Notification of moving abroad to the road traffic office

Holders of Swiss driving licence who are taking up residence abroad are obliged to inform the relevant road traffic office (art. 26 no. 2 of the Ordinance on the Licensing of Persons and Vehicles for Road Traffic Purposes [RS. 741.51]). The Swiss driving licence has then generally to be exchanged to its equivalence in the host country abroad.

Article 27 of the Ordinance states that certain holders of Swiss driving licence are obliged to go through a regular medical control. If the relevant road traffic office in Switzerland is not informed about the residence abroad of the concerned person and any address of residence is unknown in Switzerland, the notification for this obligatory control will be generally published in the official paper. If this notification remains unanswered and no requested medical certificate has been delivered on time, the road traffic office will in principle proceed to a revocation of the Swiss driving licence by publishing in the official paper and to a registration in the police system of computerized research (RIPOL).

Please inform the relevant road traffic office about your taking residence abroad and refer to this authority for further information.

Association of Road Traffic Offices (ASA) website (de, fr, it)

Ordinance on the Licensing of Persons and Vehicles for Road Traffic Purposes (SR 741.51) (de, fr, it)

Exchanging a Swiss driving licence following relocation abroad page