Exchanging Canadian Drivers License for Polish in Lublin needs Exam?

Wondering if anyone has gone through the process of exchanging a Drivers License for a Polish one. I am living in Lublin and have a Polish Passport. I went to the Urzad Miasta with my application, photo, translation of my Canadian license, proof of current residence here and was told I also have to pass the written exam? The confusing part is the brochure that the lady gave me clearly has a checklist but no mention of an exam. Is this one of those situations where the process is interpreted at the discretion of the office, or is this the standard process for an exchange.

Yes,you have to pass a written exam.You can take a sworn translator as well to help you as well like i did years back when they issued licenses that have no expiration date.They will also keep your foreign license and issue you a Polish one,but no biggy for5 bucks back home you can get a duplicate one,even when you tell them Polish authorities took it for Polish license.

Moi. But an EU licence from the UK. The Polish authorities are probably intent on screwing you over for the cost of a written exam because you are not from the EU. Plus I have residency, so it must be the old tit-for-tat diplomacy game in your case, (if the Americans insist on sth for us, we will do the same to them...), that drives the wheels of bureaucracy - the little foccas.

Calm down Uncle Doug,the Op is Canadian and not American and its not tit for tat diplomacy game its the law of the land.Try the vodka in glass bottle its suppose to be better then the one in plastic bottle.

Thanks for the response O WELL. If it is only the written part (prawo jazdy teoretystyczna) which WORD confirmed I can do in English I will look into the best way to study as I haven't found any schools in Lublin yet that offer the course in English. I guess the brochure they gave me neglected to include this part which just made what I thought was a straightforward exchange just a little more complicated.

I am not brilliant so I took a translator to help(cheat sheet) me with those tricky questions.2 brains better then 1 and took it in Polish.Also FYI it will be valid only till your Canadian license is valid,but you can renew it(lol maybe you might need a medical report by a doctor to be attached,those days polish licenses never expired).Also there might be a big confusion in the office for the category(like class1,2,3 or a,b,c,I forgot which one) of the license which is different in Poland as it probably has different version of category in Canada.Incase you have that problem print the category from internet and present them with sworn translation.

Yeah - which all costs money....that was my point.

Uncle Doug you looking for free lunch?????I can imagine that in your case which I think shows in your reklama,Remember Uncle,THERE IS NO EASY STREET.

Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering if the category on my license which is 5 would pose a problem. I'll search for a government site that explains this so that it is clear. Would hate to accidently end up with a license for a tractor by mistake :)

Yes,be careful as on Polish D/L they have A,B,C,D.My license is D,which is for driving a car in NJ and in Poland D is for driving that huge bus.I was lucky that I checked it or would require lot of paper work etc and who knows what other hidden problems.Good Luck.

Back to the point. I am in the process of exchanging a USA license with multiple classes. Definitely print out an explanation of Canadian classes and have it translated. There are on line resources for studying for the exam in English. Be careful as there are a few errors in the translations and some awkward language. Grupa Image has a good course for about 50zl for 90 days of access. There is absolutely no need to bring a translator to WORD for the exam. Everything is in English. You will need a PKK profile from the Staroste Poviat before you can register for the exam.

I'll check out Grupa Image, thanks for the recommendation. I went online and did a quick free test in English on prawojazdy.com.pl and got 64/74 which was better than I expected but most of the questions were pretty easy and they probably left out the tricky ones. WORD did confirm that I can write it in english so don't need a translator with me. I wasn't aware of the PKK profile and will look into getting that set up.

Thank you all for the feedback and advice. When the lady in Urzad Miasta told me I needed to pass an exam I thought "I'm going to ask Polish Forum for help with this..." and you all came through.