Driving licence tourism to be restricted
Published:
The Government wishes to limit the possibility for people with driving licences from third countries, that is countries outside the EU and the EEA, to circumvent the Swedish rules by means of what is called driving licence tourism. The Riksdag voted in favour of the Government's proposal.
Driving licence tourism refers to when people who are permanently resident in Sweden travel to another EEA State to obtain a third-country driving licence exchanged for a foreign EEA driving licence. Afterwards, they return to Sweden and apply to exchange their foreign EEA driving licence for a Swedish driving licence.
According to the Government, the main rule should be that an EEA driving licence originating in a third country may not be exchanged for or replaced with a Swedish driving licence. It should only be possible to exchange such a driving licence in exceptional cases, for example, if the licence holder has had a driving licence with equivalent driving licence qualifications within the EEA for at least five years prior to his or her permanent residence in Sweden.
The Riksdag also rejected a proposal in a motion in the private members’ motions period 2025 which concerns driving licence tourism.
The amendments will come into force on 1 May 2026.
Committee report (In Swedish): Åtgärder mot körkortsturism (TU7)