If you hold an Indian driving license, you can drive in Germany for 6 months. After this, you need to have a German or European driving license in order to drive in Germany. Also, after 6 months your IDP (International Driving Permit) is also not valid hence you have to apply for German Driving License.
Applying and obtaining a German License is not an easy task. It may take up to an year and cost around €1700 to €3000 depending upon the state/city you are living in and the number of attempts, classes you might need to take.
In this guide, I will explain the process of converting your Indian License to a German License.
Step 1: Register with a driving school
To initiate your driving license, you HAVE to enrol with a driving school in the city you are living in. You cannot apply at a driving school in a different city. You can look at google for driving school near you who can speak English. For me, I registered with Peters Fahrschule. The registration fee is around €550. They will provide you the registration confirmation which you need to submit at KVR.
Inform them that you already have a valid Indian license, and you want to convert. They will provide you a detailed process on how to convert it. You may skip attending the Theory classes only and can study on your own with apps available.
Step 2: First Aid Course
Book a first aid course. There are many first aid courses in the city, and they provide this course in English as well. It will be a day long course and hence you need to plan it accordingly. Some of the institution provide classes on Saturday and you can book that one if you have office throughout the weekday.
The cost of first aid course in English is around €65-€70.
Step 3: Eye Test
For your driving license, it is mandatory to have your eyesight tested. You can do this at any optician shop, and it may cost around €6-€10 only. Alternatively, at times, they also do eyesight testing when you are attending the first aid course.
Step 4: Translation of your Indian Driving License
You need to have your license translated in German language before submitting the document to the KVR. I used ADAC for translating my Indian License to German. It usually cost around €65-€70 and they will provide you the translated document within 3 business day.
Once you have completed the steps 1 to 4, book an appointment at KVR or city office for driving license. Submit all the documents to the KVR:
- Registration Confirmation from Driving School
- Certificate of First Aid course
- Eye Test Certificate
- Translated and original Driving license
Note: The city officer may ask whether you want to apply for manual or automatic. You can think and decide what you want. If you chose automatic, you cannot drive manual car. However, if you chose manual, you can drive both.
The fee for KVR is around €40-€50.
Now you have relax and wait while your Indian driving license is validated. You can use this time to prepare for the theory exam – this is a tough one with average of 40% people passing. You can use various app for this. There is a app for €10 on app store (Fuhrerschein Gold) or you can buy app from your driving school which may cost close to €80-€100.
Step 5: Now, your KVR will inform your driving school and you will get a message that your Indian driving license is validated, and you can book your theory exam. Visit your driving school and book your theory exam. The exam fee is around €120-€130 including the registration fee. Your driving school will give you a confirmation that your exam is booked, and you need to visit the respective centre on the scheduled day for your exam.
PS: you can ask your driving school to book your practical classes or driving classes at the same time when you are booking your theory exam. In this way, you can start your driving classes directly after you complete and pass your theory exam. You don’t have to pay anything for booking driving classes. This will save you time as once you pass your theory exam and look for classes, you might not get those in next 1.5 months.
After you successfully passed your theory exam (you will get the result at the same time once the exam is submitted), you can visit your driving school and start your driving classes, if booked already. Else book driving classes with them – you might need to book 8-10 classes and your instructor will guide you if you need less or more.
Step 6: Once you start driving, your teacher will examine your driving abilities, whether you understand all the sign boards and your basic understanding of German language (he may give directions in German). After your instructor is confident that you can go for final exam, he will ask you to cancel the remaining classes, if any, and book for the final exam. The final exam may cost around €200-€300.
On the day of your driving exam, the examiner from TUV will check your identity document (passport). Once paperwork is completed, he will ask you certain technical questions about the car. Just remember, all the communication will happen in German Language, so you have to remember the keywords if you don't speak the language. Examiner will ask 2-3 questions before starting the driving test.
My examiner asked the following question:
Switch on the Hazard lights and tell me how you know its on and working.
Open the hood and tell me where is the coolant.
When you need to fill the coolant (immediately after driving or after sometime).
How do you check if your brakes are working fine.
After these, we started the driving exam. The examiner said if he doesn't give any direction then you have to go straight. He asked me to do the following:
Take U turn from the red light.
Take right from the red light and enter in 30 zone.
Do a parallel parking.
Apply emergency brakes.
Follow the directions to Autobahn (entry, driving, overtaking, and exit).
Go back to driving school.
That's all!!! Once we reach back to driving school, he informed that I have completed my test and he will give me a certificate of passing the exam. I have to take this and with appointment with the KVR, I can collect my license.
In the driving test, they will check your understanding of the driving rules, how you are reading the traffic sign and following them, how to enter and exit autobahn, your overtaking skills, if needed, within city limits, outside city limits and on autobahn. You need to remember that you can't overtake any car on right side outside of city limits and on autobahn. You always have to overtake from left side.
Once you have the passing certificate from TUV examiner, you can book appointment at KVR the very next day or whenever dates are available to collect your new German DL! You can also request them to give you your Indian DL back as you might need it back in India.
All the best for your exams!
Views and experience are personal, please discuss with your driving school for updated process and procedure.
Photo by Kawshar Ahmed on Unsplash
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