Audience: Non-EEA driving licence holders living in Austria who want to exchange their existing licence for an Austrian one instead of starting from zero. I went through this with an Indian driving licence in Vorarlberg (Bregenz), but the phases should look similar wherever you are, since the process runs through your local Bezirkshauptmannschaft (BH).

TL;DR

This turned into a story more than a checklist, so here’s the short version if you just want the facts:

  • Get the licence translation and medical exam done before booking the BH appointment. Both are required documents for it.
  • Find a doctor yourself (online search or word of mouth) and book by calling them directly. There’s no central booking system for this.
  • Medical exam cost: 35 euros, paid at the doctor’s office.
  • BH exchange appointment (book here) needs: passport, residence permit, foreign driving licence, translation of the licence, a passport photo, and the medical report. Listed cost is 90 euros, but it wasn’t actually collected. I was told to pay it at the driving school after the test.
  • Check-in at the BH is a kiosk that scans the QR code from your confirmation email and prints a slip with a number. Wait for that number on the display, then go to the counter shown.
  • At the BH appointment, they take your original foreign licence and send it to the police, then to Vienna, for verification. You get a call back once that’s done.
  • You do get your original licence back, at least in my case, once verification was complete.
  • Driving school (Frener Bregenz) package: 2 classes + driving test for 564 euros, 300 euros advance to book, 80 euros per extra class if the trainer thinks you need it. They have English-speaking trainers, just ask.
  • Total spent so far: 35 euros for the medical exam + 300 euros advance to the driving school = 335 euros. Still to come: the remaining 264 euros of the driving school package, the 90 euro BH fee, and any extra driving classes.
  • I’m currently waiting on Frener to reach out (they said WhatsApp) to confirm lesson dates, since they’re booked out until October.

Introduction

I assumed swapping a driving licence would be a single trip to an office with some paperwork. It is not. It is a process that stretches across months, involves a doctor checking whether you can touch your own nose with your eyes closed, and ends (eventually) with actual driving lessons. I’ve been driving for years in India, but my Indian licence only lets me drive here in Austria for six months, so this exchange is what keeps me legally on the road after that.

I’m writing this while I’m still in it. The last phase, the practical test, hasn’t happened yet. But everything up to booking the driving school is done, so here’s the process broken into phases, in the order I went through them.

Phase 1: Booking the Medical Certificate Appointment

Before you can even think about the BH appointment, you need a medical report (Ärztliches Gutachten), and that means booking a doctor first.

There’s no central portal for this. I found a doctor who does these exams through a mix of searching online and asking around, then booked the appointment the old-fashioned way: by calling them directly.

Phase 2: The Medical Exam

This is where the appointment stops feeling routine. The medical check for a driving licence is more thorough than I expected, and it’s not just an eye test.

Paperwork first. I was handed a sheet listing various medical conditions and had to mark whether I had any of them.

Vitals. A staff member checked my height, weight, blood pressure, and pulse before I saw the doctor.

The consultation. The doctor asked if I understood everything on the sheet I’d filled in, confirmed I didn’t have any of the listed conditions, and asked if I was taking any medications.

The eye test. She had me stand about 10 feet from the eye chart. I didn’t need to read the top row since it’s large enough to be obvious anyway. I read every row after that, and the very last row wasn’t necessary either. If you can read it, great, but it’s not required.

Balance and coordination. This part surprised me the most:

  • Stand straight, close your eyes, hold both arms out in front of you for 5 to 10 seconds. She’s checking for shaking hands or loss of balance.
  • With your eyes still closed, touch the tip of your index finger to the tip of your nose.
  • Touch your toes standing up, without bending your knees.
  • Do a single squat.
  • Rotate your ankles and wrists, to check mobility.

The last question. She asked if I knew which driving school I’d be going to. I said I wasn’t sure yet, so she left that field blank on the certificate rather than naming a specific school.

I paid an invoice of 35 euros on the way out, and that was the medical phase done.

Phase 3: Booking the BH Appointment for Licence Exchange

With the medical report in hand, the next step is booking the actual appointment at the BH for Re-registration/Exchange - Non-EEA State. I booked mine through the BH-Bregenz appointment reservation system.

For this appointment, the listed requirements were:

  • Passport
  • Residence permit
  • Foreign driver’s licence
  • Translation of the driver’s licence (via ÖAMTC, an international driver’s licence, or a court-sworn interpreter)
  • A passport-style photo (35mm x 45mm, portrait, meeting the official photo criteria)
  • A medical report
  • Listed cost: 90 euros

The medical report from Phase 2 is exactly what feeds into this list, so the order matters: get the medical exam and the licence translation done first, then book this appointment.

Worth noting: the 90 euros is listed as the cost, but it wasn’t actually collected at this appointment. When I asked about it, I was told I’d pay it later, at the driving school, after the practical test.

Phase 4: The BH Appointment Itself

I arrived about 30 minutes early, since I had no idea how check-in would work. At the entrance, I told them I was there for my driving licence appointment. There’s a kiosk machine that scans the QR code from the confirmation email (I’d received the email a few days earlier, plus a reminder the day before). The kiosk scans the code and prints out a slip with a number on it.

I waited for that number to show up on the display, along with the counter I needed to go to. That took about 15 minutes. Once it showed up, I went to the counter.

I asked the officer if she’d be comfortable speaking English since my German isn’t strong yet, and she was happy to switch. She asked for all the documents from the list above, made copies of my passport and residence permit, and started the process.

She gave me a sheet to review, confirming all my details, and I had to sign it at both the top and the bottom with the pen she provided. Then she took everything, including my original Indian driving licence, and explained the next steps:

  • The licence would be sent to the police first.
  • From there, it goes to Vienna for verification.
  • Once verified, I’d get a call back telling me whether I could go ahead and book the practical test at a driving school.

She also told me I would never get my original Indian licence back, and recommended getting a replacement issued in India if I ever needed one there. Spoiler: that turned out not to be entirely accurate. More on that in a moment.

Phase 5: Getting the Original Licence Back

About a week later, I got a call from the BH. I went back, spoke to reception, got a token, and was called to a similar counter as before. This time, I got my original Indian driving licence back, which contradicted what I’d been told at the previous appointment. So if someone tells you that you’ll never see your original licence again, take it with a grain of salt. It might still be handed back once verification is complete.

She explained that all the relevant information had now been passed on to the driving school, and I just needed to go there, give my name, and book an appointment for lessons. Once I finish the class and pass the test, the driving school takes my licence, and that’s also when I pay the 90 euro BH fee from Phase 3.

Phase 6: Booking the Driving School

I went to Frener Bregenz, and they asked me to bring my passport to confirm my identity before booking anything.

Since my German isn’t strong, I asked if they had English-speaking trainers. They said they had two, and asked if I’d prefer one of them. I said yes.

The package they offered was:

  • 2 classes + driving test: 564 euros total
  • Advance payment to book: 300 euros
  • Extra classes (if the trainer thinks you need more before the test): 80 euros per class

Whether I need those extra classes depends entirely on how the lessons go and what the trainer thinks. So the 564 euros is a floor, not necessarily the final number. They also asked for my preferred time and dates for lessons, but were upfront that they’re only available starting in October.

Phase 7: What’s Next

I’ve paid the advance and I’m now just waiting for Frener to reach out, they said they’d contact me on WhatsApp to confirm lesson dates once a slot opens up in October. Once the lessons and the practical test are done and I actually have the Austrian licence in hand, I’ll come back and update this post with how it went.

Practical Tips

A few things I’d tell someone starting this process from scratch:

  • Get the licence translation and medical exam done before the BH appointment. Both are required documents for it, so don’t book the BH appointment until you have them.
  • Ask for English if your German isn’t strong. Both at the medical exam and at the BH, staff were happy to accommodate English once asked.
  • Bring everything, even if you think you won’t need it. The document list at the BH is not negotiable, translations included.
  • Budget for the full chain of costs, not just one appointment. Between the medical exam, the BH exchange fee, and the driving school package, I’m looking at roughly 689 euros before any extra lessons.
  • This takes months, not weeks. Between the medical appointment, the BH appointment, waiting for verification, and then booking driving lessons, expect the whole process to span several months.

Conclusion

Exchanging a non-EEA driving licence for an Austrian one is less a single errand and more a small project with its own phases, its own waiting periods, and its own bit of bureaucratic suspense. I’m not done yet, the practical test is still ahead of me, but the path to get there is clear now, and hopefully this saves you some of the guesswork I went through.

Resources

Questions? Reach out at contact@puneeth.io