Driver's license; submission of proof of suitability

The driving license authority must check whether you are fit to drive a motor vehicle. In certain cases, it may or must request medical or medical-psychological reports. In addition, proof of eyesight is always required.

The proof of suitability required in individual cases depends on the category of driving license you have applied for or been issued. For example, if you are applying for a driver's license for trucks or buses or a driver's license for passenger transport (e.g. for cabs), you must always submit a certificate of medical examination and an examination of your eyesight by an ophthalmologist, a doctor with the area designation "occupational medicine" or the additional designation "occupational medicine", a doctor at an assessment center for driving aptitude, a doctor from the public health department or another doctor from the public administration. If you wish to obtain a driver's license for buses or a driver's license for passenger transport for the first time or have it extended from the age of 50 (for buses) or from the age of 60 (for a driver's license for passenger transport), you must also prove by means of a company or occupational medical report or a report from an officially recognized assessment body for driving fitness that you meet the special requirements with regard to resilience, orientation, concentration, attention and responsiveness.

If you are applying for a driver's license, e.g. for two-wheelers or cars (up to 3.5 t), only an eye test is usually required.

The authorities will only request further medical or medical-psychological reports if there is a special reason to do so. The driving license office will request a medical-psychological report from an officially recognized assessment centre for driving fitness if, for example, you have committed road traffic offences under the influence of alcohol.

Even if you already have a driving license, the driving license authority can or must check your suitability if there are specific grounds for doubting your fitness to drive.

Your driving license authority will inform you about the details regarding the provision of a medical or medical-psychological report. Further information can be found under "Further links".

The requirements depend on the driver's license category and whether the authorities have specific reason to doubt your fitness to drive.

If the driving license authority requests an expert opinion on your fitness to drive for a specific reason, it will set a deadline for the submission of the expert opinion.

• Medical certificate without a specific reason
  If you are applying for a driver's license to drive trucks or buses or a driver's license to carry passengers, you must submit the medical certificates, insofar as they are required in any case regardless of a specific reason, at the time of application.
• Medical certificate for a specific reason
  If the driving license office has asked you to provide a medical or medical-psychological report for a specific reason, please contact the examining doctor or the assessment office to find out which documents you need to bring with you.

The costs vary depending on the type of certificate or expert opinion required and, if applicable, the scope of the examination.