Driving in the EU as a German resident without a German license

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Hi,

Why don't you call your Embassy in Poland? They will answer about that.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/t … dex_en.htm

Good question. And I don't really know. This would probably be more relevant on the Poland forum page since it will be a consideration of Polish rather than German law that counts. The first question would be if the Florida license is still valid, if not, then no chance. But if so, maybe he took get a rental car and it would be OK. It sounds like a bit of a gray area.

Great idea, thank you so much!

Thanks Tom, I'll head over to the Poland page. Appreciate your help!

Not that it helps you in your particular situation but for others reading this thread I would point out some factors about exchanging driver’s licenses in Germany. If one has long term residency here, then one needs to get a German license sooner or later. If one has a license from another EU country it can be some years before it is required and there are numerous different scenarios that might trigger that.

For others, they can say drive on their American license for up to a year. Then they need to get a German one. But there are exchange provisions, differing according to which States one’s license is issued from. Some will mean no exams; others will still require either the practical or written test and/or even a certain amount of lessons – but still save one a lot of money by bypassing the full driver’s education requirement which is costly. And while one cannot drive in Germany with the American license after year, they still usually have 3 years in which to exchange. If they don’t do it in time they will have to do the full licensing program.  I think it sometimes happens that a foreigner knows they can’t drive more than a year but they assume that this means they can’t exchange licenses after this time which is a mistake.

Another thing I will mention is that car rental places seem to be lax in the proper enforcement. I know an American who even after getting residency here was occasionally renting a car and using his American license a few years after arrival. The rental places should not have allowed this but likely assumed; “oh; an American with a US license, no problem” as if they were a tourist. The problem would be if there were an accident. The insurance companies might try to say the rental company is liable for any damages and the driver could face legal action for not being properly licensed. And say one goes to Poland. It might be legal to drive with the US license. I can’t say. But it could also be disallowed but the rental company will ignore this, leaving one at risk if there is an accident. So best to get informed and from a source independent of the rental company to be on the safe side.