Before you start

Valid foreign driving licence
Geneva residence permit or registration confirmation
Eyesight test from a recognised optician or doctor
Certified translation if the licence is not in French, German, Italian or English

Step-by-step

1
Diary the twelve-month date the week you register
The clock runs from taking up residence, not from the first time you drive. In a city where most people use the TPG and the Léman Express, it is entirely possible to forget you own a licence until month thirteen.
In personWho: YouWithin 12 months of taking up residence
2
Take the eyesight test
Done at a recognised optician or doctor and submitted with the application. It is quick and cheap and is the step people leave until the deadline week.
In personWho: You
3
File at the OCV in Carouge
Submit the foreign licence, the permit, the eyesight report, a photograph and the form. Applications can be started online but the licence itself has to be surrendered.
In personWho: You
4
Sit a control drive if your issuing country requires one
Switzerland groups foreign licences into categories. Many exchange on paper; others require a practical assessment with an examiner. Fail twice and you enter full Swiss training.
In personWho: You
5
Sort out a French-registered car separately
If you move to Geneva with a car registered abroad you must clear it through customs and re-register it in Switzerland, generally within a year. The vehicle question and the licence question run on separate tracks and separate offices.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence
Residence permit or OCPM registration confirmation
Eyesight test report
Passport photograph
Certified translation where applicable

Things most newcomers don’t know

Geneva is one of the easiest Swiss cities to live in without a car, which is exactly how people miss the deadline.

The TPG network, the Léman Express and a compact centre mean many arrivals simply never drive in their first year. The twelve-month exchange window runs anyway, and once it closes you face theory, first aid, mandatory lessons and a test. Exchange the licence even if you have no intention of driving.

Source: Cantonal licensing practice

Whether you need a control drive depends on your issuing country, not on your experience.

Switzerland classifies foreign licences into groups and the requirement follows the group. A driver of thirty years from a category-two country still takes the assessment, while a recently qualified driver from a category-one country does not. Check your category before assuming it is a counter transaction.

Source: ch.ch — converting a foreign driving licence

Exchanging means handing over the original licence permanently.

If you spend time in a country that expects the original document, or plan to move on and re-establish elsewhere, resolve that before the exchange. Getting a replacement issued by your home authority afterwards is slow and sometimes impossible.

Source: Cantonal road traffic office practice

Parking in the city is scarce, priced and enforced, and cross-border traffic makes rush hour worse than the city's size suggests.

Over a hundred thousand people commute in from France daily. The result is congestion out of all proportion to a city of 200,000, plus macaron resident-parking schemes that take weeks to obtain. Most residents who exchange a licence do so to preserve the option, then use car-sharing.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Letting the twelve-month window lapse because you have not needed to drive.
Assuming a paper exchange when your country's category requires a control drive.
Forgetting the eyesight test until the final week.
Confusing the licence deadline with the separate obligation to re-register a foreign car.
Surrendering the original licence without considering where else you still need it.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.