Millions of driver's licenses will expire in 2023: the first deadline is in January
Created: 01/03/2023 05:17
By: Ines Baur
It's the turn of millions of Germans this year to exchange their driver's licenses.
Right at the beginning of the year things get serious for a large group.
Until January 19, the motto for them is: pink rags against colorful plastic cards.
Munich – A pink wave is coming to district offices, road traffic offices and driver's license offices.
Millions of Germans have to exchange their driving licenses.
Then it's time to hand in pink paper rags and take colorful plastic cards with you.
The reason: an EU directive.
The exchange has been in the planning for some time and will be staggered.
It is based on the birth year of the driver or the date of issue.
Driving license exchange 2023: A total of 15 million paper driving licenses will expire
The new driver's licenses are to be forgery-proof and can be recorded in a common database after the exchange.
Another innovation is that they have an expiration date of 15 years.
Previously, only driver's licenses issued after 2013 had this.
By the way, the expiry date means that the document itself loses its validity.
Not that the owner will lose their driver's license.
Around 15 million paper driving licenses issued up to 1998 are affected by the exchange campaign.
Also about 28 million credit card driver's licenses that were issued from 1999 to January 19, 2013.
The phased schedule was proposed by the Transport Committee and approved by the Federal Council.
Not only car driving licenses are affected, but all classes.
The pink driver's license will soon be a thing of the past.
The deadline for the first barter campaigns is in January.
© Andreas Arnold/dpa
The deadline for those born between 1959 and 1964 is January 19, 2023
Those who are very attached to their “rag” may keep it as a souvenir.
However, it is stamped on site and thus devalued.
For those born between 1959 and 1964, the deadline is January 19, 2023.
If you don't know exactly when your deadline for the exchange ends, you can find the data in tables.
According to the trade journal auto motor und sport
, many road traffic authorities were not prepared for the onslaught by the last deadline in July 2022
.
When asked by RTL, the ADAC gave the tip: "In general, we advise everyone who now has to exchange their driver's license to make an appointment as soon as possible."
