A Ukrainian driving licence in Sweden: validity, translation, Swedish tests

Probably the most common wrong assumption about Sweden is this one: “Germany and Poland exchange Ukrainian licences, so Sweden must too.” It does not. Transportstyrelsen exchanges licences issued in the EEA countries, Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Faroe Islands. That is the whole list. Ukraine is not on it, and Sweden has not introduced the special concession several neighbouring countries made for Ukrainians.

Which brings the good news: if you cannot exchange, there is nothing to hurry about. While your basis of stay holds, you drive on the Ukrainian licence — and what matters is working out which of the two rules applies to you.

Two regimes, and everything follows from them

Your situation	Is the Ukrainian licence valid?	Is a translation needed?
Temporary protection (massflyktsdirektivet)	yes, for as long as protection applies; the licence must be valid in Ukraine	no — the requirement is removed by EU Regulation 2022/1280
Any other basis (work, study, family)	yes, but no more than a year from folkbokföring	yes, if the licence is not in a convention format and not in English, German or French

That distinction — not how old the licence is, but on what basis you are in Sweden — answers most of the questions people ask. Guides rarely make it, because they cover either the wartime rules or the general ones, never both.

Regime one: temporary protection

For people protected under the Temporary Protection Directive, EU Regulation 2022/1280 applies. Its practical effect is simple: the Ukrainian licence is recognised, and the requirement for an authorised translation of the licence or an international driving permit is removed. The plastic card from Ukraine stands on its own while protection lasts.

Transportstyrelsen adds two details worth knowing:

• the licence must be valid; a first-time licence that expired after 21 December 2021 may be used for a year beyond that expiry date;
• where there is doubt about validity or authenticity, the police may consult the Ukrainian authorities — and if the answer is negative or does not come, recognition may be refused.

The protection timeline matters too. The EU extension decision, in force from 5 August 2026, runs the regime to 4 March 2028, while permits decided before 5 August 2026 were issued up to 4 March 2027. For licences that means the “what happens next” question does not land on everyone on the same day — it arrives with each person’s own renewal.

Regime two: every other basis of stay

If you are in Sweden on a work permit, as a student, through family reunification or on another basis, protection does not apply and the general Swedish rule does: a licence from outside the EEA stops being valid once you have been registered in Sweden for more than a year. The year runs from folkbokföring, not from arrival.

That is also where the translation rule bites: a licence not designed according to the international road traffic conventions (1949 or 1968) and not issued in English, German or French is valid only together with a certified translation into English, German, French, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. Transportstyrelsen points to the authorised translators listed by Kammarkollegiet, and notes that an international driving permit also counts as a valid translation of a national licence — but it cannot be issued in Sweden, so it has to be brought from Ukraine.

In practice: the modern Ukrainian plastic card with Latin fields and category codes generally falls outside this rule, while older licences printed in Cyrillic only fall inside it. Separately, a licence with no photograph is valid only alongside a photo identity document.

What “taking the Swedish test” actually involves

If exchange is unavailable and your year from folkbokföring is running out, the full Swedish procedure is what remains:

1. Körkortstillstånd — a learner permit from Transportstyrelsen: a health declaration and an eyesight check.
2. Riskutbildning (parts 1 and 2) — mandatory risk training; without it you are not admitted to the tests.
3. Kunskapsprov — the theory test at Trafikverket: SEK 420 at the standard rate (SEK 520 evenings and weekends).
4. Körprov — the category B driving test: SEK 1,000 (SEK 1,400 at the evening and weekend rate); for motorcycle categories A1/A2/A, SEK 2,000 (SEK 2,800).
5. Körkortsavgift — the issuing fee: SEK 375, which Transportstyrelsen has proposed raising to SEK 450 from 1 January 2027.

Those are state fees and easy to verify. What a driving school charges is a market question, and that part — usually the bulk of the cost — depends on your city and how many lessons you need; we are not inventing figures for it.

The real obstacle is not the test but the identity document. Trafikverket requires a valid physical identity document before a test, and the list of accepted documents in Transportstyrelsen’s regulation (TSFS 2020:9) is built around Swedish ID cards, the Swedish driving licence and EU passports plus a handful of others. A Ukrainian passport is not by itself a universal answer, which is what Ukrainians interviewed in the Swedish press most often describe running into. The Skatteverket ID card is issued once you are folkbokförd, and that is its own queue: registration becomes possible when the permit has been held for at least a year and you are likely to stay in Sweden for at least 18 months. Check your own position with Skatteverket and Trafikverket before paying for a test.

When a translation really is needed

Honestly, about what not to pay for and what to pay for:

• Not needed — translating the licence if you hold temporary protection and simply drive: Regulation 2022/1280 removed that requirement.
• Needed — if you are in Sweden on another basis and hold an older Cyrillic-only licence. English works here exactly as Swedish does, and costs noticeably less.
• Sometimes needed — when the request comes not from the state but from an insurer, an employer (professional drivers especially) or a rental company: their internal rules can require a translation where the law does not.
• Separately — MVS service-centre records confirming your driving entitlement, extracts and driving history: these come up when a Ukrainian licence has been lost or replaced, or when the history itself has to be proven.

As a guide to cost: translation into English starts at UAH 300 per standard page (1,800 characters with spaces) and into Swedish at UAH 600, with agency certification at UAH 100 per document; current figures are on our prices page. For Sweden, ask first whether English is acceptable — it is the most reliable way to cut the budget, as we explain on the Sweden country page.

Common mistakes

• Searching for “licence exchange in Sweden” and trusting agency websites. There is no exchange for a Ukrainian licence; anyone promising one is describing another country, or is wrong.
• Paying for an authorised Swedish translation while holding temporary protection. The requirement is gone; the money is wasted.
• Counting the year from arrival. It runs from folkbokföring, which for many people is a very different date.
• Booking a test without checking the ID requirement. The most common point at which the process stalls — after tuition has already been paid for.
• Exchanging the licence in another country “just in case.” Per the Ukrainian MVS, a Ukrainian licence exchanged abroad loses validity and is restored at an MVS service centre only after you return.
• Assuming an international driving permit can be obtained in Sweden. It cannot — it is issued in Ukraine and has to be brought along.

What to do this week

1. Establish your regime: temporary protection or another basis — and whether you are already folkbokförd. Both the validity of your licence and the need for a translation follow from that.
2. Look at the licence itself: a modern card with Latin fields, or an older document in Cyrillic only.
3. If protection does not apply and your year from folkbokföring is ending, cost out the route to a Swedish licence including the ID requirement, not just the test fees.
4. Ask whoever is requesting the document which language they will accept — often English.
5. Send us a scan of the licence (and any MVS service-centre records) and we will have the translation ready in one working day.

We send the finished translation by email immediately, and by Nova Poshta inside Ukraine or by post abroad if you need hard copies — no trip to Kyiv required. If the licence travels with a wider package for Skatteverket or credential recognition, see our document translation page and driver’s licence translation.