Hi, I’m moving to Finland in June for phd study and I find myself in a tricky situation on driving license exchange:

I have a calidornia driving license bounded with my US student visa that is about to expire in July, and I plan to exchange for a Finnish license before the expiration. According to [Ajokortti](https://ajokortti-info.fi/en/basic-information-about-driving-licence/exchanging-foreign-driving-licence-finnish-licence?toggle=Exchanging%20a%20driving%20licence%20issued%20in%20a%20Contracting%20State%20for%20a%20Finnish%20licence), I will need a Finnish permanent address for the application. On the other hand, I have a project commission in Sweden between late June and August, which means I will likely stay in a hotel or Airbnb for June upon arriving in Finland and will settle down after coming back from Sweden in August.
In short: I won’t have a permanent address for the driving license exchange.

Has anyone gone through similar situations? I guess my particular case is rare but many other move-in fairs (e.g. banking) also require permanent address that people may not have upon arrival. Any idea to work around?

9 comments

  1. I was not allowed to exchange my license without have DVV registering my address as permanent. So I really doubt there’s a work around.

  3. If you are a student or a tourist and therefore are not living here permanently then you do not need to change your driver’s license as you can use it for a year from the date you are entered on the population register. That is probably why you need a permanent address to change a driver’s license.

  4. You can register the AirBnB address as your current address in DVV and later update it once you move. You’ll have to make sure you’re in that address if the driving license is delivered by mail though, not sure about that part.

  5. I exchanged my U.S. license for a Finnish one ten years ago and at that time you need to have driven in Finland for at least six months. You even needed two signed witness statements stating you’d driven for at least six months. Because of this they wouldn’t let you exchange your license within six month of arrival.
    I suggest you renew your California license before leaving.

  6. Is it mandatory to exchange your driving licence? I have been living here for five years with my German license. Nobody has ever checked it tho..

  8. You will need a SSN and an address. You can get SSN as soon as your arrive in Finland. I also had an expiring California license and exchanged it without problem in second month of arrival. For the address, Airbnb one will work if you are going to stay long enough for license to be delivered. Alternatively, if you have a trusted friend, you can register their address in DVV as yours until you get your permanent address. Make sure to get your friend permission first. No proof like rental agreement was necessary in DVV. I don’t remember if you need a Finnish id from poliisi too before exchange.

  9. Can you renew the license before you leave for Finland? Here you get two years to exchange it. If you could renew it before coming or renew it and have it mailed to you, it would buy you more time.

    I also was under the impression that when they exchange your drivers license its expiration is only as good as the license its being exchanged for, though I could be wrong. I thought this and then they gave me a drivers license thats good for 15 years and my was going to expire in a year.

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