If you own a valid driving license issued any of the European Union countries, you need not exchange the license, for a German license. However if you own license issued by any other nations outside the European Union , you can use that license , up to a duration of 6 months, from the date in which you land in Germany. If you are to stay in Germany for more than six months and less than one year, you have the facility of getting a 6 month extension to utilize your current license.

A citizen of any non EU country staying for more than one year will require a valid German driving license (Führerschein in German). In most of the cases, it is a very simple procedure to exchange a license for a German one. In some cases, the applicant may be asked to take up a driving or written test or both.

You can easily exchange you driving license for a German one, if you happen to be a citizen of Canada or a native of any one of the following states in the US – Arizona, Alabama, Colorado,, Arkansas, Idaho, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania South Dakota, Utah, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington State, Wyoming and Wisconsin.

If you happen to belong to the state of Connecticut, Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Oregon, North Carolina, Washington D.C. or Tennessee, then you have to take a written test, but you are exempted from a driving test.

If you happen to be a South African citizen or belong to any of the US state not listed above, then you have to take both the written as well as the driving test. If you are a citizen of New Zealand, than you have to take written tests based on the classification of your existing license or intend to obtain. If you happened to be an Australian citizen, then you most probably can exchange directly, your existing license for a German license. However there may be an additional requirement for the vision exam based on which territory gave you the current license.

The written exam is mostly about road, traffic rules & regulations. The test is conducted in various recognized languages including English, You have to take up the test in a driving school (Fahrschule), so have to inform them in advance, in which language you are going to take the test. Please note the test is somewhat tough. Nearly 30% of the applicants fail in their first attempt. So you need to prepare well for the test. There is a book called Lehrbuch Englisch (Fahren Lernen B) in English, which will be of immense help to you. It is available in driving school, you can buy them for an amount of €50.You can also find online, some used copies.