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Driver's license; submission of proof of suitability

  • Brief description

    The driving license authority must check whether you are fit to drive a motor vehicle. In certain cases, it may or must request medical or medical-psychological reports for this purpose.

  • Description

    The driver’s license authority must determine whether you are fit to operate motor vehicles. In certain cases, it may or must request medical or medical-psychological evaluations for this purpose. In addition, proof of vision is always required.

    The proof of fitness required in each individual case depends on the driver’s license class you are applying for or have been issued. For example, if you apply for a driver’s license for trucks or buses or a license to transport passengers (e.g., for taxis), you must always provide a certificate confirming a medical examination and a vision test conducted by an ophthalmologist, a physician specializing in “occupational medicine” or the additional specialty “occupational medicine,” a physician at a driver fitness assessment center, a physician from the public health department, another physician employed by the public administration, or an optometrist’s office in accordance with Section 67(4) of the Driver’s License Regulation (FeV). If you are applying for a bus driver’s license or a passenger transport driver’s license for the first time, or if you wish to renew such a license after turning 50 (for buses) or 60 (for passenger transport driver’s licenses), you must also provide proof, in the form of an occupational or occupational health medical report or a report from an officially recognized assessment center for driver fitness, that you meet the specific requirements regarding stress tolerance, orientation, concentration, attention, and reaction time.

    If you are applying for a driver’s license, for example, for motorcycles or passenger cars (up to 3.5 metric tons), only an eye exam is generally required.

    The authorities will only require additional medical or medical-psychological evaluations if there is a specific reason to do so. The driver’s license office will require a medical-psychological evaluation from an officially recognized assessment center for driving fitness if, for example, you have committed traffic violations while under the influence of alcohol.

    Even if you already hold a driver’s license, the driver’s license authority may or must review your fitness to drive if there are specific grounds for doubting your fitness to drive.

    Your driver’s license authority will provide you with details regarding the submission of a medical or medical-psychological evaluation. You can find additional information under “Further Links.”

  • Prerequisites

    The requirements depend on the driver's license category and whether the authorities have specific reason to doubt your fitness to drive.

  • Deadlines

    If the driving license authority requests an expert opinion on your fitness to drive for a specific reason, it will set a deadline for the submission of the expert opinion.

  • Required documents

    Medical Certificate Without a Specific Reason

    If you are applying for a driver’s license to operate trucks or buses, or a driver’s license for passenger transport, you must submit the medical certificates—insofar as they are required in all cases regardless of a specific reason—at the time of application.

    Medical Certificate for a Specific Reason

    If the driver’s license office has requested that you submit a medical or medical-psychological evaluation for a specific reason, please check with the examining physician or the evaluation center to find out which documents you need to bring.

  • Costs

    The costs vary depending on the type of certificate or expert opinion required and, if applicable, the scope of the examination.

  • Legal basis

  • Legal remedy

    Administrative court action

  • Further links

  • Related services


Responsible departments