Registering or exchanging your foreign driver's license

Who does this apply to?

• Anyone who arrives in Curaçao with a driver's license issued in a country that is a member of the 1949 Geneva Convention and wants to drive legally on the island.
• There are two different routes and it is important not to mix them up: registering your foreign license (free, but Publieke Zaken will not register it if you have no residence permit and are not registered in the population register) or exchanging it for a Curaçao license (XCG 175, and it requires indefinite residence or a declaration).
• To register, the Loket Digital page only asks for the foreign license and valid ID. But Publieke Zaken replied in writing on October 13, 2026 that it does not register the license of anyone who has no residence permit and is not registered in the population register (Kranshi). While your first residence application is being processed you are not registered yet, so you cannot register your license yet. Whether you may drive on it during that time, and for how long, is still to be confirmed.
• To exchange, you need an indefinite residence permit, a Van Rechtswege declaration (admission by operation of law), or a Niet van Toepassing declaration (a statement that the permit requirement does not apply to you). With a temporary permit you cannot exchange yet; you can only register.

Costs

It depends on which of the two routes you take:
Registering your foreign license → XCG 0 (it is free)
Exchanging it for a Curaçao license → XCG 175
The exchange is paid at Banco di Caribe (Schottegatweg Oost 205), account 36 15 86 01 in the name of Kranshi/Overheid Curaçao Publieke Zaken. If you pay from abroad, the account is MCB 32 06 15 07 (Overheid Curaçao Internationaal Publieke Zaken); the BIC/Swift code for Banco di Caribe in Curaçao is BDCCCWCU. On top of that you pay separately, out of your own pocket, for the medical certificate and for the certificate of authenticity from your country.
If your license is from Venezuela, Haiti, Lebanon, India, China, or the Dominican Republic, add XCG 55 for the practical test (rijproef), which comes before the exchange.

Decision time

Registering a foreign license is immediate: if the documents are in order, it is registered on the spot. The exchange depends on you handing in every document and, if your country is on the list, on passing the driving test first.

Requirements

Gathering your papers? Tick them off in your checklist, remove what does not apply and print it: open my document checklist →

• To register (the free route): your foreign license and valid ID (sédula, the Curaçao ID card, or passport). Also, Publieke Zaken will not register it if you have no residence permit and are not registered in the population register (written reply of October 13, 2026; the official page does not say so).
• To exchange, if your license is still valid: an indefinite residence permit, a Van Rechtswege declaration, or a Niet van Toepassing declaration.
• A valid foreign license, issued before you settled in Curaçao — a license you obtained after moving here cannot be exchanged.
• Valid Curaçao ID (sédula or passport).
• A medical certificate less than 2 months old, counting from its date of issue.
• A certificate of authenticity (echtheidsverklaring) from the country that issued the license — this is the document most people find out about too late, because you have to request it from your home country and it can take a while.
• If your license is from Venezuela, Haiti, Lebanon, India, China, or the Dominican Republic: pass the practical driving test (rijproef) first. Both the exchange page and the test page say so.
• To exchange a license that expired less than 6 months ago: the same documents, with the expired license. If it has been expired for more than 6 months, this procedure no longer applies.
• Consular and diplomatic staff: instead of the residence permit you present the Karnet de Consulado (consular ID card), plus a valid passport, the license, and the medical certificate.

Steps to apply

1. Check whether your country is a member of the 1949 Geneva Convention. If it is not, neither registration nor exchange applies to you and you will have to get a Curaçao license from scratch. The official list is at https://verdragenbank.overheid.nl/nl/Verdrag/Details/007193
2. Once you have a residence permit and are registered in the population register, register your license at Publieke Zaken: it is free and you do not need an appointment. You apply with the Loket Digital's online form, with your license and your sédula or passport, and you collect the registration document at the Afdeling Documenten & Inlichtingen, Roodeweg 42; if you live outside Curaçao, they can send it to you by email or post. With that you can already drive and also register a car in your name. If you do not register it and cannot prove at a police check that it is registered, you risk a fine (Publieke Zaken, in writing, October 13, 2026).
   How to get this done

   Publieke Zaken (Kranshi), Afdeling Documenten & Inlichtingen: registering and exchanging a foreign driving license

   Roodeweg 42, Otrobanda, Willemstad, Curaçao — Google Maps

   Monday to Thursday 08:00–15:00, Friday 08:00–12:00

   You do not need an appointment to register a foreign license: you apply with the Loket Digital's online form and collect the registration document here; bring your license and your sédula or passport. The exchange is also applied for online, and the official page gives this same counter. This is not the population register desk (Afdeling Gegevensverwerking), which does require an appointment.

3. If your license is from Venezuela, Haiti, Lebanon, India, China, or the Dominican Republic and you want to exchange it, pass the practical test (rijproef) first. For a car you need no appointment: show up on Tuesday (8:00-11:30 or 12:30-13:30) or Thursday (8:00-11:30) at the Bureau Rijbewijzen, Sta. Rosaweg 36, with your license, your sedula or passport and a medical certificate less than 2 months old. It costs XCG 55. Without that test they will not accept the exchange, no matter how many years you have been driving.
4. Ask your home country for the certificate of authenticity of your license and get the medical certificate. Watch the order: the medical certificate expires after 2 months, so it is best to get it once you already have everything else.
5. Pay the XCG 175 at Banco di Caribe (account 36 15 86 01) and keep the receipt.
   How to get this done

   Banco di Caribe: Schottegatweg Oost 205, Willemstad (the account depends on the procedure; use the one given in the step)

   The Loket Digital gives this address and, for each procedure, the account to deposit into; it does not ask for an appointment for the deposit. Keep the receipt: it is what you show at the counter afterwards.

6. Submit the application online. The counter for the exchange is Publieke Zaken (Kranshi), Afdeling Documenten & Inlichtingen, Roodeweg 42. After handing in the documents, you fill in the exchange application at the Afdeling Rijbewijzen (the official page calls it “aanvraag voor omwisseling van het verlopen rijbewijs”), and that application has to be approved.
   How to get this done

   Publieke Zaken (Kranshi), Afdeling Documenten & Inlichtingen: registering and exchanging a foreign driving license

   Roodeweg 42, Otrobanda, Willemstad, Curaçao — Google Maps

   Monday to Thursday 08:00–15:00, Friday 08:00–12:00

   You do not need an appointment to register a foreign license: you apply with the Loket Digital's online form and collect the registration document here; bring your license and your sédula or passport. The exchange is also applied for online, and the official page gives this same counter. This is not the population register desk (Afdeling Gegevensverwerking), which does require an appointment.

Important notes

• The mandatory driving test is the main trap in this procedure. Anyone holding a license from Venezuela, Haiti, Lebanon, India, China, or the Dominican Republic must pass a practical test before exchanging it, no matter how much experience they have. Several of the largest migrant groups in Curaçao are on that list, and almost no guide mentions it.
• Registering is not the same as exchanging. Registration is free and immediate, but Publieke Zaken does not do it if you have no residence permit and are not registered in the population register; once registered, the license is enough both to drive and to register a car. Exchanging only makes sense once you already have indefinite residence or a Van Rechtswege declaration.
• The license must predate your move. The official text requires that it was issued before you settled in Curaçao. If you traveled back to your country to get one after moving here, it cannot be exchanged.
• If you lose your foreign license, you can no longer exchange it. Even if it is registered, without it you cannot get a Curaçao license: you have to apply for a new license in the country that issued it or take all the exams in Curaçao (getting a driving licence for the first time). Publieke Zaken confirmed this in writing on October 13, 2026; the Loket Digital page does not say so.
• Six months is the absolute limit. If your license expired less than 6 months ago you can still exchange it (Publieke Zaken confirmed this in writing on October 13, 2026); after that deadline this procedure no longer applies. If your license is about to expire, do not let it slide.
• The certificate of authenticity comes from your country, not from Curaçao. It is the document that delays this procedure the most, because you have to request it from abroad. Start there, not with the medical certificate, which expires after 2 months.
• The exchange test (rijproef) is not the full exam taken by people getting a license for the first time. It is a practical test only, with no theory exam, and it costs XCG 55. For a car there is no appointment: Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Publieke Zaken, Afdeling Rijbewijzen (Bureau Rijbewijzen), Sta. Rosaweg 36; an appointment is only needed for a motorcycle (+599 9 736-2929). The full exam (XCG 105 theory test, practical test and XCG 20 for the examination board's declaration (commissieverklaring)) is a different route, for people who cannot exchange: getting a driving licence for the first time.
• With a temporary residence permit there is also the Temporary Driving Permit (Tijdelijke Rijvergunning, XCG 50). Requirements: your valid temporary residence permit, your valid foreign license, from a Geneva Convention country and issued before you settled in Curaçao, proof of the date it was first issued or a declaration of authenticity (issued by the consulate, the Dutch RDW or another authority) and your valid sédula. You apply by appointment at sita.gobiernu.cw and pay at Banco di Caribe, into the same account as the exchange (36 15 86 01); if everything is in order, you get it on the spot. It lets you drive the type of vehicle it is issued for, for 3 months at most (Loket Digital, “Tijdelijke Rijvergunning”, October 25, 2026).

Frequently asked questions