Moving a car from Sweden to Norway or Denmark – licences, customs, belongings and pets

Moving a car from Sweden to Norway costs VAT and a one-off registration tax, while your Danish or Norwegian licence stays valid in Sweden without a swap. Here is what applies to your car, driving licence, household goods and dog or cat when you move between the Nordic countries.

Moving a car from Sweden to Norway, or in any direction across that border, is where the Nordic region still costs money: Norway is in the EEA but outside the EU customs union. Licences travel more easily, though two things changed in 2026. Since 1 May 2026, Transportstyrelsen (the Swedish Transport Agency) exchanges an EEA licence that started life outside the EEA only if it was issued after a driving test in the EEA, was obtained by exchanging a licence from the Faroe Islands, the UK, Japan or Switzerland, or you held it for at least five years before settling in Sweden. And from 14 September 2026, crossing the Øresund Bridge by car costs DKK 470 at the toll station, or DKK 182 with the ØresundGO discount contract, which has an annual fee of DKK 370.

Can you keep your driving licence?

Usually, yes. A licence from an EU or EEA country – Norway included – stays valid in Sweden for as long as it is valid at home, even after you are folkbokförd (registered as resident). Færdselsstyrelsen (the Danish Road Traffic Authority) requires no exchange of EU or EEA licences, and Statens vegvesen (the Norwegian Public Roads Administration) lets you drive on one, subject to Norwegian health requirements, or swap it for a Norwegian licence without new tests.

Two exceptions matter. A licence can in principle only be issued by the country where you have normal residence, so Statens vegvesen may investigate one issued elsewhere. And if your EU or EEA licence was itself swapped from a non-EEA one, Norway lets you use it for only three months, unless you had held EEA driving rights for at least ten years. The EU's Your Europe portal adds that licences with no end date may have to be exchanged after two years of residence if the national authority requires it, and old unlimited ones by 2033 at the latest.

Licence	Sweden	Norway	Denmark
EU/EEA licence	Valid with no time limit	Valid; can be exchanged without tests	Valid; no exchange needed
Non-EEA licence	Stops being valid after one year of folkbokföring; UK and Faroese licences excepted	Three months from arrival; six with a permit and a job contract over three months	180 days after you take up normal residence

Source: Transportstyrelsen, Statens vegvesen, Færdselsstyrelsen and Your Europe, read 23 September 2026.

Can you drive your Swedish car in Norway without importing it?

Often, for a while. Grensetjänsten Norge–Sverige, the joint border information service, says a Swedish resident working in Norway for up to a year may drive a Swedish-registered car there; for longer jobs, Skatteetaten (the Norwegian Tax Administration) can grant a dispensation for up to two years. If you live in Sweden and are married or have children under 18, your ties to Sweden let you drive it in Norway with no time limit once confirmed with Skatteetaten – and the same applies if you spend fewer than 185 days a year in Norway.

In Denmark, Motorstyrelsen (the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency) says anyone living there who brings in a car on foreign plates must notify the agency online before importing it, and then has 30 days to register it.

What does moving a car from Sweden to Norway cost?

Norway charges in three steps. You declare the car to Tolletaten (Norwegian Customs) and pay 25 per cent VAT on its value plus freight and insurance, plus a greenhouse gas tax; then you pay the engangsavgift (one-off registration tax) to Skatteetaten; then Statens vegvesen approves and registers the car. For an electric car, VAT applies only to the value above NOK 300,000. You may drive on foreign plates for up to 30 days after customs clearance, and a car never counts as duty-free removal goods.

The other way round, Transportstyrelsen says a car from Norway must be declared to Tullverket (Swedish Customs) with duty and VAT, even though Norway is in the EEA – though Grensetjänsten says it can be duty-free if you lived in Norway for at least twelve months and owned and used the car for at least six. Registration needs an ursprungskontroll (origin check), and on the road the car must be ställd på: insured and with fordonsskatt (vehicle tax) paid. A new car bought in Denmark is reported to the office of Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) in Ludvika for VAT. Denmark charges no customs on a car from the EU, only 25 per cent VAT if it is new; from outside the EU, generally 10 per cent duty and 25 per cent VAT, with registreringsafgift (registration tax) on top.

Car moving	What you pay	Who handles it
Sweden or Denmark to Norway	25 per cent VAT and greenhouse gas tax, then one-off registration tax	Tolletaten, Skatteetaten, Statens vegvesen
Norway to Sweden	Duty and VAT, unless you qualify for duty-free import	Tullverket, Transportstyrelsen
Norway to Denmark	Generally 10 per cent duty and 25 per cent VAT, plus registration tax	Motorstyrelsen
Between Denmark and Sweden	No customs; VAT on new cars	Skatteverket and Transportstyrelsen, or Motorstyrelsen

Source: Tolletaten, Skatteetaten, Transportstyrelsen, Grensetjänsten Norge–Sverige and Motorstyrelsen, read 23 September 2026.

What about furniture and household goods?

Moving to Norway, household effects are free of duty and VAT if you have lived abroad continuously for at least a year, owned and used them there, and bring them within a year of moving. You declare them on form RD0030 with an inventory list, and without a Norwegian identity number or D-number you first apply for a TRK-number. Occupational equipment, food, alcohol and tobacco are not exempt. Into Sweden from another EU or EEA country, removal goods are normally duty-free, but alcohol, tobacco and goods bought outside the EU without duty paid follow special rules. Grensetjänsten advises contacting Tullverket or Tolletaten (+47 22 86 03 12) before you move.

Which rules apply to dogs and cats?

As a rule, a dog or cat crossing a Nordic border needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination given after chipping and an EU pet passport. Norway is the strictest: dogs need tapeworm treatment from a vet 24 to 120 hours before arrival, unless they come directly from Finland, Malta or Ireland, and frequent travellers can instead treat every 28 days. The exception, according to Info Norden, the Nordic Council of Ministers' information service: animals travelling only between Norway and Sweden are exempt from Norway's rabies vaccination requirement.

Moving to	Pet rules to know
Norway	Tapeworm treatment for dogs 24–120 hours before entry; at most five animals per trip; pets duty-free in a move after at least a year abroad
Sweden	From an EU country such as Denmark: chip before the rabies vaccine, then wait 21 days; no tapeworm requirement
Denmark	Chip, rabies vaccine after chipping – normally valid from 21 days – and an EU pet passport

Source: Info Norden, Mattilsynet (the Norwegian Food Safety Authority), Tolletaten and Jordbruksverket (the Swedish Board of Agriculture), read 23 September 2026.

What to do now

Step	What	When
1	Check whether your licence was first issued outside the EEA	Before you move
2	Working in Norway on Swedish plates: confirm your ties to Sweden with Skatteetaten	Before the first year runs out
3	Importing a car: work out VAT and registration tax, and declare it at the border	Before you cross
4	Register the car	Norway: within 30 days on foreign plates; Denmark: within 30 days
5	List your household goods and file RD0030 for Norway	When you move, within a year at the latest
6	Book the vet: chip, rabies vaccine and, for Norway, tapeworm treatment	Weeks ahead; tapeworm 24–120 hours before

Source: Transportstyrelsen, Skatteetaten, Motorstyrelsen, Tolletaten and Info Norden, read 23 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

• Færdselsstyrelsen (Danish Road Traffic Authority) – Udenlandsk kørekort i Danmark · fstyr.dk
• Statens vegvesen – Using an EU/EEA driving licence in Norway · vegvesen.no
• Transportstyrelsen – Byta ut ett körkort från ett EES-land till ett svenskt · transportstyrelsen.se
• Grensetjänsten Norge-Sverige – Svensk bil och körkort i Norge · grensetjansten.com
• Grensetjänsten Norge-Sverige – Ta med bil eller annat fordon till Sverige från Norge · grensetjansten.com
• Transportstyrelsen – Import från länder utanför EU · transportstyrelsen.se
• Transportstyrelsen – Ställa på ditt fordon · transportstyrelsen.se
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Guide: Moving to Norway · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Travelling with pets to Denmark · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Travelling with dogs or cats to Norway · norden.org
• Statens vegvesen – Exchanging EU/EEA driving licences · vegvesen.no

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.

All eight guides, who they are for and who to ask: Moving within Scandinavia.