The foreigner pathVeien for utlendinger

The short version

• Licence from an EEA country (plus the UK and Switzerland): valid in Norway for as long as the licence itself is valid. You drive on exactly the categories printed on it, but Norwegian health rules apply to you, and national categories that fall outside the international classes do not exist here.
• Licence from outside the EEA: normally valid for 3 months from the day you arrive in Norway.
• Residence permit valid for more than 3 months plus a current work contract: your national licence is valid for up to 6 months. You must carry both the residence permit and the work contract while driving.
• Visiting with a foreign-registered car: up to 1 year, if the vehicle is only temporarily in Norway and you are not a resident.
• Once you register as a resident (fast bopel) with a non-EEA licence: you may drive for 3 months counted from the date you were registered in the National Population Register — regardless of any earlier temporary stay. After that you must either exchange the licence (if your country qualifies) or obtain a Norwegian licence the ordinary way.

Is your licence even recognised?

For a non-EEA licence to count at all, it must be issued under the Geneva Convention of 1949 or the Vienna Convention of 1968 (or follow the EU/EEA card model). A national-model licence is accepted when accompanied by an authorised translation into Norwegian. You may need an international driving permit in addition to your national licence if:

• the licence has no photo, or
• the text is not in the Latin alphabet (for example Arabic, Cyrillic or Japanese), or
• the categories do not follow the international classes from the Geneva or Vienna conventions.

Norwegian minimum ages always apply — for class B (car) that is 18 years.

Country-specific exceptions

• UK and Switzerland: treated like EEA licences.
• Japan: a class B licence is valid for up to 1 year.
• Ukraine: valid while the scheme giving Ukrainians temporary collective protection is in force; the driving right must be documented with a valid physical licence.

If you settle permanently

The moment you take up permanent residence in Norway, the ordinary Norwegian rules start to apply to you. If your licence can be exchanged, you are expected to exchange it; if it cannot be exchanged, you must acquire Norwegian driving rights like a first-time applicant (training, theory test, practical test).

Health

Norwegian health requirements (helsekrav) apply to you as a driver in Norway. For an EEA licence held with permanent residence, the health checks in Norwegian law — including renewal with a medical certificate from the age of 80 — apply. If you have a condition that affects your ability to drive, get it checked rather than assuming your home licence settles the matter.

Check your own case before you drive

Rules differ by the country that issued your licence, by your permit type and by whether you have registered as a resident. When in doubt, look up the page for your country on vegvesen.no (Utenlandsk førerkort i Norge) before you rely on the 3-month or 6-month clock.

Two tracks

1. EEA licence → direct exchange, no tests. You hand in your original licence and get a Norwegian one in the equivalent categories. No theory test, no practical test, no mandatory courses and no health self-declaration. Your licence is sent back to the issuing country.

2. Licence from a listed non-EEA country → exchange after tests. The list is: Australia, Canada, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea and USA. Greenland, Switzerland, the UK and Japan have their own rules (see below). If your country is not on the list, your licence cannot be exchanged — you have to take a Norwegian licence from scratch (training + theory + practical test).

How to apply

• Fill in the paper application form (Søknad om førerkort og kompetansebevis). EEA track: do NOT fill in the health self-declaration.
• Book an appointment at a trafikkstasjon (or send it by post — but if you post it you lose the right to the temporary driving permit).
• Bring: the completed form, your original foreign licence, valid photo ID (a passport is the safe choice), a passport photo if a new one is needed, and — for the listed-country track — proof of residence (bostedsattest) or documentation of when you moved to/returned to Norway.
• Health: for light classes you only need an eye/medical certificate if the health self-declaration flags it; heavy classes (lorry/bus) always need a medical certificate. A medical certificate must be the original and no older than 3 months when received.

What the listed-country track costs you in effort

• A police conduct check (vandelskontroll) is run when you apply — normally up to 4 weeks, sometimes longer.
• You must pass the theory test (no limit on attempts) and the practical test in class B.
• You get only two attempts at the class B practical test. Fail both and the right to exchange class B is gone — you would then need the full Norwegian training path. For motorcycles the same two-attempt rule applies, and for BE/heavy classes two attempts on the practical test.
• After a positive decision you have 2 years from the decision date to complete the exchange. If it lapses you must apply again.
• The Norwegian licence is ordered at a trafikkstasjon once you have passed, and arrives by post in about a week.

Special countries

• Greenland: class B (from 1995) can be exchanged after the practical test only — no theory test.
• Switzerland: exchanged under the EEA rules.
• UK: exchanged under the EEA rules, but the British authorities must confirm your entitlements.
• Japan: a class B licence can be exchanged without any test if you apply within 1 year of taking up residence (a temporary driving permit can be issued).

After the exchange

Norwegian light classes (AM, A1, A2, A, B, BE) issued on exchange are normally valid for 15 years. Heavy classes (C, CE, D, DE and the C1/D1 family) get the validity of the licence you handed in, or 5 years from when you took up residence — whichever is shorter. If you present a medical certificate, the heavy classes are set to 5 years from the certificate date.

Timing and eligibility details

• You must have had a full (unrestricted) driving right when you moved to Norway, and it must still be valid when you apply. A licence carrying restrictions from the issuing country cannot be exchanged.
• If your licence text is not in English, French or German, you need an international driving permit OR an approved translation into Norwegian along with it.
• You must be registered as a resident in Norway (folkeregisteret) to be issued a Norwegian licence. With a D-number and no registered residence you will normally not get one.
• Classes equivalent to AM, S and T cannot be exchanged.

If you got your EEA licence by swapping a licence from outside the EEA

Then your application is normally judged by the rules for the country where you originally took the licence. E.g. a Spanish licence obtained by swapping a US licence is treated as a US licence. There are narrow exceptions: if you extended your rights in the EEA country, if you passed theory and practical tests when exchanging, or if you have had valid driving rights in one or more EEA states continuously for at least 10 years before moving to Norway.

First question: are you exchanging, or starting from scratch?

• Exchanging an EEA licence, or a licence from the listed countries (Australia, Canada, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea, USA) plus Switzerland and the UK: no Norwegian courses are required at all. Your path is theory test + practical test (EEA: nothing). Do not let anyone sell you glattkjøring because you are foreign.
• Everyone else (a non-exchangeable licence, or no licence) must go through the Norwegian training trinn for a class B licence. Adults enter this path at different points depending on age and previous rights.

The class B training path (trinn)

Trinn 1 – Trafikalt grunnkurs. 17 teaching hours spread over at least 5 sessions: 10 hours on traffic and the driver's role, 4 hours on duties after a traffic accident and first aid (including 1 hour of practical training around an arranged accident), and 3 hours on being a road user in the dark (mørkekjøring). You must be 15 to start it. Completing it gives you the learner-driver permit (øvelseskjøringsbevis) that lets you practise.

Trinn 2 – Grunnleggende opplæring. Basic vehicle handling and driving technique, on a school car and/or practising privately, ending with a trinnvurdering (an assessment session where you judge your own progress against the goals).

Trinn 3 – Trafikal opplæring. Driving in varied traffic, ending with two things:

• Sikkerhetskurs på øvingsbane — the "glattkjøring" course. It is 4 teaching hours, all at the track: 1 hour of classroom (goals, expectations, reflection), 1 hour on securing people and load, and 2 hours of your own practical driving on the track. The point is to feel how speed, tyres and grip change braking and steering, and how you react in a crisis.
• A second trinnvurdering.

Trinn 4 – Avsluttende opplæring. Sikkerhetskurs på veg, 13 teaching hours: 2 hours classroom on the risks of driving, 5 hours practical rural-road driving, 4 hours planning and driving in varied traffic (at least 3 of them as independent driving), and 2 hours of final reflection.

Then: theory test, practical test.

The 25+ shortcut (and its catch)

If you have turned 25 you are exempt from trafikalt grunnkurs. But the exemption does not exempt you from everything: you must still take opplæring i kjøring i mørket (mørkekjøring) and the teaching on plikter ved trafikkuhell og førstehjelp (duties after an accident and first aid). Note that these are exactly the parts that are otherwise folded into the 17-hour grunnkurs.

A related exemption: if you hold driving rights that are recognised for exchange in Norway, you are also exempt from trafikalt grunnkurs.

Mørkekjøring has a season

The darkness training can only be delivered when it is dark enough — in practice 1 November to 15 March. If you take your practical test between 16 March and 31 October, you may take mørkekjøring afterwards, but your driving right is then only made valid until 31 January of the following year. To avoid an interruption you must take the course and order a new licence card before that date.

Where the courses happen

The courses run at approved driving schools (trafikkskole) or, for trafikalt grunnkurs, also as a school option; completion is registered in the authorities' TSK register. You cannot substitute a course taken abroad, and you cannot start a new trinn before the previous one is registered as complete.

Money and logistics

Driving schools are commercial: prices are set by each school, and the track rental (baneleie) for the glattkjøring course is often charged on top of the course fee. The state fees for the tests are separate again — see the cost guide.

Before you can book

You must have applied for a driving licence first — for an exchange, that means your exchange application must be registered and approved. The application triggers a police conduct check (vandel) that usually takes 2–4 weeks, so start early. For a first-time licence you also need all compulsory training completed and registered.

You book the test yourself on Din side (or a driving school can book for you), and you take it at a trafikkstasjon.

On the day

• Show valid ID — a passport or an EEA national ID card. BankID, student cards and residence-permit cards are not accepted as ID.
• You are photographed for the licence at a photo booth at the station.
• Pay for the photo and the test: 480 kr for the theory test (class B), plus 100 kr if a new photo is taken.
• You sit in a room with other candidates and answer on a PC. Everything must go into a locker: phone, smart watch, earphones, notes, even your watch and water bottle. A dictionary is the only permitted aid (and the test leader will check it for notes).

What class B tests

Class B theory test: 90 minutes, 45 questions, 38 correct answers to pass — at most 7 wrong. Every question has several options with one correct answer. You can move back and forth and change answers until time runs out. The rule in law is that 85 % of the tasks must be answered correctly (trafikkopplæringsforskriften § 29-5); Statens vegvesen's published count for class B is 38 of 45.

The test covers the Norwegian rules, signs, first aid/accident duties, vehicle and traffic understanding — i.e. the Norwegian rule set, not your home country's.

Languages available for class B: Norwegian, Northern Sami, English, Arabic (MSA), Sorani and Turkish. You can switch language during the test. If you need another language, you can apply for an adapted test with an interpreter. You can also get the questions read aloud in Norwegian and ask for extra time — ask the test leader before time runs out.

Results

You see the result on the screen immediately and get a summary showing which themes you answered incorrectly (not the exact questions). Pass: your theory test remains valid as a basis for the practical test for 3 years — if you have not passed the practical test within 3 years, you must sit the theory test again.

If you fail

• You must wait 2 weeks before a new attempt (1 week for classes C, CE, D and DE), and you pay the fee again.
• There is no limit on the number of theory attempts — including on the foreign-licence exchange track.
• Cancellations: you pay for a booked test you do not attend, or cancel later than the penultimate working day before the test.

Cheating

Taking in anything you could cheat with gets the test stopped and can lead to up to 12 months' quarantine before you may try again; serious cases are reported to the police.

Before you can drive up

All of this must be in place:

• Theory test passed. The theory test must be passed before the practical test can even be booked.
• All compulsory training completed and registered (in the TSK register) — or, if you are on the exchange track, the exchange application approved.
• Police conduct check (vandel) approved.
• Any required medical/eye certificate handed in.

You book the test yourself on Din side, or you can give your driving school a power of attorney to book for you. You take it at a trafikkstasjon.

The car

You must provide the test vehicle yourself, and it has to be approved by Statens vegvesen as a test car — in practice you rent it from a driving school, with dual pedals and the examiner's extra mirrors. For class B the car must:

• have a maximum permitted total weight of 3500 kg, be at least 1.5 m wide and have at least 4 seats,
• be able to do at least 100 km/h, with a speedometer the examiner can read from their seat,
• have a second set of pedals, extra mirrors (including one to watch you) and a light over the pedals.

The examiner sits beside you; your instructor may sit in the car if you both want that and conditions allow.

What happens

The test is allocated 75 minutes for class B. It has three parts:

1. Pre-driving preparation — getting the car and yourself ready.
2. Safety check — a random sample of tasks, e.g. checking brakes, washer fluid or lights.
3. Driving — the largest part, roughly 55–60 minutes in varied road and traffic conditions on a pre-set route. The examiner tells you where to go, mostly by naming places you can find on signs, and may ask you to turn around, park or reverse.

The test is assessed as a whole: safe, clear, independent driving; good communication in traffic; economical and comfortable vehicle handling; awareness of what is happening around you. You are the driver and responsible, even though the examiner directs the route. The test can be aborted and failed if the examiner or another road user has to step in to avoid danger, if you run a red light or ignore an absolute sign or marking, or if your behaviour causes real risk or obstruction.

Result and what follows

You are told the result as soon as the test ends, and a failure comes with a written explanation. If you fail you must wait at least 4 weeks before a new attempt (1 week for classes C, CE, D and DE) and pay the fee again. If you fail twice you may demand that the next test is assessed by two examiners.

When you pass you get a temporary driving permit (midlertidig førerbevis) valid only in Norway — you may not drive without one while waiting for the card. Order the licence: on Din side if you qualified normally, at a trafikkstasjon if you are exchanging a foreign licence (or if your photo is old, you changed your name). The card arrives by post in about a week.

If you take the test in an automatic car, your licence gets a code restricting you to automatic cars; driving up with a manual gearbox gives you both.

Special rules on the licence-exchange track

• Class B: you have a total of two attempts at the practical test. If you do not pass in two attempts, the right to exchange class B (and related car classes) is lost.
• For motorcycle classes: two attempts, same principle; for BE/heavy classes: two attempts on the practical test.
• The exchange itself must be completed within 2 years of the positive decision.

State fees (Statens vegvesen), valid from 1 February 2026

| Item | On site (trafikkstasjon) | Online | | --- | --- | --- | | Theory test (teoriprøve) | 480 kr | — | | Practical test, class B (oppkjøring) | 1 540 kr | 1 490 kr | | Issue of a driving licence (utstedelse) | 270 kr | 160 kr | | New photo for the licence | 100 kr | — |

Payment at the station is by Norwegian bank card, Mastercard, contactless mobile/Vipps tap, or cash. Online payment by Visa, Mastercard or Vipps.

What that means for a typical foreign-licence exchange from a listed non-EEA country (Australia, Canada, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea, USA): theory test 480 + practical test 1 540 (paid at the station, and the exchange track orders the licence at the station) + licence issue 270, plus 100 if a new photo is needed. That is roughly 2 390–2 490 kr in state fees.

For an EEA exchange there are no tests: budget the licence issue fee of 270 kr (station), plus 100 kr if you need a new photo.

Everything above assumes no extra medical or eye certificate, no interpreter, no translation of your documents and no travel costs — those come on top.

Driving-school prices

Schools are private businesses and set their own prices; nothing is regulated, and no official national price list exists. This guide deliberately publishes no example prices — they vary too much by town and change too often to copy reliably, and the only figures verified against a named source are the state fees above.

Compare schools properly instead. Ask two or three for a written price list and check the same lines in each:

• price per driving lesson (usually quoted per 45 minutes) — and whether evenings or weekends cost more;
• whether the trinnvurdering sessions are included or billed as ordinary lessons;
• the price of sikkerhetskurs på øvingsbane (glattkjøring) and whether the track rental (baneleie) is charged on top — it often is;
• what a test-day package costs (test car + warm-up lesson) and what happens to it if you fail and need a new attempt;
• roughly how many lessons students usually need before the practical test.

A school that answers all of that in writing before you pay is a good sign.

If you fail

Every repeat attempt is a new payment: 480 kr per extra theory test, 1 490–1 540 kr per extra practical test, plus whatever your school charges for a new test-day car and warm-up lesson. You also pay for booked sessions you miss or cancel too late — Statens vegvesen charges for practical tests cancelled later than the penultimate working day, and schools have their own (often stricter) deadlines.

Ways the bill grows quietly

• Track rental (baneleie) is added on top of the glattkjøring course fee at many schools.
• Medical or eye certificates cost whatever your doctor/optician charges.
• Approved translations of a licence that is not in English, French or German cost money and time.
• Winter testing and long distances to the nearest trafikkstasjon add travel costs in parts of Norway.