on the administrative portal of the competent driving licence authority.

What happens to my old driving licence?

Under § 25 Abs. 5 FeV, the previous driving licence must be withdrawn or invalidated. Many authorities invalidate it visibly and permanently and return it to you as a memento on request; ask about this before you hand in the document.

Exchange your driving licence (compulsory exchange)