Exchanging a foreign driving licence for a Slovak one: deadlines, documents and how not to lose category CE (2026)

First things first: who has to exchange and who does not

This guide covers driving licences issued outside the EU/EEA. Only a driver with a Slovak temporary or permanent residence permit can exchange their licence.

One exception: Ukrainian drivers under temporary protection (dočasné útočisko) neither can nor have to exchange it — the police will not accept the application. They keep driving on the Ukrainian licence, which is recognised across the EU for as long as temporary protection lasts.

When to apply

• For the first 185 days from the date the residence permit was granted you may legally drive on your foreign licence.
• The exchange application must be filed within 60 days after those 185 days expire — in practice roughly between day 186 and day 245 from the grant of residence.
• Miss the window and your foreign licence becomes invalid in Slovakia. Driving on it is treated as driving without a licence.

Basic set of documents for any category

Your photo and signature are taken on the spot when you apply; do not bring your own photos. There is no exam at all, neither theory nor practical: a category is recognised if it is the same as or broader than the Slovak one.

• A valid identity document: your passport and your residence permit card (pobytová karta).
• The original of your valid foreign driving licence. It is handed over to the police no later than when the Slovak licence is issued and is then sent back to the issuing country.
• A certified translation of the licence into Slovak by a sworn translator (úradný prekladateľ).
• Confirmation from the issuing country's authority that the licence was issued, listing the categories — the certificate from the issuing country, also with a certified translation.
• Proof that the administrative fee has been paid.

Category CE: two documents without which it is cancelled

For categories C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D and DE two documents are added to the basic set:

• Doklad o zdravotnej spôsobilosti (certificate of medical fitness) — issued by a Slovak general practitioner (všeobecný lekár). Need help arranging it? Message us on WhatsApp.
• Doklad o psychickej spôsobilosti (certificate of psychological fitness) — issued by a psychologist certified in traffic psychology (dopravná psychológia). Need help arranging it? Message us on WhatsApp.

Fees and issuing times

Fees valid since 1 April 2024.

• Standard processing: €10, up to 30 days.
• Fast-track processing: €40, up to 2 working days.

Where to apply

At the document department (oddelenie dokladov) of any district police directorate (okresné riaditeľstvo Policajného zboru) for your place of residence. Applications are accepted in person only.

The certificate from the issuing country: the bottleneck of the whole process

The confirmation that your licence was issued is where the process most often stalls. It comes from the authority that issued the licence — not from your embassy. Consulates usually have no access to their country's driving-licence databases; the Ukrainian Embassy in Bratislava, for example, does not issue it. The chain looks like this:

• A certificate from the issuing authority in your home country confirming the licence was issued and which categories it covers (for Ukraine: a service centre of the Ministry of the Interior, still commonly called MREO).
• An apostille or other legalisation of that certificate, done in the issuing country.
• A sworn translation into Slovak, done in Slovakia.

Only need help with the exchange itself?

Not looking for a job, just want the exchange done without mistakes and without losing a category? We handle it as a standalone service: we build a timeline around your residence date, order the certificate from the issuing country, arrange the medical and psychological examinations and the sworn translation, and check the full document set before you file. This is a paid service.

• Message us on WhatsApp
• Or by email: info@alsgroup.sk

What this means for a carrier

Once a non-EU driver is granted residence, there are roughly eight months until the window closes — and a good part of that goes on the certificate from the issuing country. A driver who misses the deadline cannot legally drive; a driver who exchanged the licence without the medical and psychological certificates cannot drive a truck. We factor this in when sourcing drivers for transport companies: residence status and the status of the licence are checked before we propose a candidate.