Many of us arrive in Malta after several years of having already obtained our driver's license and we have left behind the times when we were preparing to obtain this valuable license to work, have fun or just go about our daily lives. But do you already know what you have to do to obtain the Maltese driver's license?
Well, it turns out that when Malta arrives, many of us find ourselves in the need to go through these exams again in order to obtain our driving license. This was my case, since I had a Peruvian license, I could not exchange it for the Maltese one and I had to do everything from scratch.
In this opportunity I am going to tell you how I got my Maltese driver's license, how much it cost me, how long it took me and how I recommend to do it since 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 licenses.
How long can I drive with my foreign license?
In Malta you can drive for one year with your foreign license. This is much more reasonable than in other countries, where the foreign license is only valid for the first three months of your stay as a tourist.
In theory, to be valid, your foreign license must have an official English translation or, failing that, you must apply for an international driver's license in the country where your license was issued, which basically brings a translation of your original license in a format that is recognized 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 license together with your passport / visa / resident card to the officer requesting it.
After that time, it is essential to obtain a Maltese license to continue driving.
What are the penalties for driving without a valid license?
Driving without a valid license is an extremely serious offense and in Malta, according to Article 15 of the ordinance regulating traffic regulations, the penalty ranges from a fine of up to one thousand two hundred euros (€1,200) to one year in jail.
It is therefore extremely important that if we are going to drive in Malta we must be sure that we have the proper license because 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 license.
Can some foreign licenses be exchanged?
Unlike Spain or Italy, for example, countries that have treaties of double recognition of driver's licenses with several Latin American countries, in Malta no Latin American license can be exchanged for a Maltese license.
If you have a license issued by a member country of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland or Australia, you can exchange it for a Maltese license as long as the license is still valid and once you have been living on the island for more than 6 months, for which it is necessary to be a holder of a Maltese ID Card.
To do so, you must fill in the Transport Malta form which you will find on the following page I leave you here.
In case your license is Australian you must fill in the following fields this form.
In addition to that you will have to present:
- One passport-size color photo on white background
- A copy of your Malta Resident Card (ID Card)
- A copy of both sides of your foreign license issued in one of the valid countries.
- Demonstrate that you have been residing in Malta for more than 185 days, for which you can submit tax returns for the previous year, FS3 forms, recruitment forms submitted to JobsPlus, lease/purchase of property, among others.
Upon submission of the dossier, Transport Malta will contact the relevant authorities in the country of issue to verify that the license is unrestricted and current and will send you a letter by mail indicating that the license exchange can proceed.
To do this you will need to come to Transport Malta with your original ID Card and license and pay the €80 issuance fee. When you get your Maltese license, you must hand over the license you are exchanging.
I do not have a European or Australian license, what should I do?
Well, this is where I tell you my story.
If they are in a situation like mine where they only have a license from a country not recognized for exchange, in my case Peru, they have to go through the whole process again, as if they were getting their license for the first time. There is no recognition of the years they have spent driving and for the Maltese State we are processing everything from scratch. So here I am going to leave you the step by step of what you must do to obtain the Maltese driver's license.
The first thing is to have a valid ID Card and to have already completed 185 days residing in the country. Although you can drive for a year with the foreign license, if you plan to stay for a period longer than a year in Malta, I do not recommend you to wait the whole year to start the process, as it takes time and it is possible that you will stay some weeks/months without a valid license, period in which you will not be able to drive.
Having verified this, the next step is to choose a driving instruction school, since 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 of Boom Malta.
Step 1: Obtaining the Learner's Permit
The learner's permit is the authorization given 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, since your data must be entered in the form.
The first thing you must do is to undergo a medical examination in a private office. You can go to any pharmacy without an appointment and pay for a consultation that costs between €10 and €15. This is the form which you must print so that the physician can complete it.
Next, you must fill out the form to apply for the Learner's Permit for driving category B vehicles (cars and SUVs). If you have doubts about how to fill out the form, don't worry, your school will help you 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 see on the 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. It is possible that other schools charge less and others charge more. It is always important to check all the costs of the process (up to obtaining the license) 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 mail (this is also done by the school) and you will have to wait a few weeks until the learner's permit arrives by mail to 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 documentation was sent to Transport Malta on February 06. Not receiving the permit after more than 50 days, at the end of March I called Transport Malta 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 April 15, 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 think about 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: Passing the theoretical driving test
While waiting for the arrival of their learner's permit they cannot drive, even with an instructor. But they can take advantage of this valuable time to study for the theoretical exam, which is necessary to be able to apply for the practical exam.
To study here is the highway code to familiarize 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/she does not sell you handouts to study. Mine sold me some very useful ones for €10.
The theoretical driving test costs €30.25 the first time you take it and if you do not pass, you must pay €22.10 each time you try again.
To pass it you must go to the theory test center with your valid ID Card in Gwardamanġa, in Pietà. Just type "Theory Test Centre - Transport Malta" in Google Maps and you will get the address. It is best to make an appointment otherwise you may find the center full or closed, as happened to me, and you have to come back at a later date. The telephone number is +356 21 227 190 / +356 27 227 190, but it is better to make the appointment in person as sometimes they do not answer the phone.
Upon arrival 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 cannot fail more than 5.
I trained myself by answering the questions in this online simulatorI recommend it, since the questions are the same or very similar to the ones you will have on the day of the exam.
Even though we already know how to drive, it is important to review the Maltese code and get used to the questions to have all the chances on our side. In my case I passed it on the first try (yah!) and then at that moment 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 out the form to apply for the practical test, which you can find by clicking on the following link here and apply through your instructor/driving school. The cost of the application 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 to apply for the exam the same day you receive your learner's permit, as it will take them quite some time to give you a date.
Step 3: upgrade your skills on the Maltese streets
With the theory test certificate in hand and the learner's permit ready, you can 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 offenses are committed on a daily basis, such as parking in unauthorized places, exceeding speed limits or even overtaking in prohibited areas, however, in general terms, driving in Malta is quite relaxed compared to Latin American countries (much more so than in Lima, my hometown, 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 many countries, in Malta the driving test must be passed with an instruction vehicle and cannot be with your own vehicle or that of a friend or relative.
Also, it helps to practice the possible routes you might take on the day of your exam. The instructor knows the routes and will take you through them so that you become familiar with the traffic signs and know what to expect on the day of your exam.
There is no minimum amount of hours you must take and it really all depends on your ability and confidence behind the wheel. In my case the costs were €15 per hour or €22 per hour and a half which were the classes I took. There are instructors that charge less and others that charge more, but from what I could find out that is the average. Also, compared to the European level it is a very reasonable cost.
To be sure of passing, I decided to take at least one and a half hour class per week, even though I have had a driver's license for many years and have already driven in several countries in Europe, however, for timing reasons 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 the preparation for the exam in my case was €440. Obviously it can be said that I was perhaps a bit excessive, but I wanted to feel fully prepared. The investment and the time you need to practice depends exclusively on you, so this part of the budget, which is the most important, depends strictly on each person.
Step 4: Pass the driving test
Finally, on July 1st I received in my mailbox a letter from Transport Malta indicating that on July 14th 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 due to COVID issues they 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 already 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 Center 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 examination, 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 such as, for example, putting the handbrake on wrong, or clutching unnecessarily or excessively, but you can not make 5 of the same mistakes because it 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 sidewalk when making a maneuver such as parallel parking.
Although I had practiced 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 the sheet with your results indicating the number of errors you had (in my case there were 7) and signs if you passed or failed the exam.
Step 5: Go to Transport Malta to get your driver's license
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 one in Mosta on the recommendation of my instructor and the truth is that the service was quite fast. To get there just enter in Google Maps the following: "Transport Malta Centre, Triq Pantar, Lija".
The cost for the issuance of a new driver's license is €31 and it takes about two weeks to arrive at your home by mail. However, at the very moment you apply, you will be given a document that is a temporary license, until the license arrives in the mail, with which you will be able to drive. Additionally, if you want your license to be issued urgently, you can pay an additional €25 and pick it up yourself within 24 hours of submitting the application.
Something that happened to me at Transport Malta, is 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 took care of me, who printed it out and attached it to the application. My advice then is that you better be prepared to demonstrate this temporality criterion.
The driver's license issued for the first time is "probationary" and you must meet a criteria of points that you lose by committing traffic violations. You cannot lose more than 12 points during a 3-year period. If you do not lose them, you can then exchange your license for a "full" license which is valid for 10 years.
The Maltese driver's license is valid throughout the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland and can be automatically exchanged in any of these countries in case you take up residence there later on. Being a European document it is recognized in practically all countries of the world where you can normally drive as a tourist for 90 days. In addition, you can also apply for an international driver's license based on your Maltese license.
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 license in mid-July, knowing that I passed both the theoretical and practical exams on the first try, although I had the pandemic in between, during which time the driving exams 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 arriving, if your intention is to stay longer in Malta, since this way you will be able to combine the validity of your foreign license with the obtaining of the Maltese license.
In terms of cost, my experience was as follows:
- Medical examination: €15
- Learner's Permit application: €50
- Handouts to study for the theory exam: €10
- Theoretical exam: €30.25
- Driving lessons: €440
- Practical exam: €100
- Issuance of driver's license: €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 test 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.
Likewise, the Maltese driver's license is necessary to obtain a driver's insurance, which is mandatory when buying a vehicle, whether used or new. In that sense it is also important to know that, if you plan to buy a car, you must have the Maltese license to avoid problems with this procedure.
Remember that the first three years of license are probationary and you cannot exceed the limit of 12 penalty points. Here is a link to the tables in the description of penalties.
Finally, if you want more advice or have any questions, 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 an excellent stay in Malta. We have been through them all, so we know first hand ????
Like bonus trackI leave you some additional links of interest:
Here the official Transport Malta link with all the steps that must be taken to obtain the license.
For those who would like to review the traffic regulation ordinance, here is also a copy of the following the link to the document in English so that they can read it carefully.
