Hello All,


I am planning now to have German driving license. I have Indian driving license 1 yr old and I can driver but not a regular driver. Now my questions are as follows,

1. Should I go for opting a new German driving license from the scratch as beginner I mean going through 14 theory classes , 12 hrs driving lessons etc?

2. Or I should exchange my indian license with the Indian one and get some driving practice from a driving school?

Also note that I don't have any experience in driving in European region. Please advise. Thanks in advance.

Depends on your nationality. Some nationalities just need to convert it, some just join the exam and some do have to take full course + exam. Just go to a driving license school and ask.

If at least a practical exam is required but not the course, I still advise to take some lessons by a course because the rules in Germany are different than other nations like India. For example there are strict rules for resident areas (30 km/h) especially at crossroads. If you don't show your know-how here during the practical exam you can fail.

I was Turkish nationality and for my citizenship I had to convert the driving license within 3 years by just passing the exam. However I took some lessons and voluntarily joined the courses. Despite that I failed the practical exam 2 times (both mistakes in 30km/h zones). I could pass the exam in the 3rd try.

Exam is made up of theoretical (multiple choice questions and pratical (an examiner will test you on the street). Theoretical exams are in many languages but during my time only German was on PC, the other were on paper. Translations in other languages might be bad. I had checked the Turkish exams and the language was awful - very bad translation. Then I decided to take the German exam.

Theoretical exams preparations -especially in German- are available in internet or go to a library and borrow a CD of theoretical exams etc.

At practical exams examiner might not know English language. Therefore I strongly recommend to check the drving license school about this. They are finding the examiners. If you tell them that you need English etc, they can help you to find an examiner who has English skills.