Before you start

A completed Anmeldung, which starts the six-month clock
Your original foreign licence with a certified German translation where required
An eyesight test certificate
A first aid course certificate for most applicants

Step-by-step

1
Check the emission rules before you buy any vehicle
Stuttgart's environmental zone requires a green Umweltplakette across the city. Inside the smaller inner zone — the Talkessel plus Bad Cannstatt, Feuerbach and Zuffenhausen — Euro 5 diesel cars have been barred since July 2020, and further tightening has been deferred rather than abandoned. Confirm the current rule for your exact vehicle class before signing anything.
OnlineWho: YouBefore buying a car
2
Find your issuing jurisdiction on the federal exchange list
Anlage 11 of the Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung sets out country by country — and state by state for federal countries — whether you exchange freely, sit a theory test, sit a practical, or sit both. Never rely on a colleague's experience; two people from the same country can be treated differently.
OnlineWho: YouWithin the first month
3
Apply inside the six-month window
The window runs from taking up residence, meaning your registration date. Applying within it preserves whatever exchange rights your jurisdiction has; letting it lapse can push you into the full German licensing process, which is one of the most expensive in Europe.
In personWho: YouWithin 6 months of Anmeldung
4
Get the translation, eyesight test and first aid certificate
A certified translation from ADAC or a sworn translator, an eyesight test at any optician, and a first aid course of roughly nine hours run regularly by the DRK, Johanniter and Malteser. None is difficult; all take calendar time.
In personWho: You
5
Apply at the Stuttgart Führerscheinstelle
Submit the file and surrender your foreign licence, which is generally retained. Processing takes weeks, longer where the issuing authority abroad must confirm the document is genuine.
In personWho: YouSeveral weeks
6
Learn the vertical public transport before deciding you need a car
The Zacke rack railway is a scheduled line on a normal ticket and carries bicycles on an open wagon; a funicular serves the Waldfriedhof; and the S-Bahn runs under the whole basin. Between the topography, the parking and the emission zones, a car in Stuttgart is a considerably worse deal than the region's own industry implies.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence with certified German translation
Meldebescheinigung from your Anmeldung
Passport and residence permit
Eyesight test certificate
First aid course certificate
Biometric photograph

Things most newcomers don’t know

Stuttgart pioneered German diesel driving bans, and the Euro 5 exclusion is still in force.

The Neckartor junction was for years the most polluted measuring point in Germany, a direct consequence of a city sitting in a bowl with almost no wind. Courts forced action, and since July 2020 Euro 5 diesel cars have been barred from the inner environmental zone covering the Talkessel, Bad Cannstatt, Feuerbach and Zuffenhausen. Further restrictions have been postponed rather than cancelled. Buying a used diesel here can strand you outside your own district.

Source: Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart — Umweltzone

For US, Canadian and Australian licences the state or province decides everything.

Germany negotiated exchange arrangements individually with sub-national jurisdictions in federal countries, so one US state may exchange with no test while its neighbour requires both theory and practical. In a city full of international automotive secondees, this produces confident and wrong advice constantly. Look up your exact issuing jurisdiction in Anlage 11 rather than asking the colleague who did it last year.

Source: Anlage 11 Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung

Missing the six-month window is the most expensive avoidable error a driver makes here.

The clock starts at your Anmeldung. Apply within it and you keep your exchange rights. Let it expire and you can be required to complete the full German process — compulsory theory lessons, a minimum number of supervised practical hours including motorway and night driving, and two examinations — which costs thousands of euros and several months, for a licence you already held for twenty years.

Source: Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart — Führerscheinstelle

The topography, not the traffic, is what makes a car awkward in Stuttgart.

Large parts of the residential slopes are reached by staircases and single-lane switchbacks with no parking at all, and a flat that is three hundred metres from a main road can be a hundred vertical metres above it. Residents route around this with the S-Bahn, the rack railway, the funicular and increasingly electric bikes. Look at the contour lines before assuming a car solves your commute.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying a used diesel in Germany's automotive capital without checking which environmental zone your home and office sit in.
Assuming a country-level exchange rule when your US state or Canadian province is treated separately.
Counting the six months from arrival rather than from the Anmeldung date.
Driving into the city without a green Umweltplakette on the windscreen.
Renting a flat on the slopes without checking whether a car can physically be parked near it.

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