Can I exchange my driving licence in Spain? What the DGT says, country by country

This is the list published on the DGT's website for the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the other countries with an agreement. If you apply online, the application is completed in the form itself and the documents are attached as scans; if you apply at a traffic office, with a prior appointment and originals.

• Exchange application on the official form or online, including a declaration that you are not banned from driving and do not hold another EU or EEA licence of the same class.
• ID: Spanish ID card, a valid passport or, for non-EU citizens, a residence permit.
• Proof of residence: Spanish ID card, foreigner identity card (TIE) or EU citizen registration certificate, and any other document the traffic office asks for.
• Proof that you did not live in Spain when the licence was issued: the TIE, the residence or student card, or the foreigners' register certificate. If you hold a Spanish ID card because you took Spanish nationality before moving, the consular registration and deregistration certificate from the Spanish embassy in the licence country.
• Original driving licence, valid and in force, scanned on both sides if you apply online; the original is handed in at the traffic office at the end of the procedure.
• Medical fitness report (informe de aptitud psicofísica) from an authorised driver assessment centre: group 1 if the exchange carries no tests (cars and motorbikes), group 2 if it does (lorries and buses).
• Fee: 2.3, €28.87, with no tests; 2.1, €94.05, with tests. Paid in the online form, at the traffic office by card (never cash) or with a fee number bought beforehand.
• United Kingdom: in addition, the check code from the DVLA or the DVA, obtained online before the appointment. Gibraltar does not need it.
• New Zealand and the Philippines: in addition, the reference number from the prior verification of the licence with the issuing country.

For an exchange under an agreement, the DGT does not ask for a translation of the licence. Neither the United Kingdom page, nor the New Zealand page, nor the page for the Philippines group lists a translation among the documents; what verifies the licence is the British check code or the query to the issuing country. The same goes for EU licences: Ireland needs neither an exchange nor a translation.

When you do need one. The DGT's list ends with "any other document requested by the traffic office". If your office asks for a document in English other than the licence (a driving record, a certificate from the issuing authority, a DVLA letter), that document is filed with a sworn translation. And if your licence is from a non-EU country without an agreement (United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Nigeria) and you want to drive on it during the first six months of residence, the General Drivers Regulation requires the licence to be in Spanish, to be accompanied by an official translation, or to follow the Geneva or Vienna Convention formats. The DGT recommends bringing an International Driving Permit from your country; if you do not have one, a sworn translation meets the official translation requirement.

United Kingdom during the first six months. The agreement with the UK allows you to drive temporarily on your British licence without an International Driving Permit or an official translation.

A licence from outside the EU and the EEA is valid for driving in Spain for a maximum of six months from the day you acquire normal residence. The DGT defines normal residence as living in Spain for at least 185 days per calendar year, with legal status. After that period the licence is no longer valid for driving, and you must have exchanged it or, where there is no agreement, obtained a Spanish licence.

The General Drivers Regulation lets you apply for the exchange as soon as you have residence, without waiting for the six months to pass. It pays to start early: in countries with prior verification (New Zealand, the Philippines) the issuing country's reply can take weeks, and the DGT does not guarantee a processing time for applications filed online.

EU and EEA licences have no such deadline: they are valid for as long as they are in force.

When you complete the procedure at the traffic office you hand in your original licence and receive a provisional licence, valid for six months and only within Spain; to drive abroad you need an International Driving Permit. The definitive licence arrives by post at your home in about a month and a half, and you can check the status of the procedure on the DGT's website.

If you apply online, the DGT emails you when the application has been processed so that you go to the traffic office you chose to hand in the foreign licence and collect the provisional one. The DGT recommends checking your spam folder too. For the specific situation of your licence while you wait, the reference is the DGT's own page on driving with a foreign licence (in Spanish).

• Medical fitness report. Book an authorised driver assessment centre and obtain the report for the group that matches your licence.
• Prior verification, if your country requires it. United Kingdom and Northern Ireland: get the check code online. New Zealand and the Philippines: request the verification of the licence with the issuing country on the DGT's website and wait for the reference number.
• Application. Online, on the DGT's website with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, choosing the issuing country and the traffic office where you will finish the procedure; or in person, with an appointment booked online or on 060 ("Canjes" area). Attach legible scans, pay the fee and keep the receipt.
• Traffic office. When the DGT notifies you, go to hand in the original licence and collect the provisional one. If you applied in person and everything is in order, the exchange is done at the same appointment.
• Definitive licence. It arrives by post at home in about a month and a half.

If someone else files the application for you, you must authorise them first in the DGT's representatives register, or give them the signed representation form if they go in person, and when booking the appointment both ID numbers have to be given.

If your licence is from the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Nigeria or any other country not on the DGT's list, there is no exchange. To drive in Spain after the six months you must obtain a new licence: be resident in Spain, meet the age requirement, not be banned from driving, obtain the medical fitness report, pay the exam fee (which covers two attempts) and pass the theory and practical tests for the class you apply for. Most people prepare at a driving school, although the DGT lets you sit the theory test independently.

There is an exception for professional drivers: if you have been employed as a driver for at least six months by a company established in Spain, the DGT allows you to exchange a licence from a country without an agreement after passing a road test on open roads.