Before you start

A valid residence permit and a French address
Your foreign licence, with a sworn translation if it is not in French
A vehicle registration document, for Crit'Air and for the Belgian zone registrations
An ANTS account for the licence exchange

Step-by-step

1
Check whether your issuing state has a reciprocity agreement with France
France exchanges licences only with states it has an agreement with, and for federal countries the agreements are concluded state by state or province by province. Two Americans from neighbouring states can get entirely different answers. The list is published — read it rather than assuming.
OnlineWho: YouBefore the one-year window closes
2
Apply within one year of your residence permit taking effect
The exchange window runs one year from the start date of your first titre de séjour, not from the day you arrived. Miss it and the only route left is the full French test — code and practical, in French, through an auto-école.
OnlineWho: YouWithin 1 year of the permit's start date
3
Submit the exchange through ANTS
Entirely online, with a sworn translation of your licence, proof of residence, identity documents and a compulsory EUR 40 electronic tax stamp. Your foreign licence is surrendered when the French one is issued.
OnlineWho: You
4
Order a Crit'Air sticker from the official government site
Any vehicle in the French low emission zone needs the windscreen sticker classifying its emissions. It costs a few euros from the official service. Lookalike commercial sites charge many times that for the same document and rank well in search results.
OnlineWho: You
5
Register your plate with the Brussels and Flemish zones before your first trip
Belgium's low emission zones read number plates against national vehicle databases, and a French plate is not in them. Foreign-registered vehicles must therefore be registered — free and online. A single Flemish registration serves both Antwerp and Ghent; Brussels is a separate system and a Flemish registration does not count there. Registrations run for years. A compliant car with an unregistered plate is still fined, so do both before your first trip rather than leaning on the short post-entry grace period each system allows.
OnlineWho: YouBefore driving into Belgium
6
If your employer gives you a Belgian company car, keep the paperwork in the car
A French resident is normally expected to register a vehicle in France, with an exception for a vehicle provided by an employer established in another EU state. That exception is real but it is evidenced by documents — the employer's attestation and the vehicle papers — not by explanation at the roadside. Ask your employer for a written attestation and keep a copy in the glovebox.
Via employerWho: You and your employer

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence with a sworn translation
Residence permit
Justificatif de domicile
Passport
Vehicle registration document, for Crit'Air and the Belgian zone registrations

Things most newcomers don’t know

A clean French car still gets fined in Brussels if the plate was never registered.

Belgian low emission zones enforce by camera against national vehicle databases, and a French plate does not appear in them, so the system cannot tell whether the car is compliant. Foreign-registered vehicles must therefore be registered with the zone — free, a few minutes online, and valid for five years in Brussels. Drivers assume that meeting the emissions standard is what matters and collect a fine in the hundreds of euros for a purely administrative omission. Antwerp and Ghent work the same way, on a shared Flemish registration that is separate from the Brussels one.

Source: lez.brussels / Stad Gent

The one-year exchange clock runs from your residence permit, not from your arrival.

The window to exchange a non-EU licence is one year from the date your first titre de séjour takes effect. People count from when they landed and discover too late that the only route left is the full French test through an auto-école at a cost well into four figures. Diarise the date the day the permit is issued.

Source: service-public.fr

For federal countries the reciprocity agreement is per state, not per country.

France concluded its licence exchange arrangements with the United States, Canada and others state by state and province by province, so a licence from one American state may be exchangeable and one from the state next door not. The published list is specific and takes five minutes to check. It is the single most misunderstood point about French licence exchange.

Source: service-public.fr — échange d'un permis de conduire étranger

For Brussels and London, the car is the slow option and it is not close.

Lille Europe puts Brussels around thirty-five minutes away and London around an hour and a half, both from a station in the middle of the city. Driving to Brussels means the ring road, the low emission zone and parking; driving to London means a ferry or the shuttle. This is one of very few French cities where the international rail connection genuinely removes the argument for owning a car, and it is worth testing your actual week before buying one.

Source: SNCF / Eurostar

Common mistakes to avoid

Driving into Brussels, Antwerp or Ghent without registering your French plate with the zone.
Counting the one-year exchange window from arrival rather than from the permit's start date.
Assuming a country-level reciprocity agreement when France concludes them state by state.
Driving a Belgian company car in France with no employer attestation in the vehicle.
Buying a Crit'Air sticker from an unofficial reseller at several times the price.

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