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How to Trade a US Driver’s License for a French Permit

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In France, having a car is often not a necessity. Driving is not typically a part of daily life, except for in the most rural regions. This was quite the opposite of my experience of growing up in Texas, where having a car is essential for the simplest tasks like going to work, getting groceries, and meeting up with friends. This difference is one of my favorite things about living here. However, being in the French countryside, I was naturally curious if my American driver’s license had a French equivalent. 

France has an agreement between certain states that allows for the trade of one’s driver’s license for a French permit. As of 2026, there are 18 states on this list. You can check your state’s exchange status here. I was happy to discover that my home state of Texas was on the list, and therefore, my license was eligible for exchange. Although I was in no rush to start driving in France, this exchange of license must be made within the first year of a consecutive visa. Despite being on a temporary visa at the time, I met the minimum six-month visa requirement and decided that I would give the trade a try.

Preparing the Documents

As a part of my application I needed proof of identity (my US passport), proof of legal residence (my housing agreement), proof of address less than six months old (a bill with my name and address), my current driver’s license (issued by the state of Texas), a certificate of entitlement to drive less than 6 months old issued by the foreign authorities that issued the driving license (aka the state of Texas), certified translations of both english documents, and a passport-size photo less than six months old. Everything seemed pretty evident, except the “certificate of entitlement to drive.” I had a license but didn’t know where this document would be found. 

A little deeper dive led me to learn that each state’s respective driving authority distributes this record. For the state of Texas, it is the Department of Public Safety. Before leaving US soil, I made an online request for my driving rights from the state of Texas to prove I was in good standing. This was done through an online portal and cost approximately $12. If you are looking for a driving record from another state, be sure that you land on a webpage that ends in .gov to avoid being upcharged by a third-party. Shortly thereafter, I received the document by email reporting that I was in good standing. 

From there, I sought out the translation of my driver’s license and my driving record. I made the mistake of purchasing a certified translation from English to French while I was in Texas. The translation was correct, but the certification was made in the eyes of the US government and not in France. This put a delay on my permit exchange and cost me the fee for another translation that was certified in the eyes of the French court. When in need of translation for an administrative task in France, be sure to look for “traduction assermentée.” 

Submitting the Application

Once in France, I headed to the ANTS website (Agence Nationale des Titres Securisés) to make my formal demand. One by one, I answered their questions and made my way through the form. When asked which state had issued my license, being from one of the states that are accepted kind of felt like winning the lottery. Eventually, I made it to a question asking for my AGDREF. My what? A little research led me to understand that it is the Application de gestion des dossiers des ressortissants étrangers en France. Specifically, it is a code connected with my titre de sejour, aka the visa. However, it was not on my VLS-TS. I managed to locate this identifier on my visa validation receipt. Thankfully, after a little file hunting, a quick copy and paste was sufficient. 

Later, I began to stress over the proof of residence, because none of the options laid out through their automatic approval matched what I had on hand. However, after reading the fine print, I realized that uploading from their selections was optional. Later in the form, I was able to upload a bill from my phone provider as another proof of residence. From there, I uploaded each document as requested, including the translations of my license and my driving rights certificate. I hit submit and the wait began. 

Staying in Touch

ANTS has an automated text messaging service to keep you informed on the state of your file. This has been handy as the wait has been long. When I mailed in my photo, I was notified it was received, and when my translation was rejected, I was flagged. This made it easy to watch as my application makes its way through the system, and perform any changes as needed. In an extended period of waiting like mine, keep both hands on the wheel and keep driving. Your proof of application gives you the clearance to continue to use your license just as any tourist. 

Have you traded in your US driver’s license for a French permit? Tell us about your experience below.

Photo by Sean Whelan on Unsplash

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No, I Don’t Have a French Driver’s License (And Probably Never Shall)

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I hadn’t written about this before, but a number of people have emailed me about it more recently and I also just finished a book called French License by Joe Start which chronicles just how challenging it can be to get one of these.

So, why haven’t I written about it?

I’m writing this article while visiting Singapore, the city-state I was born into and where my mother’s entire side of the family lives.  It has a world-class public transportation system and I was taking the metro (known here as the MRT) by myself as early as six years old.

I love living in a city where not only do I not need a car, but even the costs of owning a car are a deterrent to ownership.  Apart from purchasing, there’s a flurry of licensing fees and taxes that go along with standard car costs, not to mention parking fees and gasoline that costs at least double what it does in America.  Did I mention the ticket-happy Parisian meter maids?

In the five years I’ve lived in France I’ve driven precisely 28 days, on vacations in Bordeaux, Provence, and the Basque country, as well as a work trip in Brittany.  These are all places you cannot truly get around without a personal vehicle.  Each time I drove I rented a vehicle using my American license.  In fact, the one time I got pulled over in France (I stupidly overtook a cop in a small town — it didn’t look like a cop car) I decided to pull the “dumb foreigner” act and spoke heavily-accented American English, handing over a US license, all while looking suitably scared, penitent, and compliant.  They had no wish to do paperwork as they thought I would probably never pay the fine anyway, and there doesn’t seem to be a mechanism to chase down foreigners (as they imagined I was).  I promised to pay more attention to the signs and slowly drove off with a smile and a wave.  Driving a vehicle without a French license is a letter of the law illegal, as I am a resident of France past my one-year grace period, but my insouciant attitude on the matter confirms that indeed, I have adopted the French spirit entirely. 🙂

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, But…

So assuming that, like me, you love that hole in your budget where auto expenditures used to go, but are constrained by your circumstances and hence need a car and requisite license of your own, what are your choices?

The easy way

Trade in your US license during your first year in France.  The following states offer a straight swap of your license for a French one: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.  If getting a driver’s license in France had been a priority in my first year I would have swapped my Kansas license then and then did what I advise my visa consulting clients to do, report their US license as lost (and it honestly was — lost to the hands of the French government) and get a new one.  Two licenses for the price of one.

The hard way

It’s too depressing to relate, and why bother when the US government has a handy PDF that you can peruse at your leisure?  If you want to get more depressed, read the book I referenced above.  The work I’ve done at the prefecture for French residency seems to pale in comparison to the work for a license, and given that 1/3 of the French nation doesn’t have a license, the written and practical portions, as well as the cost of the schools themselves, drive most people off from the process entirely, and keep in mind that these are native speakers who play games like Mille Bornes from their youth and have insight into just how arcane and impossible the French licensing process can be.

But why be depressed at all?  France’s infrastructure is advanced enough for you not to have a private car, and with services like BlaBlaCar more closely connecting us all the time, you won’t need to.  In a driverless future, no one will need driver’s licenses, and that future will come to France, albeit slowly, I’m sure.

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