# Exchanging an EU Driving License in Cyprus > EU driving licenses stay valid in Cyprus without exchange. When a swap becomes mandatory, the RTD's TOM 7D procedure, documents, fees and timelines. - Canonical: https://periodiko.com/exchange-eu-driving-license-cyprus/ - Updated: 2026-07-05 --- If your driving license was issued by an EU or EEA member state, you do not have to exchange it when you move to Cyprus. EU licenses are mutually recognized under Directive 2006/126/EC, so your Latvian, German, Greek or Polish license stays valid on Cypriot roads until the expiry date printed on it. Exchange only becomes an obligation in a handful of specific situations — and when it does, it is a paperwork exercise at the Road Transport Department (Τμήμα Οδικών Μεταφορών), with no driving test and no theory exam. This guide covers exactly when you can keep your home license, when exchange stops being optional, and how the exchange procedure works in practice. ## Do you have to exchange your EU license at all? Usually, no. As long as your license is valid, Cyprus must recognize it — that is EU law, not Cypriot discretion. You can register as a resident, buy and insure a car, and drive for years on your original license. The Road Transport Department's own guidance confirms that EU citizens exchange voluntarily; only holders of licenses from certain non-EU countries are obliged to swap after taking up residence. There are four situations where exchange (or renewal into a Cypriot license) stops being optional: - **Your license expires.** Once Cyprus is your country of normal residence, you cannot renew with your home country's authority — EU rules require you to renew where you live. Renewal in Cyprus means you receive a Cypriot license. - **Your license is lost, stolen or damaged.** The replacement is issued by your country of residence, i.e. Cyprus. - **Your license has no expiry date.** Some older licenses are valid indefinitely; after two years of normal residence, the host country may require you to exchange it. - **You commit certain traffic offences in Cyprus.** Authorities can require a local license so that local penalty rules apply to it. One more constraint worth knowing: you may only hold one EU driving license at a time. Exchanging means surrendering the original — Cyprus sends it back to the issuing country. You cannot keep both. ## Why would you exchange voluntarily? Three practical reasons come up repeatedly among EU movers: - **A license expiring soon anyway.** If your license runs out next year, exchanging now and renewing later are the same trip to the same office; some people prefer to get it over with on their own schedule. - **A Cypriot address on file.** Some interactions — police stops, car-rental excess disputes, insurance claims — go marginally smoother when your license matches your country of residence. This is convenience, not a legal requirement. - **Validity period.** Cyprus issues standard car licenses with 15-year validity, which can be longer than what your home country grants. Renewals for drivers aged 70 and over are valid for three years. If none of these matter to you, keeping your home license until it expires is a perfectly sound default — and it is what most EU citizens in Cyprus do. ## Where do you apply? Exchange is handled by the Road Transport Department (RTD, Τμήμα Οδικών Μεταφορών) of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works. The RTD's guidance states that applicants must appear **in person** at the District Driver Examiner Offices — there are district offices in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos. Some secondary sources report that Citizen Service Centres (KEP) also accept these applications; the RTD's own page on foreign-license conversion names only the district offices, so treat KEP acceptance as unconfirmed. There is no fully online route for the exchange itself: the RTD needs your original license and your physical presence. ## What documents do you need? According to the Road Transport Department, the file you bring should contain: - **Form TOM 7D** — the application for the issue of a driving license (downloadable from the RTD website, also available at the office). - **One recent photo**, 45 × 35 mm. - **Your identity document**: for EU citizens, passport or national ID card (original plus copy), together with your Registration Certificate for EU citizens (the "yellow slip", MEU1), original and copy. - **Your driving license** — original plus a copy of all pages/sides. - **A certified translation of the license** if it is not in Greek or English. EU licenses use the harmonized format with standardized fields, but the RTD's document list still includes the translation requirement for licenses in other languages. - **Evidence of normal residence in Cyprus** — see the residence section below for what qualifies. Bring originals and copies of everything; the office keeps the copies and, on the day your Cypriot license is issued, your original foreign license. ## How much does it cost and how long does it take? The fee for issuing the license is €40, waived for applicants aged 65 and over. The counter procedure itself is quick — on the order of half an hour if your file is complete. You are issued a temporary driving license on the spot, valid throughout Cyprus, so there is no period when you cannot drive. The plastic card follows later: secondary sources consistently report two to three weeks, with an SMS notification when it is ready for collection. No driving test, theory test or driving lessons are required at any point — the exchange is administrative recognition of a license you already hold. Before issuing, Cyprus checks with your issuing country that the license has not been restricted, suspended or withdrawn, which is a standard EU-wide verification step rather than something you need to arrange. ## Do you need a medical certificate? For most applicants, no. The RTD requires a medical certificate only if: - you are **70 years old or over**, or - you are exchanging a license that includes **lorry or bus categories** — C, C+E, C1, C1+E, D, D+E, D1 or D1+E. If you hold an ordinary car (B) or motorcycle (A) license and are under 70, no medical examination is part of the process. Note that once you carry a Cypriot license, you are subject to Cyprus's renewal rules going forward, including the three-year renewal cycle and medical requirements from age 70. ## What counts as "normal residence" in Cyprus? You can only exchange your license in Cyprus if Cyprus is your country of normal residence — defined across the EU as the place you live for at least 185 days per calendar year because of personal or occupational ties. The RTD applies exactly this test and asks for evidence of it. In practice, useful evidence includes your Registration Certificate for EU citizens, a rental agreement or property deed, utility bills in your name, or an employer's letter. The flip side matters too: if you are in Cyprus for a stay of under six months — a season, a posting, a long visit — you are not normally resident, and you generally cannot (and need not) exchange. Your EU license simply remains valid for driving as a visitor. ## A caveat on conflicting information Some Cypriot insurance and relocation websites state that EU license holders are "obliged" to exchange within six months of arrival. That does not match either EU law or the Road Transport Department's own published guidance, which applies the mandatory six-month exchange only to holders of licenses from designated non-EU countries and describes exchange for EU citizens as voluntary. If an official at a counter tells you otherwise, ask them to point to the legal basis — the governing text is the Driving License Law of 2001 (as amended), which transposes the EU directive.