Article28 July 2026 · 8 min read

Swapping a foreign licence for a Swiss C+E: how it went for me in the canton of Aargau

"How do I swap my foreign licence for a Swiss one?" That question reaches me almost every week — and the honest answer starts with something few people say out loud: it depends on the canton you live in. I am going to tell you how it went for me, in the canton of Aargau, but I want you to leave here understanding why my story is not a universal manual.

First: in Switzerland, every canton runs its own show

Switzerland is a genuinely federal country. Driving licences are not handled by a single national body — they are handled by each canton's road traffic office. Since the country has four official languages, the name changes depending on where you are: in German Strassenverkehrsamt, in French Service des automobiles (or Office de la circulation routière), in Italian Sezione della circolazione (or Ufficio della circolazione) and in Romansh Uffizi da circulaziun. Broadly the path is similar from one canton to the next, but the details move: one requires a test the other does not, the deadline is tighter here than there, the fee is one thing in one place and another next door. So be sceptical of anyone promising a "definitive checklist" valid for the whole of Switzerland. It does not exist. What counts is what your canton's road traffic office says.

The deadline nobody warns you about

Here is the point that trips people up: the moment you become a resident, a clock starts running for you to convert your foreign licence into a Swiss one. Under federal rules that period is 12 months from entering the country (official source at the end of the article). Drive past that on a foreign licence and things get complicated. So this is not something to leave until "after I sort my life out" — it is one of the first things.

A car licence is one thing. A truck licence is another story

This is the part that matters if you want to drive a truck. Converting a car licence is one process. A truck licence — categories C and C+E — is heavier: it involves a specific medical examination and, to work as a professional driver, also the professional qualification (the well-known "code 95", called CZV here) and the tachograph card. In other words: it is not simply swapping one card for another. It is a licence, a medical clearance and a professional qualification — three different things that all have to be in order before you can legally take the wheel of a truck.

How it went for me (Aargau, 2014)

I prepared before I came. Back home I had already obtained my C+E — because I had researched that truck drivers were in short supply here and I did not want to arrive unprepared. I got to Aargau in February 2014 with my foreign licence in hand, and the truth is that without a company willing to give you a chance, the paperwork alone gets you nowhere.

The person who opened the door for me was the company where I started and my boss at the time, Mr Josef. He agreed to give me the opportunity while I was still on my foreign licence, during the conversion period. And he did something I have never forgotten: he paid me a full salary throughout the transition months and put me on the road alongside another driver so I could learn the routes and the local way of doing things before going out alone. It took around six months until, in November 2014, everything came through: the Swiss C+E licence, the tachograph card and the CZV. Only then was I fully set up to work.

The European citizenship detail — because a passport is not enough

A lot of people assume that holding a European passport settles everything for driving a truck here. I hold Italian citizenship, and it helped on one side: the right to live and work. But a passport does not hand you a Swiss licence. Converting the licence is a separate process with its own requirements — and the truck category, as I said, has its own. Having the right to be here is one thing; having the right to drive a heavy combination on the road is another. And since people often get this wrong: here in Switzerland the limit is 40 tonnes gross weight — that is the vehicle, the trailer and the load added together, not 40 tonnes of cargo behind you. Different doors, each with its own key.

So why won't I give you a ready-made checklist?

Because it would be dishonest. Rules change over time and change from canton to canton — and I am not going to put your move at risk by handing you a step-by-step that may not apply to your case. What I can give you is the path and the right warning: once you arrive, go to your canton's road traffic office (Strassenverkehrsamt / Service des automobiles / Ufficio della circolazione) and ask about the conversion deadline, the requirements for category C/C+E, the medical examination and the CZV. Take everything documented. That is how it is done here: through the official source, not through gossip in a group chat.

Official sources (check for yourself)

Because this involves official rules — and rules change over time and from canton to canton — do not rely on my experience alone. Confirm at the source:

I have shown part of this in practice in a video — worth a watch (in Portuguese):

And this subject deserves more. I am still going to film a full video going to the road traffic office here in Aargau, to show you the process from the inside, with my own eyes. When it is out, it goes into this article.

In the meantime, if your plan is to come and drive a truck here, the first smart step is the one I took: arrive prepared. You can start getting the lay of the land — have a look at how to find a job in Switzerland and at what a truck driver earns here.

In the end, this is the kind of thing you cannot leave to the last minute: the sooner you understand the path, the calmer you arrive. Having the C+E in your hand and your paperwork in order is what separates the person who starts working straight away from the person who spends months waiting in a queue.

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