23rd FSG Amendment: What changes for driver's licenses starting in September
The 23rd amendment to the Driving License Act (FSG) came into force on September 1, 2026. It introduces five changes, two of which are particularly important for people who hold a foreign driver's license or regularly drive abroad.
The first concerns the International Driving Permit. Its validity period under the Vienna Convention increases from one to three years. The Vienna Convention is applied by around 90 countries. Please note: For countries that still fall under the older Geneva or Paris agreements, including the USA, Canada, Australia, and Japan, it remains one year. Anyone caught during a traffic stop in Austria with a foreign driver's license from further afield without the required International Driving Permit will in future be treated like someone who has forgotten their license at home. This offense is thus classified in the same way as exceeding the six-month deadline for converting a foreign driver's license. Anyone who has lived here for less than six months and is still driving with a foreign license should not put off the conversion until the last day.
The second important change concerns professional drivers. For classes C and D, the previous two-year limitation from the age of 60 no longer applies. The general five-year limitation now applies, meaning fewer trips to the authorities and fewer medical examinations. Important for those affected: Licenses that were issued for two years before September 1 will expire at the scheduled time, and a medical certificate is still required for renewal.
An overview of three further points. Anyone who fails a theoretical or practical driving test can now retake it after twelve days instead of fourteen; for class AM, it remains two weeks for the time being. Anyone caught cheating during the exam may not retake it for 18 months, compared to the previous nine months; a new penal provision also applies to those who offer or organize unauthorized technical assistance. And anyone who loses their driver's license or has it stolen may now continue to drive with the confirmation of the report for eight weeks instead of four, which is intended to bridge the often long waiting times for a duplicate.
Anyone planning a test, renewal, or conversion in the coming weeks should check with the responsible driver's license authority beforehand to see which documents are required under the new legal situation. Proceedings that were already pending on September 1 will be concluded according to the legal situation at the time of the official decision.