Driving licence

Yes, you can. You can drive with
A) a foreign national DL issued by an EU member state (or Korea or Japan) or which is in accordance with Vienna Convention – so it is “EU type” DL, see below. All information must be in the Latin alphabet.  AND, you have an obligation to exchange it once you received a resident permit for over a year.

B) a foreign national DL (ie. not issued by EU country and looks different than the specimen below, ie most of the non-European countries) and an additional international DL document issued by the same country that issued your national DL.

EU type of Driving Licence

If your DL (driving license) not issued by an EU country but is in compliance with the European standard (it is fully compliant with the Vienna or Geneva convention, see the specimen in the General Information below) or issued by Korea or Japan, your DL is valid in the Czech Republic. You can drive with it, you don’t need any further international driving license or similar.

However, you have an obligation to replace your foreign DL within three months¹ , once you have received the temporary or long term or permanent residence card valid for over one year.

The exchange of DL is done at the municipal office (Kounicova 67 in Brno). The exchange process, in this case, is quite easy, you just have to bring your foreign DL and your Czech residence card to the municipal office and fill out the form there.

Once your new Czech driving license is ready, in about two weeks, you have to come back, hand over your original driving license, and pay an administrative fee of 200 CZK in cash or by credit card.  You can check if the card is ready for pick up at online status.

Note, that it is easy to exchange the DL (foreign card for Czech card) but it takes more paperwork to extend the validity of the Czech DL or to issue a substitutive DL for lost or stolen card. In such a case, you will have to prove with a number of documents that you have been living in the CR for over six months.

1. If you do it later than three months, you don’t get any penalty at the municipal office but you might get caught by the police.

If your DL (driving licence) is not in accordance with the Convention on Road Traffic (Vienna 1968, Geneva 1949, ie. does not look the same as the Czech DL specimen below), you may drive in the Czech Republic only with an international driving licence which is issued in addition to a valid foreign national DL. The international driving license is issued and can only be extended in the country which issued your national DL. Japanese and Korean DL are accepted and drivers don’t need international DL.

There is no obligation to exchange or apply for a Czech driving licence ever. The only limit here is the validity of both the national (usually for years) and international driving licence (usually a year).

Obtaining a Czech driving licence, in this case, means signing up at a driving school as if you have never driven before. You would go through the theoretical part and the 20 hours of driving with an instructor and then pass the written test along with a practical driving test overseen by an authorized authority and (if you don’t speak Czech well enough) an authorized interpreter. See the list of driving schools below.

You can apply for a Czech driving license after living in the CR for at least 6 months (in a calendar year). You can start the driving course with any local “autoškola”. Some of them have English speaking instructors – we are providing their contact below. At the end of the driving course (usually in a couple months), you are provided with a certificated interpreter for the final theoretical exam. Learn the theory and traffic rules in English from a useful app E-testy. At the exam, you have to prove that you have been living in the country for more than 185 days. The school usually helps with the application for the DL.

An application for issuing a driving license may be submitted in person or on one’s behalf on the basis of power of attorney. An application is filled at the counter at the Drivers Agenda Office of the Brno City Municipality (Kounicova 67, counters 24-28., Opening hours: Mon, Wed 8am-5pm; Tue, Thu, Fri 8am-12pm), better book appointment, click “řidičské průkazy – příjem žádostí“.

Where exactly to apply in the office

Where exactly to pick up the new license

A)

If you have the obligation to exchange your original national driving license for a Czech driving license (see question 1. I have an EU type driving license. What do I have to do?), ie. you received a temporary or long-term or permanent residence card (including Employee card) for over 1 year, you just need to bring:

• Czech Residence card (long-term/temporary/permanent), with your current address printed on the card or written on a stamp in your passport or a confirmation of your residence Potvrzení o současném pobytu from MoI
• a valid foreign driving license, the replacement of which is requested

B)

In case you want to apply for a new driving license (after passing the driving school), or extend the validity or you have lost your Czech DL and you want to apply for a replacement of the lost DL, you will need:

• ID card/Passport
• Czech Residence card (long-term/temporary/permanent) – in case your Czech address is not printed on the card, make sure to visit the Immigration office and get the address stamped in your passport
• (new drivers who just completed the driving school in the CR): a confirmation that you passed the driving course in the CR not older six months and a medical fitness assessment issued by a general practitioner (unless this was acquired when starting the driving school)
• three different categories of documents proving that the applicant has had usual residence in the territory of the Czech Republic for the past 185 days in a calendar year (not requested from Permanent residence cardholders!). All documents have to be in Czech, simple translation is enough.
  • 1) Confirmation of accommodation for more than past 185 days in a calendar year (the signature on the document cannot be older 30 days, if it is, get a fresh one):
    • tenant brings accommodation contract with a recent (max 30 days) signature of the property owner, or
    • property owner brings cadastre extract
  • 2) Confirmation of professional bonds for more than 185 days in a calendar year:
    • confirmation of employment from your employer stating when you started your employment and with a signature not older than 14 days
    • or extract from the Trade license registry not older than 14 days
    • or confirmation of unemployment not older than 14 days
  • 3) 2x Administrative bonds for more than 185 days in a calendar year; at least two of the following:
    • Confirmation of health insurance (visit the insurance company and get it in person quickly), confirmation for the past period
    • Phone or internet bills for the past six months, a simple printout for each of the past 6+ months
    • Electricity or gas or water contract and bills for each of the past 6+ months
    • Tax return forms
    • Life insurance or mortgage contract
    • Vehicle registration
  • Declaration¹ of a family member that you live here together (this is optional and can replace some of the administrative bonds from above. And your accommodation contract in this case does not require a signature of your landlord to be notarized)

You will also most likely be asked for the confirmation of the address document (Výpis z registru obyvatel in Czech). You can apply for it at any Post office with a CzechPOINT label.

An administrative fee can be paid in cash or by credit card.  200 CZK for issue time up to 20 days or 700 CZK for issue time in 5 business days. You can check if the card is ready for pick up at online status. When accepting the new Czech license, the applicant must hand over a driving license issued by a foreign country.

1. Declaration by your family member can be signed at the municipality office’s form or you can get the form and have it signed at a notary service (or Czechpoint at any post office); in order to apply this, you have to have your family member listed as a tenant in the accommodation contract (or confirmation of accommodation) and bring a document proving your family relations, such as marriage certificate or birth certificate translated into Czech.

No. If you moved to a new residence address, you need to update the Immigration office. But you do not update the driving licensing office, nor need to exchange your Czech DL card.

However, if you changed your name because you got married/divorced etc., you have to first update your Czech residence card with the Immigration office and then apply for an update of your DL with all documents proving your stay has been over six months!

You can apply for a (Czech) International Driving License in addition to your (Czech) Driving License.

Required documents are:

• Residence card
• Czech Driving License
• photograph 3,5 x 4,5 cm
• 50,- fee

You can visit any municipality office with a driving license registry department.