Converting a South African driver's license

Hi

I have a south african drivers license, what are the procedures on getting it changed into a german license.

Try checking out the various discussions under this search: drivers license

I swopped mine for an EU one. Not sure if it always works like this but I had to get a bunch of forms from the "KFZ Zulassungsstelle" and then go to my "Gemeinde" to have them stamp them... and then you get to go back to the "Zulassungstelle" and drop them off... and about a week later - in exchange for my South African license, they gave me my EU one... Cant remember how much it cost but about 50 Euros or so. I found it a real hassle cause I had to keep taking off from work to get it done...

It was a long time ago, but I don't remember it being such a hassle. If I remember correctly, I filled in the forms there and got my licence a short while later. Set me back about EUR 75. What I do remember clearly though, is that you have to have it done within 6 months of arriving in Germany otherwise you have to get a German one the normal way.

Hello.

Hoping someone could help ? I have a south african & international drivers permit. the international drivers permit was issued to me in south africa, but expires in 2009.
Does any one know the procedure of getting a german drivers licence ? Can I just get mine converted or would I need to redo my drivers test.? Ive heard its extremely expensive to do here!
Would appreciate any feedback, should someone have more info for me!

Thanks guys
meg

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According to HowToGermany...

I think you will find that you can exchange your South African driving licence for a German one with no problem and without having to take a test. Our daughter, and two sons of our friends have their tests from Namibia - the same driving test now as South Africa since about 4/5 yrs but the Namibians have not signed the papers to allow the licences to be interchangeable. We have pushed the various stages through the Embassy, but now I hear that the Namibians are waiting to be "invited" to Berlin to complete the signing. Not, apparently, about to happen any time soon. But I am quite sure that SA has. We have used this often as our pressure - ie SA has the arrangement, why not Namibia. Check out at your local authority.

Yes ... according to Anlage 11 (zu §31) zur Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung all classes of South African (Südafrika) driving licenses can be converted without theoretical or practical examination

Had mine converted in January this year - no hassles whatsoever, no tests either. Did it through my relocation agent so everything was ready in two weeks. Not sure how long it would take otherwise.

Thank you all very much for the quick responses!
Kind regards, meg

Converted mine 2 years ago no problems handed the SA one in, payed the cash, gave them photos and got the new one in about 2 weeks. Please be sure that you do it within one year of living in Germany otherwise you can not do it and will be forced to retake the test, but in Germany!

I nearly had to do it as after 11 months of living here I found out about the 1 year ruling!

You actually have THREE years to convert a license. A non EU license is only valid for driving for six months, but that six months can be extended to one year.