Driving School for Foreigners & Expats in Amsterdam

Getting a Dutch driving licence as a foreigner is really two problems wearing one coat: the paperwork and the driving. At Rij & Theorie Centraal we deal with both. We teach in English, we tell you first whether you can simply exchange the licence already in your wallet, and if you cannot, we take you from your very first lesson to the day you pass your CBR exam.

One phone call is usually enough to know where you stand.

Before you book a single lesson

The most expensive mistake internationals make in this country is buying a lesson package before checking whether an exchange is possible. It happens constantly, and it costs thousands of euros that nobody needed to spend. So start here.

If your licence was issued in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, you can exchange it for a Dutch licence without sitting any exams. Your licence also stays valid here until its expiry date, so there is no panic — but once it expires, the exchange becomes necessary.

If you have the 30% ruling, this is the route people overlook most often. When the Belastingdienst has granted you the 30% facility, you can exchange a valid licence from any country in the world, regardless of which lists it appears on. Within the RDW's terms this can extend to your partner and family members. Take the Belastingdienst letter with you to the municipality, and do not leave it until your ruling is about to run out.

If your licence comes from a country with an exchange agreement, the same applies. The Netherlands has arrangements with a limited group of countries outside the EU, among them Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Israel, Andorra, Monaco and the Canadian provinces of Québec and Alberta. Several of these cover category B only. There is also a residence condition attached: you must have lived in the issuing country for at least 185 days in the year your licence was issued, and passport stamps, payslips or tax documents are the usual proof.

If you once held a Dutch licence that was valid after 30 June 1985 and gave it up for a foreign one, exchange is possible even from a country that is not on the list.

And if none of that describes you — a Turkish, Moroccan, American, Indian, Brazilian, Australian or Chinese licence with no 30% ruling behind it — then the answer is simply no. You take the Dutch theory and practical exams, even if you have been driving competently for twenty years. That is the point at which we become useful to you.

The RDW is the only authority that decides any of this, so check your own situation on rdw.nl before spending anything. If you cannot work out which category you fall into, call us. We will tell you honestly, including when the honest answer is that you do not need a driving school at all.

The clock starts at your BRP registration

A licence from outside the EU and EEA is valid in the Netherlands for 185 days after you register in the BRP at your municipality. Not 185 days from the moment you feel settled, not from when you find a flat — from your registration date. After that you are driving without a valid licence, with everything that means for fines and for your insurance.

If you can exchange, start early: the municipality and the RDW need a few weeks, and an expired licence cannot be exchanged at all. If you cannot exchange, start immediately, because those 185 days include finding a school, passing your theory and then waiting for an exam slot. In the Amsterdam region the CBR waiting time is the real bottleneck, not your progress behind the wheel.

How the exchange works

The exchange itself is a municipal procedure, not something a driving school can do for you. In Amsterdam you apply at a Stadsloket, by appointment, and you bring your valid foreign licence, a passport or ID card, your residence permit if you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, and a colour passport photograph no older than six months that meets the official requirements. Licences written in a script not used here — Japanese, Greek, Arabic, Cyrillic — need a translation from a sworn translator, the embassy or the consulate.

One document catches people out. If your licence was issued outside the EU or EEA, you need an approved Gezondheidsverklaring from the CBR before the exchange can go through. It is a prerequisite rather than something you can arrange alongside, and an unapproved declaration stops everything behind it.

You hand in your foreign licence when you apply, and you will not get it back. Ask the Stadsloket what applies to you during processing, because the rules on driving in that window are narrow and vary by country. There is no fast-track procedure. Your Dutch licence will carry the same categories as your foreign one, provided those categories exist in the Dutch system — and since a designated-country exchange sometimes covers category B alone, check that before you ship a motorcycle over. An international driving permit, incidentally, is only a certified translation of a national licence and cannot be exchanged for anything.

If you cannot exchange: the route with us

It begins with a trial lesson, because there is no honest way to estimate your programme without sitting next to you in traffic. Afterwards you get a realistic number of lessons rather than a package chosen for our convenience, and we look at which instructor suits you best. The connection between a student and an instructor is not a soft detail; it shows up directly in how fast you progress.

Then theory, which you must pass before any practical exam can be reserved for you. Lessons run in parallel or after, in English, with a fixed instructor. Somewhere before the exam we usually recommend an interim test — a full rehearsal that does not count towards your licence, and for internationals it is worth every cent. Finally we reserve your practical exam at the CBR and drive with you to the exam centre. Once you pass, you collect the physical licence at your own municipality.

The theory exam in English

The CBR offers the car theory exam in English. It is the same exam as the Dutch one at the same standard, only the language differs. You answer fifty questions in thirty minutes and need forty-four correct to pass. Since April 2025 the exam is no longer divided into separate blocks for hazard perception, knowledge and insight; all three are examined, mixed together across those fifty questions. Your certificate is then valid for eighteen months for category B, which is your window to pass the practical exam.

Do not underestimate it. Dutch theory leans hard on hazard perception and priority rules, and a substantial share of candidates fails at the first attempt. Two things catch internationals out in particular: the priority of cyclists and the rules at roundabouts, and the shared-space logic of Amsterdam streets, where trams, bikes, scooters and pedestrians all hold a legitimate claim on the same stretch of asphalt.

Support is available if you need it. The CBR offers an exam with extra time, at a surcharge that is refunded on proof of dyslexia, and an individually supervised exam in a separate room for candidates dealing with test anxiety, autism or concentration difficulties. An exam with an official interpreter is possible in other languages, though you book the interpreter yourself through an approved agency at least two weeks in advance and pay their fee separately.

We give theory training in both Dutch and English, including a one-day intensive course, and you can prepare in your own time through Theoriebank.nl, our own app, which is included in our lesson packages.

The practical exam is not held in English

This is the thing people discover too late. The CBR does not offer the car practical exam in English, and your examiner will give directions in Dutch.

The good news is that the vocabulary is small, fixed and entirely predictable. Around fifteen expressions cover almost everything you will hear across the drive. We use them in Dutch from your first lesson onwards, so that on exam day they register as familiar sounds rather than a language you are decoding while merging onto a ring road.

Rechtdoor	Straight on
Bij de eerste weg rechtsaf	First road on the right
Aan het einde van de weg linksaf	Left at the end of the road
Links aanhouden / rechts aanhouden	Keep left / keep right
Neem de tweede afslag	Take the second exit
Volg de borden richting Zaandam	Follow the signs towards Zaandam
Volg de weg	Follow the road
Voorrang verlenen	Give way
Invoegen / uitvoegen	Merge onto / exit the motorway
Rijd hier maar rechts aan de kant	Pull over on the right here
Keren	Turn around
Achteruit inparkeren	Reverse into a parking space
Bocht achteruit	Reverse around a corner
Zelfstandig rijden	Independent driving, no directions given
Rij maar weg wanneer je klaar bent	Set off when you are ready

For most people that list is enough. If your Dutch is genuinely at zero, ask us about the interpreter option and we will tell you plainly whether it is worth the cost in your situation.

What lessons with us look like

An instructor who actually speaks English

Not a Dutch instructor improvising in broken English while you guess at what went wrong. Clutch control, priority, roundabouts and hazard perception get explained in a language you think in, which is the difference between understanding a rule and memorising a sentence about it.

Goals rather than hours

You and your instructor set the goals for each lesson together and go through them at the end: what you achieved, what still needs work. You always know where you are in the process instead of counting lessons and hoping.

Real Amsterdam traffic

Cyclists on your right, trams on your left, scooters arriving from nowhere and a delivery van double-parked in a one-way street. We do not shelter you from any of it. Learning to read this city is the entire point, and it is precisely what makes you a calm driver everywhere else in the country.

We come to you

Anywhere in Amsterdam, and outside the city as well. Fixed pick-up and drop-off points at Amstelstation, Zuid WTC and Sloterdijk station, or at your home or office.

Automatic or manual

Both are available. Most internationals choose automatic because it is faster to learn, but a licence obtained in an automatic is restricted to automatic cars under code 78. If you plan to drive a manual later, or to rent cars elsewhere in Europe, learn in a manual from the start and accept the extra lessons.

Tailored where it matters

Several of our instructors have specific experience with students who have ADHD, autism or test anxiety. They adapt the programme and the pace of traffic participation to the student rather than the other way around. Dutch instructors are also required to retake their instructor examination periodically, which is why our teaching keeps pace with changes at the CBR instead of lagging a few years behind them.

What it costs

There are two separate streams to budget for. The CBR charges its own fees for the theory exam, the practical exam and the interim test, with a higher rate for the English-language theory exam and for the faalangstexamen; these are published on cbr.nl and adjusted every January, so check the current figures there rather than trusting any driving school's website, including this one. Alongside that come your lessons, our administration fee, the use of the car on exam day, the Gezondheidsverklaring and the municipal fee for the licence itself.

Contact us for our current lesson packages. And if you are working to a deadline — a contract end date, an expiring permit, a job that starts with a company car — say so at the first contact, and we will plan the whole programme backwards from it.

About the CBR

The CBR is the Dutch statutory body responsible for driving tests. It administers roughly half a million theory exams and half a million practical exams every year across some two hundred test centres. It only examines; instruction is left entirely to private driving schools such as ours. That division is worth understanding, because it means the CBR sets the standard and your school is the only thing standing between you and it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take driving lessons in English in Amsterdam?

Yes. All lessons, explanations and feedback are given in English. Only the standard exam directions are practised in Dutch, because the practical exam itself is conducted in Dutch.

Can I take the CBR theory exam in English?

Yes. The car theory exam is available in English at a slightly higher fee than the Dutch version. The content and the pass mark are identical: forty-four correct answers out of fifty, in thirty minutes.

Can I take the practical exam in English?

No. The CBR does not offer the car practical exam in English. The examiner gives directions in Dutch, which is why we train you on the fixed set of exam instructions during your lessons.

Can I exchange my foreign driving licence for a Dutch one?

It depends on where the licence was issued and on your own situation. EU, EEA and Swiss licences can be exchanged without exams, as can licences from the countries on the RDW's list, and holders of the 30% ruling can exchange a valid licence from anywhere. The RDW decides, so check rdw.nl.

I have a US driving licence. Can I exchange it?

Not on the licence alone, since US states are not on the RDW's list. The realistic routes are the 30% ruling or the CBR theory and practical exams.

Does the 30% ruling really let me skip the exams?

Yes, that is exactly what it does, for a valid licence from any country, and within the RDW's terms it can extend to family members.

How long can I drive on my foreign licence after moving here?

A licence from outside the EU and EEA is valid for 185 days after your BRP registration. An EU or EEA licence remains valid until its expiry date.

Do I need a BSN and a Dutch address to start?

You must be registered with a Dutch municipality to apply for a licence or to obtain a Gezondheidsverklaring. You can start taking lessons before that, but begin the administration early, because it takes time.

How many lessons will I need?

There is no standard answer for internationals. An experienced driver adapting to Dutch rules needs far fewer than a first-time driver in Amsterdam. You get a realistic estimate after your trial lesson.

How long is my theory certificate valid?

Eighteen months for category B. If you have not passed your practical exam within that period, you must retake the theory exam.

Do you offer intensive courses?

Yes. If you are on a deadline we can compress your programme, though CBR waiting times set the real limit, so ask us about those as well.

Do you help with the paperwork?

We handle everything on the CBR side: registration, exam bookings and scheduling. The municipal and RDW steps you take yourself, but we tell you what to bring and in what order.

Ready to find out where you stand?

Tell us three things — where your licence was issued, when you registered in the BRP, and whether you have the 30% ruling. That is enough for us to map your route.

Book a trial lesson with Rij & Theorie Centraal Amsterdam. We reply within a few hours, and by phone we are available six days a week between 08:30 and 20:00.