Ukrainian driving licenses expire in a few months

Driver’s licenses for Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands will expire in a few months. This means that they are no longer allowed to drive in Europe and therefore cannot, for example, drive themselves to work, hospital or visit someone. The government is working on a solution, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management reports.

From the moment Ukrainians are registered in the municipality, in the database of personal records, their Ukrainian driver’s license is still valid for 185 days. This equates to about six months. This applies to all non-EU and EFTA driving licenses (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland).

The most likely option is for driver’s licenses to remain valid for a longer period. The European Commission has put on paper a proposal to extend the recognition of Ukrainian driver’s licenses. The Netherlands and other Member States will deal with this proposal as a matter of urgency.

If the extension is unexpectedly unsuccessful, Ukrainian driving licenses may have to be replaced with Dutch driving licenses. Another possibility is that Ukrainian refugees will have to retake the theoretical and practical test and thus obtain a Dutch driver’s licence. But “the starting point for us and for Brussels is to re-exam and shift the exchange as much as possible to the longer term. Switching and taking the test are among the options being considered, but later when the first emergency phase is over,” the ministry said.