Exchanging a foreign driving licence in Cyprus: who must, who may

Two people arrive in Cyprus in the same week with foreign driving licences. One is obliged to exchange it and one is not — and most people guess the wrong way round.

• An EU or EEA licence: you may exchange it, if you wish, after a six-month stay. There is no obligation.
• A recognised non-EU licence: you are obliged to exchange it after a six-month stay.

The instinct is that the EU licence is the one with rules attached. It is the other way about.

Which licences can be exchanged at all

Conversion is possible where the licence comes from a country whose licence is recognised as equivalent to the Cypriot one — that is:

• All European Union member states, and
• The countries listed in the Commissioner's notification

If your country is not on that list, there is no straightforward conversion, and the route is a Cypriot test rather than an exchange. Check the list before making any plans that depend on driving.

Before you can apply: 185 days

A foreign applicant must have resided in Cyprus for at least 185 days.

• A non-EU citizen must also present the Alien Registration Certificate and the residence permit — see residence permits and which number is which if the ARC is new to you
• A student must additionally present a certificate of attendance at a higher education institution covering at least six months

What to bring

• Application form TOM 7D, for the issue of a driver's licence
• Identity card — or, for a foreign national, the Alien Registration Certificate and the passport, both wanted — originals and photocopies
• The foreign driving licence — original and a photocopy of every page
• A translation of the licence, unless it is in Greek or English — original and one photocopy

You attend the District Offices of the Road Transport Department for the issuing stage.

You do not need to bring a photograph. The Department's page still lists a recent 45 × 35 mm print among the documents, but in practice one is not asked for at the counter. Do not pay a photographer for it before you go.

The part nobody warns you about: you do not keep your old licence

The original foreign licence is sent to the competent authority of the country that issued it.

It does not come back to you, and you do not keep it as a souvenir or a spare. Plan around that: if you were relying on it to hire a car on a trip home, or to prove your driving history to an insurer abroad, deal with that before you hand it in. Take good photographs of both sides first.

A note on the translation

The Road Transport Department's page says the translation must be done "by the Press and Information Office through authorised translators".

The PIO stopped translating documents itself in 2019. Since then official translations come from sworn translators on the register, which the PIO publishes. Read the requirement as meaning a translator from that register — see document translation for who qualifies and what it costs.

If your licence is already in Greek or English, you need no translation at all.

Fees and timing

Fees are payable at the District Office and are set by the Road Transport Department; confirm the current amount when you book, rather than relying on a figure from an article. The exchange is governed by the Driving Licence Law of 2001 and its amendments.

Where it goes wrong

Assuming an EU licence must be exchanged. It need not be. If you are happy driving on it, you may.

Assuming a non-EU licence need not be. If it is on the notification list, the obligation bites after six months.

Applying before 185 days. The residence requirement is not waived because you have a residence permit.

Turning up with only one form of identity. A foreign applicant is asked for the ARC and the passport, not one or the other, and a non-EU applicant for the residence permit as well.

Photocopying only the front of the licence. Every page.

Not expecting to lose the original. It goes back to the issuing country.

Paying for a translation you do not need. Greek or English licences need none.

Buying passport photographs first. The list still asks for one; the counter does not.

How we can help

We check first whether your country is on the recognition list, because that single answer decides whether this is an exchange or a driving test — and it is worth knowing before you have been here six months rather than after.

Then we prepare the file: the TOM 7D, the copies of every page, and the sworn translation where the licence is not in Greek or English. We will also tell you plainly what you are giving up when the original goes back, so nothing about that comes as a surprise.