Exam for Drivers License in Poland; English?

Typical Poles, winding up foreigners as always.

It's a bit hard to get away with corruption when there's four video cameras and a microphone in the test car.

Smurf - I can only speak for Poznan, but I know several foreigners who have done their tests here, and the tests have always been absolutely fair. I passed first time :)

Thanks Delph, that's really sound of you.


yea I've heard some stories too, but I've heard that here in Katowice they have cameras in the exam cars...well at random of course

forigner , maybee they thought they wouldnt get away with it!
im for it as it took me 7 times in the uk, wouldnt even get in the car!

No problem, anything to help.

Got it - grupaimage.com.pl

They're the publishers of the English materials :)


All of the cars in Poland should be equipped with cameras and a microphone - there's some formalities which have to be "announced" to the recording.

From what I know, the only cases recently involving bribery have involved the management of the driving centres as opposed to the examiners themselves.

better to just smile and not to get involed unless you fail , put it this way if you can steer in a streight line you should pass, if not explore other avenues;)

You'll actually fail before getting on the open road if you can't perform the two mandatory tests at the centre.

Smurf - one bit of advice for learning : make sure you spend a decent amount of time on the arch. It's an utter bastard, I must have practiced it about 200-300 times. There's several different ways of doing it as well - I'd advise you to experiment with it until you find something that you feel comfortable with. The instructor will no doubt have "his" way - but really, any way that works consistently is fine.

Even if you find that you can nail it 10/10, I'd still do more practice. I was absolutely shaking during the reverse part of the arch!

king amongst men, thanks a million

& thanks for all the rest of the advice too lads.

enjoy doughnut day :)

Bullsh1t and an obvious lie! In Poland most people take the exam 3 times before they pass!

What exactly is "the arch"?

It's the compulsory test in the driving centre - where you must drive forward along a track, turn 90 degrees and stop, then reverse back along the track and stop, again in a certain "stop zone".

Thanks for the answer. Sadly I have put off getting my prawo jadzy for far too long.

There you go, the image that illustrates what delphi mentioned above.

As a matter of note, I tried it again recently and smashed into the poles ;(

(as you can see on the diagram, there are points where there are plastic poles sticking into the air. If you touch one of them, it's an instant fail. If you stop during the forwards/reversing part of the move, you get a 2nd chance (except in the end zones - which you must do), and you also get a second chance if you touch (but not cross) the lines painted on surface. Crossing the line is also an instant fail.

The only good thing is that you must maintain forwards/backwards motion. You can go about 2km an hour if you so please - as long as you don't stop the car.

I have tried to search here before but information is so conflicting.
Do any of you know where I can take driving courses in English?

Just call driving schools and ask them if they've got any English speaking instructors. Many of them will do, without advertising it openly.

Posted something yesterday and it disappeared, don't know why, so i'll make this short.

maniek2 wrote:


It's incredibly easy to get a DL in the USA. My mother in law was telling me last weekend that many poles are going to america and doing their DL there because it's easy and cheap. With a work visa or student visa, you can get a DL in the USA so I assume they get the American DL and then get an international driving permit so they can legally drive in the EU?

Has anyone heard of poles doing this?

Yeah, although they need to change it for a Polish licence after one year. As I recall, they need to pass the theory test in Poland to do so.

It's not a bad way of doing things - if they're already in the USA for a reason, they might as well do it there and save themselves the hassle and worry.

I always wondered why the USA handed out driving licences so easily - yet they're far better drivers than most Europeans. Odd.

delphiandomine wrote:


If you're judging by crash statistics, you must take into consideration that in the USA, nearly everywhere you drive to has a big parking lot and the roads you're driving on are going to be wider with more lanes to drive on so it may not be better drivers but a better infrastructure. I absolutely loathed driving in Poland, it's simply not a pleasure to operate a vehicle there because of the attrocious road systems, I always felt like someone was just about to drive into me.

My wife got her DL this week, total cost = $20. Nothing more than a 20 minute touch screen exam and a 25 minute road test. 30 minutes after doing her road test, she walked out of the DMV holding a DL.

Also worth mentioning, in the USA the avg. age to get a DL is 16, some states are 15 and places like South Dakota and Kansas are 14 so by the time Americans are in their 20's they've already been driving for several years so even if a pole comes to the USA on a student visa and they're still in high school, depending on the state they are in, they could get a DL long before they'd be of legal age in Poland.

Merged:Have any of you expats gotten a Polish drivers license?

I did a search here but information is so conflicting. So how did you do it? How much did it cost?

I have a current American drivers license. I am wondering about the legal way to get a Polish drivers license. Do I need to take the exam or can it be tranferred?

Thanks for your help!

Oh and I live here full time and will for a long time. I am legal here with my Karta Pobytu.

I started doing some other research and have found some interesting sites. and specifically for Americans
poland.usembassy.gov/poland/driving.html

Theory Exam in English [in poland]

Greetings, I am looking forward to write my Theory exam for my driving licence in Poland.
Therefore I have few questions

1. Do I need to take a ''kurs'' to write a Theory Exam, or do I just book a appointment for the exam ?
2. I am still not comfortable enough with my Polish to pass it in Polish, Is there a possibility of taking this theory exam in ENG ?

It's been a while since I took mine but then it was all in Polish. I just had to study really hard. Good luck.

Yep. 30 hours must be completed, although if it's in English, many driving schools are willing to do it intensively for more money in less time. For instance, 6 hours is about the "norm" for 1-1 classes in Poznan.


Depends on the city. Most major cities and towns have it in English and German - however, sitting the theory test in a foreign language automatically requires you to have a sworn translator for both parts - to translate the instructions in the theory part, and to assist during the practical.

You'll also require a first aid course and a medical check in order to sit the theory test.

Oh, and you're also required to have had at least 185 days of legal residency in Poland before the test - counted from the start date of your residence permit. The rule may be interpreted differently in different offices - but this is how the law reads. You're also required to have a PESEL.

Hello Everyone, please kindly tell me where I should go and their contact information to get my Driving License Test in Lublin, Poland. Thank You :)

word.lublin.pl

Its not easy as it sounds first you have to be legal and the license will be issued till your visa is valid,above all the license is issued for 4 to 5 years depending on the state,I got mine in Poland with passing a written test with a translator and her help:),but was issued for only till my USA license was valid till then I got a doctors certificate that im good to drive and got a license forever from polish authorities...I mean it never expires:) but still advice to use your foreign license with international permit as you will most probably get away with a polite sorry and smile ,otherwise u might have to pay fine and get points or bribe:)

OWELL wrote:


haha, well yes. being legal is a good start.

OWELL wrote:


so? once you get your DL in the USA, there's nothing more you have to do to maintain it aside from paying a few bucks to renew it when it expires, usually it's valid for 4-8 years.

Exactly! or get slammed with driving with expired license9basically no license) and get punished for not driving for 6 mths(again depending on judge)and then to reinstate your license pay MORE fee in form of FINES and SURCHARGE.oh! did I forget the surcharge from insurance from your insurance :) that lasts for 5 years while Motor Vehicle lets you off in 3 years:)

are you for real, dude.

what a surprise, you get fined for driving with an expired license.

you know you gotta get a new one every few years, it costs a minimal amount of money, and you don't even have to go to the DMV to do it, it all can be done through their website. pay your $20-$30 bucks with a credit card and they mail it right to your house. hell, they even send you out a notice, reminding you that it's about to expire.

it's a simple rule and completely reasonable. if you don't want to abide by it, pay the fine.

I still prefer a license issued under Polish laws...with no expiry! FOREVER GOOD!:) even if I get maimed.

Thank you so much for the website :)