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 the Crit'Air application
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 those 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 before 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 — however long you have been driving.
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 an electronic tax stamp. Your foreign licence is surrendered when the French one is issued, which matters if you also drive in your country of origin.
OnlineWho: You
4
Order a Crit'Air sticker from the official government site
The métropole's low emission zone came into force in 2025 and currently excludes unclassified vehicles and the oldest Crit'Air class, with tighter steps envisaged rather than fixed. The sticker costs a few euros from the official service and arrives by post within days; lookalike commercial sites charge many times that for the same document.
OnlineWho: You
5
Learn the bateau-bus timetable before you shop for a car
Réseau Mistral's passenger boats cross the bay to La Seyne, Les Sablettes and Saint-Mandrier on the same ticket as the buses, and for anyone living or working on the far shore they beat driving round comfortably. Toulon has no tram, so the boats plus the bus network are the alternative to a car — and the last sailing of the evening is a real constraint worth knowing before you sign a lease.
In personWho: You
6
Work out which side of the tunnel your life is on
The A50 and A57 pass under the city in a two-tube tunnel that is effectively the only fast east–west route. When it backs up there is no parallel road that is not also full, and no amount of leaving early fixes it. Decide where you live in relation to where you work with this in mind; it matters more here than the car you buy.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

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

Things most newcomers don’t know

The best commuter route in the city is a boat, and it is on the bus ticket.

Toulon is the largest French city with neither tram nor metro, which reads as a transport failure until you look at the rade. Réseau Mistral runs scheduled passenger boats across the bay on the ordinary network ticket, and for the western and southern shore they are faster and far more pleasant than the road. It reshapes the housing map: La Seyne, Les Sablettes and Saint-Mandrier are close by water and awkward by car. Read the timetable before you rule a commune out — and check the last sailing before you rule one in.

Source: Métropole Toulon Provence Méditerranée / Réseau Mistral

In summer the mountain may simply be closed, and it is published daily.

The Var restricts access to its wooded massifs during fire season according to a risk level assessed and published each day, and the Faron behind the city falls under that regime. A walk that was fine on Tuesday can be prohibited on Wednesday with a fine attached, and the rule exists because this coast burns. Check the day's map rather than the weather forecast, and if you rent a house near woodland ask who is responsible for the legally required vegetation clearance.

Source: préfecture du Var

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, or assume the deadline is generous, and find out too late that the only remaining route is the full French test through an auto-école at a cost well over a thousand euros. Diarise the date the day your 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. A licence from one American state may be exchangeable and one from the state next door not. The published list is specific, it takes five minutes to check, and it is the single most misunderstood point about French licence exchange.

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

Common mistakes to avoid

Ruling out the far side of the bay on a road map without checking the boat timetable.
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.
Walking on the Faron in August without checking the day's fire-risk access map.
Renting in the old town or Le Mourillon with a car and no included parking space.

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