News item | 03-10-2025 | 15:15
After a successful experiment, the parliament has decided to make it possible to make driving licenses digitally extended, replaced and expanded digitally. This saves citizens an appointment at the municipal counter and saves time. On the proposal of Minister Tieman of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Council of Ministers agreed to send this legislative amendment to the Council of State for advice.
Minister Tieman: “With this law it becomes a lot easier to extend, replace or extend your driver’s license electronically to an extra category. Not only does it save time for citizens and municipalities, the application also becomes more fraud and a better photo quality can improve identity control. The expectation is that this also leads to lower costs.”
The electronic application is handled by the Road Traffic Service (RDW). They manage the driving license register and have access to the personal data required for this. The RDW has recognized photographers that take good quality passport photos and can send them directly to the RDW.
It remains possible, just like now, to make a physical request at the municipal counter. The first application for a driver’s license must even continue to take place physically in connection with the identification and registration of the applicant in the driving license register. It is, however, possible to use the digital delivery of the passport photo and signature with this first request.
Legal anchoring
Following the experiment, a change in the law has been worked on. The aim is to have these laws and regulations come into effect on January 1, 2027. In the meantime, it has been decided that it will be tolerated to keep the digital handling possible.