Here we have compiled and answered the most frequently asked questions by foreigners about the environmental areas in Germany.

Yes, the traffic signs that mark the entrance to an environmental zone belong to the general traffic indicators in effect for everyone and also apply to foreign vehicles.

Generally, at the same locations as all registered vehicles in Germany; at the vehicle registration office, the engineers' associations, such as the Technical Inspection Authority or Dekra and at all workshops in Germany licensed to do an EI (Emissions-Inspection). It is of course easier to order the tag online here.

No, now and in the future, you can drive into Germany without a tag and move around freely in Germany. However, you are not allowed to drive into the designated environmental zones.

In some environmental zones - for example in Cologne - there are transitional rules in the beginning, but after that and in other environmental zones - such as Berlin - you must figure with a fine of € 40.- starting with the first day.

Unfortunately, you also have to purchase an environmental sticker. You can buy an environmental sticker from us at our Foreign Cars shop online. Of course, you can also drive to Germany and visit a suitable garage and check to see whether you can obtain a sticker.

No, also in the future you are allowed to drive into Germany without it and use all highways for free. But you are not allowed to drive into the marked green zones.

This depends on the duration of the post from Germany to the delivery place, which we can not control. After receipt of your order, the copy of your vehicle registration papers and your payment we need three to four working day for review, issue and dispatch of your environmental badge. If we will not receive your registration papers by E-mail but by fax or post, the processing will take two to three days longer. Always under the condition that the registration papers are readable and contain all necessary details.

Stick your badge in the lower right corner of your windscreen (seen from inside). If your licence plate is not changing and your windscree not broken, the following applies: The green badge is valid for the entire life of your vehicle. The yellow and the red badges are valid as long as the respective green zones in Germany will allow this. Usually it will be handled like this: about 1 to 2 years after the start of the green zone will the entrance no longer be allowed with a red or yellow badge.

Yes, then use our fleet service. Here you have the possibility to transfer the amount in advance. Furthermore the amount can be calculated without German VAT if you possess a VAT identification number. Our prices are following a quantity scale. So you can make considerable savings by ordering badges for serveral vehicles at once.

If you will get a badge and which kind (green, yellow or red) depends from the amount of fine dust your vehicle emits. This can normally be seen in your registration papers by an expert. Concerning 47 European countries this is not standardized. But the staff of our partners, who are issuing the badges for us, is specifically and extensively trained.

We are not an authority but a private company. Our goal is to ease the consequences of the introduction of environmental zones in Germany for both citizens and foreigners. We will provide the possibility for everyone to order the needed badges from home and to receive them at home. Therefore we make considerable efforts to translate the latest information and our website into 14 languages and to train the staff for understanding the registration papers of all European countries. Due to German law we are free to calculate our prices as a dispatcher.

Various shipment options are available when it comes to ordering an environmental sticker. If your order is received by 1pm and our Express option 1 has been selected, the order can be processed the very same day and also be shipped via post within Germany or abroad the same day.
There are also other options. When selecting Express options 1 and 2, we ship the order by post express delivery so that the environmental sticker is guaranteed to be delivered the following day. This only applies to a ship-to address in Germany. When placing an order, foreigners can specify a ship-to address in Germany, e.g. a hotel so that the environmental sticker is already there for collection when you arrive in Germany.