Swedes living in Asia ought to pay attention: Under a bill before the Riksdag, new rules will come into force that will affect people who are permanently resident abroad and who wish to renew their Swedish driving licence.
If you have a Swedish driving licence and live abroad, you can use your Swedish licence for as long as it is valid. Beyond this date, the licence must be renewed. If you are permanently resident in a country within the EEA, you can exchange your driving licence for a licence issued by the competent authorities in the country of your residency. The proposed rule changes mean that if you are permanent resident in a country outside the EEA, you can no longer renew your Swedish driving licence; instead the driving licence rules of the country where you are a permanent resident will apply.
The EEA includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
The new rules will apply as of 1 May 2017. Until then the current rules apply.
To renew your Swedish driving licence, you must submit a complete application in good time so that the Swedish Transport Agency has time to process your application before the new rules enter into force.
Source: Sweden’s Foreign Ministry
Dear Bo,
Danish citizens have lived with this nuisance for a while. If you try to renew your Danish license, and they notice that the person requesting renewal lives in Thailand, the Danish police will refuse to give you a new Danish license. They ask you to get a Thai driving license. This is not so difficult, but not really easy either. When you are a holder of a Thai driving license, every year before going to Denmark, the Danish citizen will have to go to the Thai driving license office and apply for an International driving license (just like in the past you would have to have an International license to drive on Thailand). There is nothing much to do about it. We are just peasants… we have to follow our masters directions 🙂
Kind regards Gregers
The knowledge of authorities about realities is limited about this issue. May I ask and get a reply, is my thai driving license valid in Europe, if I return for a short or longer visit to any European country and must rent a car to be able to visit friends and shop? These authorities should ask that question before they present such a law? If not, I am unable to return to Europe without my Swedish driving licence renewed.
Bo Jonsson