Your driving licence in Greece: valid until it expires, and then € 105 and two doctor's notes

No, you don't have to exchange your Dutch driving licence in Greece. It stays valid until the expiry date printed on it; the European rule is that within the EU you generally have to do nothing when you move. What does change is what happens when it expires: the Netherlands no longer renews a licence for anyone living in another EU country. It then becomes a Greek licence, through the transport directorate of your region, with two medical certificates, fees from € 105 and a processing time of up to 45 days. Whoever wants to go earlier exchanges voluntarily for € 30. The pitfall is not in Greece but in the diary: whoever lets the expiry date pass drives illegally and uninsured.

Do I have to exchange my licence after two years?

That rule exists, but not for you. Your Europe names three cases where exchange is compulsory: your licence is lost, stolen or damaged; you commit a traffic offence in your country of residence; or after two years of residence you hold a licence with indefinite validity and the country requires an exchange. The Greek procedure says exactly that: the compulsory exchange applies to old models issued before 19 January 2013 with an expiry date of more than 65 years, after two years of living in Greece. A Dutch licence is valid for ten years and falls outside it.

Until the expiry date, then, nothing changes. You don't have to report to any Greek authority and no clock is running — unlike for your car, which has to be on Greek plates within twelve months.

What happens if my licence expires in Greece?

Then the Dutch door is closed. NederlandWereldwijd is clear about it: if you live in another EU country, you can no longer renew your Dutch licence, only exchange it for a licence from your country of residence. That follows from the European rules, and it also applies if your licence is lost or stolen: you report the loss to the RDW, which blocks the licence, and you then apply for a Greek licence. A police report is not needed for that.

The Greek side is officially called renewal, and the rules add that the holder of an expired EU licence whose normal residence is in Greece must renew — with the exchange running in the same procedure. What you then provide:

• a copy of your passport or identity card;
• proof of your normal residence in Greece, and that document must have been issued at least 185 days before the application — so you must already have lived there for half a year;
• one passport photo;
• at least two medical certificates: from a general practitioner or internist and from an ophthalmologist. Over 80, an ENT specialist and a neurologist or psychiatrist are added compulsorily. Each doctor rules "competent" or "not competent".

The fees run from € 105 to € 116.74, the processing time is up to 45 days, and the new licence is valid for fifteen years.

What does a voluntary exchange cost, and when is that smart?

A voluntary exchange is always possible once you live in Greece, at the transport directorate of the regional unit where you live. The fee is € 30, with a regional surcharge in the Cyclades that can rise to € 35.22; the processing time is the same 45 days, and here too the result is a Greek licence valid for fifteen years. Before issuing it, Greece checks with the Netherlands that your licence has not been restricted, suspended or withdrawn.

	Do nothing	Exchange voluntarily	Expired or lost: renew and exchange
When	until the expiry date	once you live in Greece	as soon as the licence expires or is gone
Fees	none	€ 30 (Cyclades up to € 65.22)	€ 105 to € 116.74
Medical	none	not mentioned	at least two doctors; over 80, four
Proof of residence	not needed	yes, in the region of application	yes, at least 185 days old
Processing time	—	up to 45 days	up to 45 days
Validity afterwards	Dutch expiry date	15 years	15 years

Exchanging voluntarily is smart if your licence expires within a year or two anyway: you then choose the moment yourself, and you avoid the situation in which you have expired but don't yet have half a year of proof of residence. If your licence only expires years from now, you do nothing.

Driving on an expired licence is a criminal offence, and you are then uninsured. NederlandWereldwijd says so in as many words. The Greek procedure takes up to 45 days, so start well before the expiry date, not after it.

What changes once I have a Greek licence?

From that moment the Greek rules on validity and medical checks apply, no longer the Dutch ones — Your Europe warns about that separately. The Greek licence is valid for fifteen years, and every subsequent renewal comes with the medical certificates again. You can only hold one EU driving licence at a time. If you ever return to the Netherlands for good, you exchange the Greek licence back there.

What do I do now?

Look up the expiry date and note it. If it runs out within two years, the voluntary exchange for € 30 is the calm route, as soon as your proof of residence is in place. If it only runs out later, this is the one part of your Greek paperwork without a deadline.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.7: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Greece or go straight to step 5.7 in the open plan.