Obtain your driving licence from your municipality

Traditional driving licence

You must go to your local authority, civil registry office, with the following documents:

• your ID card or foreign residence permit;
• your driving test pass certificate;
• any provisional driving licence that you wish to replace;
• a recent ID photograph.

In the case of a renewal, the following documents must be provided:

• your driving licence that you wish to renew or a declaration of its loss or theft, issued by the police station, if applicable;
• your Belgian ID card or residence permit;
• a recent ID photograph.

Provisional licence

To apply for a provisional licence, you must be at least 17 years of age and have passed the theory test on the highway code.

You should then go to the local authority in your place of residence with the driving licence application form issued by the test centre.

For a driving licence, Category B

With a private instructor (family member etc.) – 36 months

You must go to your municipality with:

• your ID card;
• a recent photograph if you have a residence permit in paper form. By default, the photograph on your ID card is used;
• a certificate showing that you have passed the theory test.

The form, completed and signed in advance by the private instructor(s), together with a legible photocopy of both sides of their ID card, to enable their signature to be validated.

The private instructor must be domiciled in Belgian territory, be in possession of an ID card and hold a valid Belgian or European driving licence which is at least 8 years old.

Other special conditions apply to a person’s ability to be a guide, and these will be examined on a case-by-case basis on submission of your application.

With a driving school, without a private instructor – 18 months:

You must present yourself in person to your municipality, equipped with:

• your ID card;
• a recent photograph if you have a residence permit in paper form. By default, the photograph on your ID card is used;
• a certificate showing that you have passed the theory test.
• the provisional driving licence application;
• after having completed 20 hours in an approved driving school:
  • the certificate of aptitude issued by the test centre if you did your training in the Walloon Region;
  • a certificate of aptitude issued by a Brussels driving school if you did your training in the Brussels Region; or
  •  a certificate of aptitude issued by a Flemish driving school if you did your training in the Flemish Region.

With a private instructor (family member etc.) – 12 months

An applicant whose provisional M36 or M18 driving licence has expired and who does not wish to wait for 3 years to apply for a new provisional driving licence may, subject to certain conditions, including that of their theory test being valid, apply for a provisional M12 driving licence.

You must present yourself in person to your municipality, equipped with:

• your ID card;
• a recent photograph if you have a residence permit in paper form. By default, the photograph on your ID card is used;
• a certificate showing that you have passed the theory test, where applicable;
• the form, completed and signed in advance by the private instructor(s), together with a legible photocopy of both sides of their ID card, to enable their signature to be validated.

The private instructor must be domiciled in Belgian territory, be in possession of an ID card and hold a valid Belgian or European driving licence which is at least 8 years old.

Other special conditions apply to a person’s ability to be a guide, and these will be examined on a case-by-case basis on submission of your application.

For the model 3 provisional driving licence (categories A–C–D) – 12 months

This is not compulsory for learning in the abovementioned categories. If you wish to obtain such a licence, present yourself in person to your municipality, equipped with:

• your ID card;
• a recent photograph if you have a residence permit in paper form. By default, the photograph on your ID card is used;
• a certificate showing that you have passed the theory test, where applicable;
• a certificate showing that you have passed a driving school test;
• a medical examination (for categories C and D)
• the form completed and signed by the private instructor(s) (for categories C and D). The private instructor must first present themself at the municipality in which they are domiciled, together with the document showing that their ‘pupil’ has passed the test and their own driving licence, in order to validate their ability to be a private instructor.

The private instructor must be domiciled in Belgian territory, be in possession of an ID card and hold a valid Belgian or European driving licence which is at least 6 years old.

Other special conditions apply to a person’s ability to be a guide, and these will be examined on a case-by-case basis on submission of your application.

How long it takes

The new driving licence will be available at the municipality within 5 to 8 working days, depending on your municipality, from the date of submission of your application.

The licence may be collected by the holder, on presentation of their ID card, or any other authorised person on presentation of their own ID card, a duly signed authorisation, and a photocopy of both sides of the ID card of the person they represent.

The licence must be collected within a maximum period of 3 months. If not collected by this date, the driving licence will be destroyed.

The traditional licence is valid for 10 years.

Costs

Since the amount varies between EUR 25 and a little over EUR 30 depending on your municipality, please contact the municipality in your place of residence directly to obtain the exact cost.