Fahrerkarte erneuern

As a driver:in of a truck or bus, you must have your driver card renewed.

The driver card is used to monitor driving times and rest periods in the commercial transport of goods and passengers. The obligation to have a driver card applies to:

• Motor vehicles with a maximum permissible mass of more than 3.5 t including trailers,
• motor vehicles with a maximum permissible mass of 2.8 to 3.5 t including trailers, provided that a digital tachograph is installed,
• as well as for motor vehicles designed for the transport of more than nine persons including the driver.

Exemptions result from § 1 paragraph 2 and § 18 of the Driving Personnel Ordinance as well as Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No. 561/2006.

• Address and proof of residence such as identity card with eID function (or residence permit or EU citizen card) as well as proof of birth and surname, first name, date and place of birth, mother tongue
• current biometric photo
• A current EU driving license or a comparable driving license for applicants from another EU/EEA country of the corresponding driving license class, which entitles the holder to drive vehicles for which the driving and rest periods according to Regulation (EC) No. 561/2006 must be observed.
• Current German driver card

You are entitled to apply for the first issue of a driver card if you are

• are resident in the Federal Republic of Germany and
• hold a German EU-card driver's license with one of the following classes: B, BE, C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D, DE.

Driving licenses issued to a member state of the European Union (EU) or another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) must correspond to one of the aforementioned classes.

The creation of a driver card is subject to a fee.

The application for renewal of your driver card with the required documents and information can be made on the spot

• at your local driver licensing authority in the county or city where you have your main residence for at least 185 days a year..
• When submitting your application, you must provide all the required information and documents.
• The responsible office will check your information for completeness and correctness.
• After successful verification, the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) will issue the personalized driver card.
• You can collect the personalized driver card
  • collect it directly from the competent office in person or
  • have the KBA send it to you directly (after you have submitted your application in person on site) .

Notice:

If serious violations (including both criminal offenses and misdemeanors) are found during the renewal process, the driver card may be refused and the application rejected.

The driver card is valid for five years. The start of validity is the date of personalization (production) by the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA).

Card renewal may take place no earlier than six months and should take place no later than 15 working days before card expiry. If the driver card has already expired at the time of application, an initial order will be made.

The validity of the renewed driver card immediately follows the expiration date of the old card.

The expired driver card must be carried for 28 days in addition to the new card.

Opposition

• Driver card renewal
• The driver card is used to monitor driving times and rest periods in the commercial transport of goods and passengers.
• Application for new driver cards, if a driver card already exists
• For bus and truck drivers
• The issuance of a driver card is subject to a fee.
• Responsible: Driver's license authority, where the main residence is for at least 185 days per year.

Please contact your local driver licensing authority in the county or city where you have your primary residence for at least 185 days per year.

Driving Licensing Authority

Forms available: Yes

Written form required: Yes

Informal application possible: No

Personal appearance required: Yes