Driving licence from Albania or Kosovo and the MPU

How long is the licence valid in Germany?

With a licence from a country outside the EU you may drive in Germany. But once you register your ordinary residence here, it remains valid for only six more months. On application, the authority can extend this by up to six months if you live in Germany for no more than twelve months in total (§ 29 (1) FeV).

Exchanging it for a German licence

Albania and Kosovo are listed in Annex 11 of the Driving Licence Regulation. So for class B you need neither a theory nor a practical test when exchanging (§ 31 FeV). For older licences issued before 24 January 2017 (Albania) or before 1 March 2018 (Kosovo), validity is checked via the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).

If the authority doubts that you still have the necessary knowledge, it can still order a test (§ 31 (1a) FeV).

Was your licence withdrawn in Germany?

Then your licence from home does not help. Under § 29 (3) FeV, a foreign licence is not valid in Germany if a court or an authority here withdrew your licence, or if a court imposed a ban.

You only get back the right to drive in Germany with the foreign licence on application, once the reasons for the withdrawal no longer exist (§ 29 (4) FeV). How the authority checks that, for example with an MPU, is up to it.

Important: A licence obtained abroad during a ban is not a way around the MPU. For legal questions about your case, see a lawyer specialising in traffic law.

MPU preparation in Albanian

Personal things are easier to talk about in your mother tongue. Whether you can take the MPU itself with an interpreter, and what it costs, ask your assessment centre. At TÜV NORD an interpreter costs from €350, according to TÜV NORD.

With me: Albanian is my mother tongue. We can do the preparation entirely in Albanian and practise the interview in German if you take the MPU in German.