living in Andorra guide on residency relocation advice

Passive and active residents can own an Andorran registered vehicle, but to drive it legally you will require an andorran driving license. Unfortunately for many countries the procedure is more complicated.

Passive residents have one year from the date of entry to Andorra to apply for an Andorran driving license in exchange for their current one from their country of origin. Every applicant will require the following documents:-

1) A completed local application form,

2) A medical certificate from a local doctor, this is easy to obtain.

4) A recent colour passport sized photo

5) Original and photocopy of both sides of the foreign driving license.

6) If the text for the driving license is not in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese, you will need an official transaltion (If done in the country of origin, then this will need to be apostillised/Legalised, or alternatively it can be easily translated officially in Andorra)

If you hold a driving license of the following countries,

Spain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Holland, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Switzerland or (as from November 2010) United Kingdom,

Then that is all the documents you require to change you driving license to an Andorran license. Be warned however that the Government "mutilate" your original license by endorsing it "Anul.lat" or cancelled. It is up to you whether you later pursue a replacement from your original country.

Now if your country is not on the list, then further documents are required, and these can be difficult to obtain, and should be requested from the authorities before your move to Andorra.

You will need the following additional documents which must be Apostillised / Legalised:

1) A certficate of authentication issued by the Department responsible for issuing the driving license, and,

2) A certificate from the same Department which explains the categories on the driving license, being careful to include the maximum weights permitted under thise categories.

Again if they are not in Spanish, French, English, or Portuguese they will need to go through the translation process, with the due Apostille/Legalisation stamps, or translated in Andorra.

So that is why before your move here you should consider requesting and obtaining those documents.

There are two other options if all else fails or documents cannot be obtained as requested, the first one is to apply for and take an andorran driving test. The theory side is not easy and tests one's logic in the English translation of the multiple choice section. The added complication is, is that they give you one year from the date of your entry to Andorra in which to apply for this test, failing which you are only allowed to take it in Catalan !!

The second option is to pay the fine, if you are stopped by the police, which is currently € 60 and they do not take into consideration "previous fines", in other words there is at present no escalator for repeat offences. This option is not the best of course as regulations are always changing and you may get caught out.

All residents can import a car less than 3 years old and pay 8.4% import duty and taxes. There is also import availbale for classic cars over 25 years old. In effect if you buy a car from another country you can arrange for it to be exported and have the tax refunded upon export from the EU (i.e. Andorra). So it is worth pricing vehicles in other countries (especially the UK with the devaluation in Sterling, BUT the car must be left hand drive), calculating the cost after refunding the VAT and then adding the local import duties. In many cases you can take advantage of residency to purchase a new car at a great discount.

For cars imported from outside the EU there is a raft of extra requirements, not least the specifications being different. You will also pay a landing tax demanded by the EU, most likely to protect EU vehicle manufacturers. This extra tax is in the region of an additional 8% and with the extra requirements for specifications may not prove to be financially viable.


In the case of passive residents they recognise that you are in effect changing your country of domicile and allow a special concession to import a maximum of 2 cars within the first year from arriving in andorra (NOT from the date of residency approval) that are under 5 years old.

There is another condition however that you have to prove that you owned and that the vehicle was registered in your name from the country in which you have declared your last residency for a minimum of 6 months prior to your arrival in Andorra.

You are allowed in your first year as resident here to drive the car (or 2 cars) on the original plates without importing it but you must import it at some time within that year.

Whether or not your previous country of residence allows you to reclaim some or all of the VAT or car tax paid at time of purchase upon export of the car over six months later, is a matter to decide in calculating whether it is better to buy a new car for export once a resident here and pay the 8.4% duty.

The paperwork is fairly complicated, however I have imported many cars and can do this relatively easily and I can complete the process in a day and a half. There is also the requirement for a local inspection to show that the vehicle complies with local specifications. I am able to get a nod in advance from the person in charge if all the documents are sent ahead of the car. Please contact me if I can be of assistance here.