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A German license from scratch, in four steps
Written by
Janine El-Saghir
Janine El Saghir is an editor at How-to-Germany.com, where she specializes in the practical aspects of daily life and integration for expatriates. With years of...
Reviewed by
Erkan Boga
Erkan Boga is the founder and CEO of qmedia GmbH, the publishing house behind How-to-Germany.com. He established the platform with the clear vision of creating...
- Who takes it: anyone who lives in Germany and has no license, and holders of a license from a country that is not on Germany’s exchange list. The second group skips driving school but still takes both exams.
- Official fees: about €171 for one clean run: the license application and the license card (€40.80 at the authority) plus the theory and practical exams (€130.10 at the test center). Driving-school prices come on top and are set by each school.
- The two exams: a theory exam on a PC, available in English, and a 55-minute practical exam with three set maneuvers and a drive that leaves town, on the motorway where possible.
You can only apply once you actually live in Germany, which means at least 185 days a year, and from the age of 18. Before you book a driving school, check converting a foreign driving license: for many countries the license is simply exchanged, and the full test below is not needed.
Who has to take the full test
Two groups of expats end up here. The first has never held a license. The second holds a license from a country that is not on Germany’s exchange list, for example from India, China, Brazil or a US state such as California or New York. This second group gets one concession: the driving-school training is not required. The eye test, the first-aid course and both exams are. If your home country is on the list, you may only need the theory exam, or no exam at all, and that is a different procedure.
Step 1: Apply at the licensing office
The application goes to the licensing office of your city or district (Fahrerlaubnisbehörde, often called Führerscheinstelle). You can apply in writing or online, and you may be asked to appear in person. You must name your driving school on the form, so choose the school first. You also declare whether you hold or have applied for a license abroad. The earliest date is six months before your 18th birthday.
Bring four things:
- official proof of your place and date of birth, usually your passport or a birth certificate.
- one biometric photo, the same standard as for a German passport.
- an eye-test certificate from a recognized test center (an optician, for example), no older than two years. Glasses or contact lenses are allowed, and you can repeat the test with better glasses. A report from an eye doctor replaces the test.
- proof of a first-aid course of at least nine units of 45 minutes, from a recognized provider. Doctors, dentists, nurses and lifeguards with a silver or gold badge are exempt. If you did the course for an earlier license, you do not repeat it.
The authority charges €5.10 for processing the application and €35.70 for issuing the license. In Berlin and Munich you book an appointment online before you go.
Step 2: Driving school
Training is split into theory lessons and driving lessons. The law fixes the minimum for both. It does not fix prices, and it does not fix the number of regular driving lessons. That part depends on you.
| Part | Minimum | What the rule says |
|---|---|---|
| Theory, general part | 12 double lessons of 90 minutes | Six if you already hold a license of another class. Attendance in person is the rule, online classes only as an approved exception. Practice tests do not count as lessons. |
| Theory, class-specific part | set separately for class B | Covers the car-specific material on top of the general part. |
| Basic driving training | no fixed number | Should be completed before the special drives begin. One pupil per car. |
| Special drives, country roads | 5 × 45 minutes | One of them at least two hours long. |
| Special drives, motorway | 4 × 45 minutes | One of them at least two hours long, and where possible one hour on a stretch without a speed limit or with a limit of at least 120 km/h. |
| Special drives, dusk or darkness | 3 × 45 minutes | At least half of it on motorways or country roads. |
| Sources: Fahrschüler-Ausbildungsordnung, sections 4 and 5 and Annex 4, retrieved 4 November 2026. | ||
The school confirms to the examiner that you have completed the training. That confirmation must be no older than two years when you take each exam.
Step 3: The theory exam
The exam is taken on a PC at a test center run by one of the official examining organizations (TÜV or DEKRA, depending on the state). For a first license you answer 30 questions worth 110 points. You pass with no more than 10 error points, unless you get two 5-point questions wrong. The exam is in German by default, but you can take it in English or 13 other languages. The fee is €21 per attempt (€11.10 for the exam plus €9.90 for the PC). You can sit it at the earliest three months before your 18th birthday. The questions, the points and the languages are on the page German theory test in English.
Step 4: The practical exam
The practical exam comes after the theory exam, at the earliest one month before your 18th birthday and within twelve months of passing the theory. It takes place where you live, study or work. The driving school provides the car: a left-hand-drive passenger car with dual pedals and extra mirrors for the instructor, who sits in the car with the examiner. The fee is €109.10.
| Part | What happens |
|---|---|
| Duration | 55 minutes in total, of which 30 minutes are pure driving. The maneuvers, the safety checks and the result talk are not counted as driving time. |
| Technical preparation | You get the car ready for the drive and answer questions about it. |
| Three maneuvers | One of: reversing to the right around a corner or into an entrance, or reverse parallel parking. Two of: turning the car around, parking in a bay (straight or angled), emergency braking. |
| The drive | About half of the driving time is outside built-up areas, on the motorway or a dual carriageway where possible. |
| Result | The examiner tells you at the end and hands you a written feedback sheet with recommendations. |
| Source: Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, Annex 7 part 2, retrieved 4 November 2026. | |
You fail if you make an error that ends the exam at once, or if you repeat or pile up smaller errors that alone would have been tolerated. The examiner stops the drive as soon as it is clear that you will not pass, so a short exam is a bad sign. Driver-assistance systems in the car are allowed.
After the exam: license, probation, deadlines
Pick up your license within two years of the practical exam. After that, the whole test expires. Your first license is a probationary license for two years. A serious offense in that time means a mandatory seminar and two more years of probation. If you exchanged a foreign license instead, the years you already drove on it count towards the probation.
If you fail
You can repeat each exam after a reasonable wait, normally at least two weeks. The law sets no maximum number of attempts. A failed theory exam is always repeated in full, and every repeat costs the full exam fee again. If you book the theory and practical exams for the same day and fail the theory, you pay for both. If you do not show up without a good excuse, you also pay the full fee.
What the license costs: the official part
| Item | Fee | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Processing the application | €5.10 | Licensing office |
| Issuing the license | €35.70 | Licensing office |
| Theory exam, including the PC fee | €21.00 | Test center |
| Practical exam, class B | €109.10 | Test center |
| Total | €170.90 | |
| Source: Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr, fee numbers 201, 202.1, 401.1, 401.3 and 402.3, retrieved 4 November 2026. The eye test, the first-aid course, the photo and all driving-school charges are extra and not regulated. | ||
Once you have the license, the next steps are a car and its paperwork: registering a car in Germany and car insurance in Germany.
Bottom line
Check the exchange list first, because many foreign licenses are simply swapped with no exam at all. Never held a license? Choose your driving school before you apply, since the form asks for its name.
Part of driving in Germany. Related: the theory test in English · converting a foreign license.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your license comes from a country that is not on Germany’s exchange list, yes. The training rules do not apply to you, but you still take the eye test, the first-aid course and both exams. Some schools offer short refresher packages for this case. If your country is on the list, you exchange the license instead, with at most a theory exam.
The law sets no limit. It only requires a reasonable wait before a repeat, normally at least two weeks. Each attempt costs the full exam fee again, and a failed theory exam is repeated in full.
Twelve months. You must pass the practical exam within twelve months of passing the theory, otherwise the theory result expires and you sit it again.
No. Doctors and dentists, including those trained abroad, people in regulated health professions, nursing assistants, trained paramedics and lifeguards with a silver or gold badge are exempt. Everyone else needs a course of at least nine units of 45 minutes.
Only if your German license is issued on the basis of your foreign one. Then the time since you got the foreign license is credited against the two-year probation. If you take the full test as a new driver, the two years start with the German license.
Without a good excuse you pay the full fee for the missed part. The same applies if you book theory and practical for the same day and fail the theory: both fees are charged.
Sources and legal basis
Sources and legal basis (laws retrieved on 4 November 2026 from gesetze-im-internet.de)
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung (driving license regulation), section 7: ordinary residence in Germany, 185 days a year.
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 10: minimum age 18 for class B.
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 31: holders of a license from a country not on the exchange list are exempt from the training rules only.
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 21: application, documents, naming the driving school, declaration of foreign licenses, earliest date six months before the minimum age.
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 12: eye test, glasses allowed, certificate no older than two years.
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 19: first-aid course of at least nine units of 45 minutes, exemptions.
- Fahrschüler-Ausbildungsordnung (driving-school training regulation), section 4 (theory lessons), section 5 (practical training) and Annex 4 (special drives: 5 country road, 4 motorway, 3 at night).
- Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, section 16 (theory exam), section 17 (practical exam), section 18 (waiting time after failing, twelve-month and two-year deadlines) and Annex 7 (30 questions, 110 points, 10 error points, languages; practical exam 55 minutes, 30 minutes of driving, three maneuvers, test car, assessment, feedback sheet).
- Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr (fee schedule for road-traffic matters), Annex: fee numbers 201 (€5.10), 202.1 (€35.70), 401.1 (€11.10), 401.3 (€9.90 PC), 402.3 (€109.10), and the rules on no-shows and same-day bookings.
- Straßenverkehrsgesetz (road traffic act), section 2a: two-year probationary license, foreign license years credited, extension by two years after a seminar.
Driving-school prices, the number of regular driving lessons and the fees for the eye test, the first-aid course and the photo are not regulated by law and are therefore not stated on this page.