Many of us have arrived in Malta after several years of having already obtained our driving licence and have left behind the times when we were preparing to obtain this valuable licence to work, have fun or just go about our daily lives. But do you already know what you have to do to obtain a Maltese driving licence?
Well, it turns out that when Malta arrives, many of us have to go through these exams again in order to obtain our driving licences. This was my case, as I had a Peruvian licence, I could not exchange it for the Maltese one and I had to do everything from scratch.
This time I am going to tell you how I got my Maltese driving licence, how much it cost me, how long it took and how I recommend to do it as for many of us it is an indispensable document for work and we only have a maximum amount of time to drive with our foreign licences.
How long can I drive with my foreign licence?
In Malta you can drive for one year with your foreign licence. This is much more reasonable than in other countries, where the foreign licence is only valid for the first three months of your stay as a tourist.
In theory, to be valid, your foreign licence must have an official English translation or, failing that, you must apply for an international driver's licence in the country where your licence was issued, which is basically a translation of your original licence in a format that is recognised by many countries, including Malta. In addition to this you must prove that you have not been living in Malta for more than one year and show your licence together with your passport/visa/resident card to the officer requesting it.
After that time, it is essential to obtain a Maltese licence to continue driving.
What are the penalties for driving without a valid licence?
Driving without a valid licence is an extremely serious offence and in Malta, according to Article 15 of the ordinance regulating traffic provisions, the penalty ranges from a fine of up to twelve hundred euros (€1,200) to one year in prison.
It is therefore extremely important that if we are going to drive in Malta we are sure that we have the proper licence as it may be tempting to take the wheel motivated by our experience on the roads, but accidents happen without any foresight and may even be the fault of a third party, but in that case we will already be at fault just because we do not have the proper licence.
Can some foreign licences be exchanged?
Unlike Spain or Italy, for example, countries that have dual recognition treaties for driver's licences with several Latin American countries, in Malta no Latin American licence can be exchanged for a Maltese licence.
If you have a licence issued by a member country of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland or Australia, you can exchange it for a Maltese licence as long as the licence is still valid and once you have been living on the island for more than 6 months, for which you need to be a Maltese ID card holder.
To do this, you must fill in the Transport Malta form that I leave you here.
If you have an Australian licence, you must fill in the following fields this form.
In addition to that you will need to present:
- One passport-size colour photo on white background
- A copy of your Malta Resident Card (ID Card)
- A copy of both sides of your foreign licence issued in one of the valid countries
- Proof that you have been residing in Malta for more than 185 days. This can be done by submitting tax returns for the previous year, FS3 forms, recruitment forms submitted to JobsPlus, lease/purchase of property, among others.
Upon submission of the file, Transport Malta will contact the relevant authorities in the country of issue of the licence to check that it is unrestricted and current and will send you a letter by post stating that the licence exchange can proceed.
To do this you will need to come to Transport Malta with your original ID card and licence and pay the €80 issuing fee. When you receive your Maltese licence, you will need to hand over the licence you are exchanging.
I don't have a European or Australian licence, what should I do?
This is where I tell you my story.
If you are in a situation like mine where you only have a licence from a country that is not recognised for exchange, in my case Peru, you have to go through the whole process again, as if you were getting your licence for the first time. There is no recognition of the years they have been driving and for the Maltese state we are processing everything from scratch. So here I am going to give you the step by step of what you have to do to get a Maltese driver's licence.
The first thing is to have a valid ID card and to have already spent 185 days in the country. Although you can drive for a year with the foreign licence, if you plan to stay for more than a year in Malta, I do not recommend waiting the whole year to start the process, as it takes time and you may have to wait a few weeks/months without a valid licence, during which time you will not be able to drive.
Having checked this, the next step is to choose a driving instruction school, as it is through the schools that we will have to apply for the practical test. I did it with the Royal Motoring School and it was excellent. My instructor was Herman, here is their fanpage on Facebook and if they contact you they can tell you that they come from Joaquin from Boom Malta.
Step 1: Obtaining the Learner's Permit
The learner's permit is the authorisation given to you by the Maltese government to take driving lessons and to pass the practical test.
To apply for this permit it is necessary to already have an instructor, as your details must be entered on the form.
The first thing you need to do is to have a medical examination at a private doctor's office. You can go to any pharmacy without an appointment and pay for a consultation which costs between €10 and €15. This is the form which you should print out so that the doctor can complete it.
Next, you must fill in the form to apply for the Learner's Permit for driving category B vehicles (cars and SUVs). If you have any doubts about how to fill in the form, don't worry, your school will help you to solve them. They will also take the photo you need to apply. Here is a link to the form.
Although the application fee is €23.25 as you can see on the application form, the school will charge you an additional fee for processing the application and sending it to Transport Malta. In my case I paid €50. Other schools may charge less and others may charge more. It is always important to check all the costs of the process (up to obtaining the licence) with the school in order to get a more accurate quote.
Once you have the form and the medical permit ready, these documents will be sent to Transport Malta by post (this is also done by the school) and you will have to wait a few weeks for your learner's permit to arrive by post at the address on your ID card. In my case it took several weeks to arrive, of course I had to do the procedure in the middle of the COVID crisis.
All the documentation was sent to Transport Malta on 06 February. Not having received the permit after more than 50 days, I called Transport Malta at the end of March to see how my application was going and they informed me that the ID Card I had provided in the application had expired and to please send them the new one. It had indeed expired, but I already had the new one in hand, so I sent, through the school, a copy of my new ID Card and the process continued. Finally, the permit arrived in my mailbox on 15 April, after more than two months of waiting.
The recommendation I can give you at this point is to be proactive. If you know that your ID Card is going to expire close to the application, always consider sending a copy of your renewed ID Card through your school to Transport Malta so that what happened to me does not happen to you.
Step 2: pass the driving theory test
While they are waiting for their learner's permit, they cannot drive, even with an instructor. But they can use this valuable time to study for the theory test, which is necessary to be able to apply for the practical test.
To study here is the highway code to familiarise yourself with the Maltese and European particularities of driving, as some aspects may be different from what we are used to in Latin America. You can also ask your instructor if he or she sells you handouts to study. Mine sold me some very useful ones for €10.
The driving theory test costs €30.25 the first time you take it and if you fail, you must pay €22.10 each time you retake it.
To pass the test you need to go to the Theory Test Centre with your valid ID Card in Gwardamanġa, Pietà. Just type "Theory Test Centre - Transport Malta" into Google Maps and you will get the address. It is best to make an appointment otherwise you may find the centre full or closed, as I did, and have to come back the next time. The telephone number is +356 21 227 190 / +356 27 227 190, but it's best to make an appointment in person as sometimes they don't answer the phone.
When you arrive you will wait for a computer to be released and then go to a room where you sit in front of the screen and answer 35 questions in English or Maltese (your choice ????), of which you can't fail more than 5.
I trained myself by answering the questions in this online simulatorI recommend it, as the questions are the same or very similar to the ones you will have on the day of the exam.
Even if you already know how to drive, it is important to go through the Maltese code and get used to the questions in order to have all the chances on your side. In my case I passed it on the first try (yah!) and then at that point they give you two certificates. The first one is for you to keep and the second one you give to your school so they can apply for you for the practical driving test, when your learner's permit is issued.
When you have both documents, learner's permit and theory test certificate, you must fill in the application form for the practical test, which you can find by clicking here. here and apply through your driving instructor/school. The application fee is €23.25, to which your instructor/school will add other charges such as the cost of the hours of use of the vehicle for that day, insurance, among others. I paid €100 for this application, although you may find lower or higher prices depending on the school/instructor. I recommend you apply for the test the same day you receive your learner's permit, as they will take quite a long time to give you a date.
Step 3: Upgrade your skills on the Maltese streets
With your theory test certificate in hand and your learner's permit ready, you are ready to go out and practice with your instructor on the streets of Malta.
If you have driven on the island, or are observant, you will notice that many traffic offences are committed on a daily basis, such as parking in unauthorised places, exceeding speed limits or even overtaking in prohibited areas, however, generally speaking, driving in Malta is quite relaxed compared to Latin American countries (much more so than in my home city of Lima, by the way) and there is respect for pedestrians in general and drivers give way.
But beyond the ease with which you can adapt to driving on the left, which is the main change with respect to Latin America, it is important that you know the vehicle, since each vehicle has its own particularities and you will pass the practical test with the same vehicle with which you practice. Unlike in many countries, in Malta the driving test must be passed in an instruction vehicle and cannot be your own vehicle or that of a friend or relative.
It also helps to practise the possible routes you might take on the day of your test. The instructor knows the routes and will take you along them so that you are familiar with the road signs and know what to expect on the day of your test.
There is no minimum number of hours you have to take and it really all depends on your driving ability and confidence. In my case the costs were €15 per hour or €22 per hour and a half which was the class I took. There are instructors who charge less and others who charge more, but from what I could find out that is the average. Also, compared to the European level it is quite a reasonable cost.
To be sure of passing, I decided to take at least one hour and a half lesson per week, even though I have had a driving licence for many years and have already driven in several European countries, however, due to time constraints I wanted to be 100% sure of passing the practical test at the first opportunity.
In total I took 20 lessons of one and a half hours, so the cost invested in preparing for the exam in my case was €440. Obviously you can say that I was perhaps a bit excessive, but I wanted to feel fully prepared. The investment and the time you need to practice is entirely up to you, so this part of the budget, which is the most important, is strictly up to each individual.
Step 4: Pass the driving test
Finally, on the 1st of July I received a letter in my mailbox from Transport Malta indicating that on the 14th of July at 07:00 am I would pass the practical driving test (they give you the date and time, you can also pay an additional fee and apply for a Saturday, which in theory is less waiting time). I had to wait a long time because COVID had suspended the driving tests, so there was also a long queue to get my turn.
I wanted to pass on the first try, because if you fail, you have to reapply, so not only do you have to pay the Transport Malta application fees, which are the same as for the first application (€23.25), but you also have to pay for the instructor's car, etc., so I imagine it will be another €100, but I don't know for sure since, as you probably guessed, I was able to pass on the first try! ????
The test consists of following a route of approximately 45 minutes near the Driving Test Centre in Floriana, which is decided by the examiner.
In my case, as we are still in post-covid times, only the examiner and I were in the vehicle, not the instructor, who waited for us at the starting point.
In order to start the test, it is important to show the valid ID card to the examiner and to wear a mask. The examiner wears a visor.
As you go along, the examiner gives you all the instructions in English and writes down your mistakes on a sheet of paper. You can make a maximum of 15 simple mistakes, for example, putting the handbrake on wrong, or clutching unnecessarily or excessively, but you can't make 5 of the same mistakes as this is eliminatory. Nor can you make a serious error, because that is also eliminatory. An example of a serious error is not giving way to pedestrians in a crosswalk or touching the pavement/sidewalk when making a manoeuvre such as parallel parking.
Although I had practised almost every possible route, the examiner took me for a moment on a route I didn't know, although there were no surprises, the 85% on my route did know it.
When you return to the starting point, the examiner gives you a sheet with your results indicating the number of errors you made (in my case there were 7) and signs whether you passed or failed the exam.
Step 5: Go to Transport Malta to get your driver's licence
Once you have obtained the approval, you can go with the form signed by the examiner and with your valid ID card to the Transport Malta offices in Paola or Lija, behind the PAMA in Mosta. I went to the Mosta office on the recommendation of my instructor and the service was really fast. To get there just enter the following on Google Maps: "Transport Malta Centre, Triq Pantar, Lija".
The cost of issuing a new driving licence is €31 and it takes about two weeks to arrive at your home by post. However, at the time you apply, you will be given a document which is a temporary licence, until the licence arrives in the post, with which you will be able to drive. Additionally, if you want your licence to be issued urgently, you can pay an additional €25 and pick it up yourself within 24 hours of applying.
One thing that happened to me at Transport Malta was that they asked me again to prove that I had been living in Malta for more than 185 days, even though they had done this verification before. Luckily I had a copy of my previous ID card in my email and was able to forward it to the person who dealt with me, who printed it out and attached it to the application. My advice then is that you had better be prepared to demonstrate this temporariness criterion.
A first time driver's licence is "probationary" and you must meet a criteria of points that you lose when you commit traffic offences. You cannot lose more than 12 points during a 3-year period. If you do not lose them, you can then exchange your licence for a "full" licence which is valid for 10 years.
The Maltese driving licence is valid throughout the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland and can be automatically exchanged in any of these countries should you take up residence there at a later date. As a European document it is recognised in practically every country in the world where you can normally drive as a tourist for 90 days. In addition, you can also apply for an international driver's licence on the basis of your Maltese licence.
So how much does it cost and how long does the whole process take?
Well, I started all the paperwork at the beginning of February and got my licence in mid-July, knowing that I passed both the theoretical and practical tests at the first attempt, although I was hit by the pandemic in between, during which time the driving tests were suspended. In other words, it took me a little less than 6 months. That is why I recommend everyone to start the whole process 6 months after arrival, if you intend to stay longer in Malta, as you will be able to combine the validity of your foreign licence with your Maltese licence.
In terms of costs, my experience was as follows:
- Medical examination: €15
- Learner's Permit application: €50
- Handouts to study for the theory test: €10
- Theoretical exam: €30.25
- Driving lessons: €440
- Practical test: €100
- Issuing of driving licence: €31
Total: €676.25
As I mentioned earlier, the cost of the lessons is very much up to you, how confident you feel about passing the exam and how much reinforcement you feel you need.
Overall I think this is a very important investment as not only is it necessary to apply for many jobs, if you are looking for one, but it also allows you to take advantage of a vehicle to explore the island, go out with friends and even plan trips within Europe.
A Maltese driving licence is also required to obtain driving insurance, which is compulsory when buying a vehicle, whether it is used or new. In that sense it is also important to know that if you plan to buy a car, you must have a Maltese licence in order to avoid problems with this procedure.
Remember that the first three years of your licence are probationary and you cannot exceed the 12 penalty points limit. Here is a link to the tables in the description of penalties.
Finally, if you would like any further advice or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, we at Boom Malta will always be happy to help you with this and all your paperwork so that you have a great stay in Malta. We have been through them all, so we know them first hand ????
Like bonus trackFor more information, here are some additional links of interest:
Here the official Transport Malta link with all the steps to be taken to obtain the licence.
For those who would like to review the ordinance on traffic regulation, here you can also find the link to the document in English so that they can read it carefully.
