Anyone wishing to drive a motor vehicle on public roads in the Federal Republic of Germany generally requires a driving license or a test certificate. Driving licenses are issued for a specific category and can be limited in time in certain cases. The issued driving license or the test certificate, which must be carried when driving motor vehicles and handed over to the responsible persons for inspection on request, serves as proof of issue.
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Publisher
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Contact
The government service telephone number 115 – your point of contact for questions related to the federal, state and local.
Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 (and beyond these times in some regions).
Call 115 nowGovernment service telephone number calls are charged at local rates.
Are created in the driving license authority and are available at the driving schools.
Preconditions
The driving license can be issued for the respective category if the applicant
- has his or her normal place of residence in Germany,
- has reached the minimum age required for the category applied for (§ 10 FeV)
- is suitable for driving motor vehicles,
- has been trained to drive motor vehicles in accordance with the Driving Instructors Act and the legal provisions based on it,
- is able to provide first aid in the care of persons injured in road traffic accidents,
- does not hold a driving license of the requested category issued in a member state of the European Union or in another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and
- is in possession of another driving license category for certain license categories (for example, category B is required as a previous possession for category C) and
- has demonstrated the ability to drive motor vehicles in a theoretical and practical test.
Exceptions:
Only a theory test is required to obtain a category L driving license. When upgrading from category B to category BE, from category C1 to category C1E, from category D to category DE and from category D1 to category D1E, only one practical test is required in each case. When upgrading from category A1 to category A2 or from category A2 to category A, only one practical test is required in each case, provided the applicant has held a category A1 or A2 driving license for at least two years.
The issuing of a driving license is subject to a fee. Fees and expenses are incurred, the amount of which is calculated according to the administrative costs, is set out in the schedule of fees for road traffic measures (GebOSt) and is determined by the driving license authority. Please contact the competent authority. The fees charged do not include the costs for the driving license test at the Technical Inspection Authority, for medical certificates and reports, the eye test or for first aid training. These costs are to be paid separately to the testing, examination and expert bodies or training centers. The driving schools' fees for the test drive are charged in accordance with the terms and conditions of driving school training.
Procedure
The application for a driving license must be submitted in writing to the driving license authority and can be submitted at the earliest six months before reaching the minimum age required for the respective driving license category. Personal appearance is usually required by the driving license authority because a personal signature must be provided in the space provided on the order form that is sent to Bundesdruckerei GmbH for the production of the driving license.
The driving license authority checks whether applicants for a driving license meet the necessary physical and mental requirements. In this respect, it is advisable to submit the application at the beginning of the driving school training, as a certain amount of time is required for the aptitude test.
Only when suitability has been established will the driving license authority instruct the Technical Inspection Body for Motor Vehicle Traffic to conduct the theoretical and practical test. As a rule, the technical testing center will return the test order to the driving license authority if
- the theoretical test is not passed within twelve months of receipt of the test order,
- the practical test is not passed within twelve months of passing the theory test, or
- in cases where no theory test is required, the practical test has not been passed within twelve months of receipt of the test order.
As a rule, the driver's license is issued and the associated driving permit is issued after passing the theory test (for category L) or the practical test.
Processing time
The processing time depends on the driving license category applied for and the receipt of the necessary documents.