The one-year rule and the exchange
Service-Public says that if you settle in France, you must exchange a licence from a non-European country for a French one, because it is valid only for one year from the day you acquire your normal residence in France. It defines normal residence as the country where you spend 185 days or more a year because of personal or professional ties.1
A foreign student with a student residence permit, or a job-search or business-creation permit, does not need to exchange the licence and can drive in France with it.1
The licence must come from a country whose category can be exchanged, and the exchange is only possible for an equivalent category issued under conditions consistent with French standards. A foreign B licence with significant restrictions, such as limited driving hours or a limited number of passengers, cannot be exchanged for a French B. It must also have been issued by the country where you had your normal residence.1
Which US states and which categories
France has no agreement with the United States as a whole: the exchange depends on the state that issued the licence. The Service-Public simulator indicates the states whose licences can be exchanged. It was run on 18 October 2026 for each of the 50 states it offers. It returns an exchange for 18 of them, in three groups, and for none of the other 32, among them California, New York and Georgia. The District of Columbia is not offered by the simulator.2
| Categories exchanged | States |
|---|---|
| All categories | Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina |
| Categories A and B | Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania |
| Category B only | Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin |
Sources read
Every page below was opened and read on October 18, 2026. A sentence above that rests on a page carries its number.
- 1 Service-Public: Échange de permis de conduire obtenu hors Europe (UE/EEE)Who must exchange, the one-year validity, the definition of normal residence, the conditions for an exchange. In French.
- 2 Service-Public: simulator, is a non-European licence exchangeable?Page dated 1 May 2026The states whose licences can be exchanged, by category, for each of the 50 states. We ran it for each state on 18 October 2026. In French.
Informational only, not legal, tax or immigration advice.
