Nothing says "newcomer" like a French or German licence plate and a doorstep deadline. A driving licence in Switzerland is mostly a matter of dates: twelve months to exchange the licence, a customs step before you can register the car, and a vignette on the windscreen. The procedures are set by the Confederation and carried out by each canton, so fees and opening hours differ between Geneva, Vaud and Zurich while the principle does not.
How long is your foreign driving licence valid in Switzerland?
For 12 months after you take up residence, provided you have not spent more than three consecutive months abroad in that period (article 42 of the road traffic licensing ordinance, OAC). After a year, the licence has to be exchanged for a Swiss one. Missing the deadline does not make the licence void on the spot, but you risk a fine, so do not wait for the last week.
Keep in mind that the paper blue Swiss licence stopped being valid on 1 November 2024. If you inherited one from a relative, the cantonal office can tell you what to do. A foreign licence without an expiry date still has to be exchanged within the 12 months.
How do you exchange your driving licence in Switzerland?
- Ask your cantonal vehicle office for the exchange form; each canton publishes its own procedure.
- Send the documents: your original licence, your ID, your residence permit and a test of vision from an optician or doctor. The original licence and the eye test are required in every case; the canton tells you what else it needs.
- Receive the Swiss licence by post. Depending on your experience it comes as a three-year probationary licence or a licence with no expiry date.
For licences issued in the EU or the EEA (including Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), there is no control drive. The old licence goes back to the country that issued it. For other licences, the rule of article 44 OAC is a control drive. The Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) publishes a list of countries exempted from it; according to that list, licences from Great Britain are exchanged without a control drive or an extra theory test. If a control drive applies to you and you fail it, the foreign licence can no longer be used in Switzerland. See also moving to Switzerland from the UK.
The cost is set by the canton and is often more than CHF 100. Delivery time varies.
How do you bring your car to Switzerland?
Order matters, because the vehicle office cannot register a car until customs has cleared it.
- Clear the car through customs at an authorised office when you first cross the border, or immediately afterwards. The car must be physically present, during hours for the clearance of commercial goods. You present form 18.44 (removal goods) with supporting documents.
- If you have used the car for at least six months before moving, it enters free of duty as a removal item. If not, you can ask for a 15.30 permit to use it without clearing it for up to two years, then clear it (duty, car tax, VAT) or re-export it.
- Collect the customs confirmation and the expertise report (form 13.20A).
- Insure the car with a Swiss insurer for third-party liability and obtain the insurance certificate.
- Go to the vehicle office with the insurance certificate, the customs confirmation, the foreign registration document, form 13.20A, your ID or permit and a certificate of residence from your commune.
- Pass a technical inspection if the office asks for one.
Swiss plates are required if you have lived in Switzerland for more than a year and use the vehicle there for more than a month (article 115 OAC); apply no later than one year after the move, once customs is complete. Registration papers and plates generally cost between CHF 50 and 100, plus an annual cantonal vehicle tax. Since 1 January 2026, papers and plates for a passenger car are only issued once any CO2 sanction due on it has been paid (FEDRO); ask the vehicle office whether this concerns your car.
Edge cases abound: a car bought a few weeks before you move, a vehicle registered to a company or a partner, a car you will keep in your home country. Moovy can help you sort out which documents to prepare and what to ask customs, but the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security and the cantonal office decide.
What do you need to know about customs duty and tax?
A car used personally for at least six months before the move and imported as removal goods is exempt from customs duties and VAT on import. The 4% car tax also does not apply to vehicles exempt from duty as removal goods. The exemption supposes that you keep using the car for your own purposes in Switzerland, so ask the FOCBS before you sell it soon after the move.
A car bought just before the move, or papers in someone else's name, changes the picture: under six months of use gives no exemption, and for a company or another owner you need a declaration from them. If you live in Switzerland and a foreign employer provides you with a car, you need a 15.30 permit before it first enters the country, and you may use it only for work trips and the commute.
Duty, car tax and VAT depend on your car's history and papers. Before you buy, ship or sell a car around your move, have your case confirmed by the FOCBS, or by a tax adviser or customs broker in Switzerland.
What about the motorway vignette?
To use Swiss motorways you need a vignette. For 2026 it costs CHF 40, valid from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2027. You can buy a sticker at petrol stations, post offices or customs, or the e-vignette on the official site (e-vignette.ch). Driving on a motorway without one costs CHF 200 plus the price of the vignette. A sticker is attached to the vehicle and cannot be moved to another car; the e-vignette is linked to the plate number.
What is a sensible timeline for your driving licence in Switzerland?
Most people do best with a rough calendar:
- Month 0: arrive, register at the commune, keep driving on your foreign licence.
- Months 1 to 3: if you bring a car, go to customs first, then insure it. This is also the time to compare third-party liability offers, since the insurance certificate is needed for registration.
- Months 3 to 9: visit the optician for the vision test and send the exchange request. Leave a margin: delivery time varies by canton and the original licence stays with the office during the process.
- Month 12: the end of the foreign licence's validity for residents. If a control drive applies to you, do not wait until the last month, because you might need a second attempt.
- Within one year of the move: Swiss plates.
Small point that causes friction: you hand over your original licence, so ask the office how you can prove that you hold a valid licence while the new one is being produced. Ask whether it gives a receipt, and keep any paper it hands you in the car.
Your canton also matters for the details. Geneva, Vaud and Zurich do not use the same forms, fees or inspection schedules, and each publishes its own pages for newcomers. The principle is federal; the practice is cantonal.
What if you live abroad and work in Switzerland?
Cross-border commuters keep their licence and their car registered in their country of residence. A car belonging to a person domiciled abroad and used by that person enters Switzerland under temporary admission without duty. If you work or study in Switzerland and use the car there for more than six months in a year, you need a customs permit 15.30, issued at a border customs office; ask the cantonal vehicle office whether Swiss plates are also needed. See cross-border commuters in Switzerland.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Letting the 12 months pass. Exchange is still possible, but you risk a fine.
- Forgetting customs before registration. Without the confirmation, the vehicle office cannot register the car.
- Buying a car right before you leave and expecting the duty exemption.
- Using a sticker on another car. A vignette does not transfer.
- Assuming one tariff. Fees and vehicle tax differ between cantons.