Renewing your Dutch driving licence in Brazil
If you live in Brazil and your Dutch driving licence has expired (or has almost expired), you either can renew your Dutch licence or exchange it for a Brazilian one. This depends on how long you will be staying in Brazil.
I will be staying longer than 6 months
If you will be staying in Brazil for longer than 6 months, you will need a Brazilian driving licence. You can submit an application to an office of the Secretaria Nacional de Trânsito (SENATRAN) (information in Portuguese). When you exchange your driving licence you need to hand in your Dutch licence. It will be returned to the Netherlands Vehicle Authority (RDW). You don't need to retake your driving test because you are handing in your Dutch driving licence.
What do I need?
If you want to apply for a Brazilian driving licence you will need to do a number of tests:
- a written test, in Portuguese
- a physical test (eyesight)
- a psychological test.
If you pass the tests you will be issued with a Brazilian driving licence that is valid for 5 years. You will need to renew your licence every 5 years.
Moving back to the Netherlands
If you are moving back to the Netherlands you can ask the RDW to exchange your Brazilian driving licence for a new Dutch one. Find out more about exchanging a foreign driving licence for a Dutch licence.
I will be staying less than 6 months
If you will be staying in Brazil for less than 6 months and your driving licence has expired (or has almost expired), you can renew it via the Netherlands Vehicle Authority (RDW). Follow the steps to apply for a new driving licence.
Step 1: Check whether you meet the conditions
You can renew your Dutch driving licence from abroad via the RDW in the Netherlands. This is only possible if you:
- are a Dutch national or a national of another EU/EFTA country
- live outside the EU or the EFTA. Or you live in Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba
- are not a registered resident in the Netherlands
Do you not meet the conditions? Than you cannot renew your Dutch driving licence abroad. Instead you must exchange your Dutch driving licence for a local driving licence. Read how to exchange your Dutch driving licence.
Step 2: Request an application form
You need an application form to renew your Dutch driving licence. Request the application form via the RDW in the Netherlands. The RDW will send the application form to a correspondence address in the Netherlands of your choice.
Step 3: Collect the right documents
You will need the following original documents:
- your Dutch driving licence
- a photocopy of your valid travel document, e.g. a passport or identity card
- a completed and signed application form (the original form, no copy or scan)
- 1 colour passport photo that meets Dutch passport photo requirements and is less than 6 months old.
In the following situations you will need to supply additional documents. Click on the situation(s) that applies (apply) to you for more information.
You will also need a declaration of medical fitness (Verklaring van Geschiktheid, VvG) from the Central Office for Motor Vehicle Driver Testing (CBR). This declaration states that you are physically and mentally fit to drive. You will need to fill in a health declaration to obtain this document, using your DigiD.
Complete a health declaration (CBR.nl)
You will also need a declaration of medical fitness (Verklaring van Geschiktheid, VvG) from the Central Office for Motor Vehicle Driver Testing (CBR). This declaration states that you are physically and mentally fit to drive. You will need to fill in a health declaration to obtain this document, using your DigiD.
Complete a health declaration (CBR.nl)
You will also need a declaration of medical fitness (Verklaring van Geschiktheid, VvG) from the Central Office for Motor Vehicle Driver Testing (CBR). This declaration states that you are physically and mentally fit to drive. You will need to fill in a health declaration to obtain this document, using your DigiD.
Complete a health declaration (CBR.nl)
Read more about the declaration of medical fitness (RDW.nl)
You must also undergo a medical examination conducted by a doctor who is recognised by the CBR. This is not always easy to arrange if you are abroad. Contact the CBR to ask what the options are.
You can also decide to permanently or temporarily renounce your category C or D licence. In that case you will also need to complete a waiver (afstandsverklaring). You can obtain this form from the RDW. On the form, tick the boxes of the categories you wish to renounce. You can ask for these categories to be reinstated at a later date.
When you wish to reinstate a category you previously renounced, you will need to undergo a medical examination and apply for a declaration of medical fitness for driving category C and/or D vehicles.
You will also need a declaration of medical fitness (Verklaring van Geschiktheid, VvG) from the Central Office for Motor Vehicle Driver Testing (CBR). This declaration states that you are physically and mentally fit to drive. You will need to fill in a health declaration to obtain this document, using your DigiD.
Complete a health declaration (CBR.nl)
You will need to show where you are now living. You can do this by submitting proof of deregistration from the Central Population Registers Office from the municipality of The Hague, or a certificate of residence drawn up in the last 6 months. A Dutch embassy or consulate or the foreign municipality where you live can provide you with a certificate of residence.
If you are studying abroad but your parents or guardians live in the Netherlands, please provide the following additional documents in Dutch or English:
- proof that you are registered as living at your current address abroad
- proof of enrolment with an educational institution abroad
- proof of your personal ties to the Netherlands.
Step 4: Submit your documents
Send all the documents needed for your application to the RDW:
RDW, Unit Rijbewijzen
Postbus 9000
9640 HA Veendam
Nederland
Step 5: Pay the fee
Pay the fee for your application for a new driving licence. Scroll to ‘Kosten’ on the RDW's website to find out what the fee is and how to pay it.
After your application has been assessed, the RDW will process your application within 10 working days.
Does RDW approve your application? Then it will take 5 working days before you receive your new driving licence at your correspondence address in the Netherlands.
If your application is rejected you will receive a letter explaining why.