Getting a Swedish driving license: tips for expats and immigrants

Tips for getting a Swedish driver’s license

Those who move to Sweden have quite a lot to learn when it comes to living this close to the North Pole. Kanelbullar, Midsommar and Melodifestivalen are a few pleasant surprises. The fact that the sun seems to forget about this place for about one third of the year is one of the tougher aspects to digest.

But what about driving in Sweden?

If, like me, you moved to Sweden armed with your existing driving license ready to take on Swedish roadtrips, you might be in for another surprise. If you have registered as living in Sweden, most foreign driving licenses become invalid after 12 months.

So, what do you do if you want to continue driving in Sweden after 12 months?

 

Exchange your EEA license

Driving licenses from countries within the EEA (and Switzerland and Japan) can be converted to Swedish driving licenses as long as they remain valid. Visit https://transportstyrelsen.se/en/road/Driving-licences/ for more information on this.

 

Get your Swedish Driving License

Those from outside of the EEA will need to apply for their Swedish driver’s license. This process is pretty straight forward if you follow these steps:

 

Step 1 – Get a driving permit

You need first this no matter what vehicle you intend on driving (car, truck, motorbike)! Follow the instructions on how to get a driving permit (called a ’körkortstillstånd’ in Swedish) here.

Step 2 – Prepare for your driving exam

Even experienced drivers will need to practice! It is important to remember that while you might be an excellent driver back in your own country, driving in Sweden can be very different and it’s important to feel confident and safe before going for your driving test. There are a couple of ways you can do this:

 

Practice at home

You can practice driving at home with an accompanying driver. Before you drive together, you will both need to take an Intro-/Handledarkurs (”Supervisor course”) which is about three hours long. If you want to take your Handledarkurs in English , My Driving Academy offers this in multiple cities around Sweden – learn more and book here.

Remember: your accompanying driver must be over 24 years old and have held a Swedish driving license for five uninterrupted years. Learn more about these requirements here.

 

Practice with a driving school

If you want to be sure you are learning everything correctly and in the safest environment, we suggest learning with a professional driving school like My Driving Academy. Professional teachers can help those who have previously driven to brush up on their skills before the driving test. If you’re worried your Swedish isn’t up to scratch, the teachers at My Driving Academy speak multiple languages, including English, Serbo-Croatian, Amharic and Kurdish.

 

In our experience, a combination of home driving and driving with a school is the best way to approach your Swedish driver’s license without breaking the bank!

 

Step 3 – Prepare for your theory exam

Driving theory is very important, particularly with all the different Swedish road signs around! Thankfully there are plenty of ways to practice theory leading up to your tests. My Driving Academy has over 1000 practice questions in Swedish and English available on the app Mitt Körkort! There is also multiple education videos to help you drill those more difficult sections. It’s also helpful to know you can ask your instructor or their support staff questions if you get stuck – all from within the app.

 

Step 4 – Take your Risk 1 and 2 courses

These courses are mandatory! Most driving schools conduct the Risk 1 course – including My Driving Academy, who also provide a Risk 1 course in English in many cities in Sweden.

Risk 2 is super fun because you get to drive on a slippery road. There’s only a few facilities that provide this course, but many provide it in English! You can book through My Driving Academy, who have a collaboration with many Risk 2 providers around Sweden.

You can book your Risk 1 in English or Risk 2 in English here.

 

Step 5 – Take your Driving exams (theory and driving)

This is your final step to obtain your Swedish Driver’s License! These tests are both taken at Trafikverket Förarprov. You can either book the tests yourself (book in advance) or you can go through My Driving Academy, where we take care of this for you (including an ‘Education Control’ drive where we will determine how ready you are for the exam, to maximise your chances of passing first time!)

 

Here are some good resources to help you further:

Trafikverket (https://www.trafikverket.se/en/startpage/)
Trafikverket.se have some great information available in different languages, including this cool ‘Road to getting your license’ to visually depicted when to do each of the above steps:

 

My Driving Academy – us! (www.mydrivingacademy.com/en)

We drive in 8 cities around Sweden and offer a full service in English in most of our locations, including Stockholm, Uppsala, Göteborg, Gävle and Umeå. We also have driving teachers who teach in English at all of our driving locations. Our app, ’Mitt Körkort’ is available in English, and also includes a chat feature that you’re encouraged to use if you have any questions about getting your Swedish driving license – we’re here to help!

 

Transport Styrelsen (https://transportstyrelsen.se/en/road/)

These guys are where you will get your permits and official documentation from.

 

I hope this has cleared things up a bit. Good luck with getting your Swedish driving license and stay safe on the road 🙂

 

– Sheona (an Aussie in Stockholm) from My Driving Academy