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Brits told their driving licences will be accepted in Sweden after December 31st

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Brits told their driving licences will be accepted in Sweden after December 31st
But Brits may want to consider swapping their licence anyway. Photo: Dom J/Pexels

British driving licences will still be valid in Sweden after the transition period ends on December 31st, regardless of whether or not the holder already lives in Sweden, the Swedish transport ministry has told The Local.

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Holders of UK driving licences will be able to continue using their licence in Sweden after the transition period ends, even if they have been living in Sweden for more than a year, the Swedish government has decided.

This means that even after December 31st, Brits will not have to swap their licence for a Swedish one after a year after taking up residence. 

Normally, if a licence was issued in an EEA country you can continue using it for as long as it's valid, but if it's a non-EEA licence it will only remain valid for up to a year after you've registered as a Swedish resident.

"Sweden and the UK enjoy close cooperation hat will continue to develop even after Brexit. That's why the government has decided that the more than 15,000 Brits who are registered residents in Sweden should be able to keep using their national driving licences," said Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth in a statement last week.

The decision applies to all British licences, not just those belonging to Brits who are already living in Sweden before the transition period ends, a spokesperson for the transport ministry confirmed to The Local on Monday.

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It is worth noting, as the British Embassy in Sweden does on its Facebook page, that "UK licences are connected to a UK address, so you may still need to exchange if you take up long term residence in Sweden".

Many Brits may already have changed their licences when they were advised to do so by Swedish authorities more than a year ago. The Swedish transport ministry told The Local last year that they hoped to have a permanent solution in place well before March this year, but on Monday morning a spokesperson told us that the coronavirus pandemic had "unfortunately delayed a lot of case processes, among others this one".

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