ROUTE
Licence withdrawn: MPU and a fresh grant
Withdrawal is not a driving ban: the licence is not returned but granted anew. The assessment rests on specific grounds, and refusing it is read as unfitness.
β Checked: 02/08/2026
In everyday speech it is all losing your licence, but German law distinguishes two entirely different mechanisms. A driving ban means the licence is handed in for a period and returned afterwards without any procedure. Withdrawal ends the entitlement itself: the document never comes back, and later it must be granted anew β under the same rules that applied the very first time.
COSTS AND DEADLINES
What you pay for on this route
- The assessmentΒ§ 11 (6) FeV; the law fixes no amount β comparing providersβ prices is worth itat your own expense
Deadlines you cannot miss
- The deadline for producing the assessment is set by the authority in the order itselfWhen a medical-psychological assessment is orderedhard deadline
Amounts follow official fees as of each stepβs verification date. Your city may charge a different rate β check the step itself.
βΊ More about this route
The medical-psychological assessment, nicknamed the idiot test, is not ordered as punishment for an offence but where fitness to drive is in doubt. The regulation names the grounds fairly concretely: alcohol with expressly stated thresholds, controlled substances separately, and repeated offences as a further ground.
This five-step route covers the whole path: what exactly happened and who decided, which ground the order relies on, why the file belongs read before booking an appointment, how the assessment itself works, and how a licence is granted again. The point many skip: the authority itself formulates the questions the assessment will answer.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
All possible documents for this route
- Judgment or decision ordering the withdrawal
- Extract from the driving aptitude register
- The authorityβs order to produce an assessment
- File of the underlying proceedings
- The authorityβs order
- Copy of the authorityβs file
- Medical records where relevant
- Identity document
- Medical records and laboratory results
- Evidence of counselling or courses attended
- Application for a driving licence
- Assessment report where required
- Eyesight test and first aid course certificate
- Biometric photograph
WHERE PEOPLE MOST OFTEN LOSE MONEY AND TIME
- Confusing withdrawal with a temporary driving ban. With a ban the licence returns with the calendar; with withdrawal it does not return at all and a fresh grant is needed.
- Waiting for the blocking period to end before starting. The authorityβs examination runs regardless, and applying in parallel saves months.
- Ignoring the order to produce an assessment. The regulation expressly permits a finding of unfitness where someone refuses or fails to produce the report in time.
- Leaving abstinence evidence to the last moment. Its period runs by the calendar and cannot be created retroactively.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ROUTE
Who pays for the assessment?βΎ
The person concerned. The regulation states expressly that they must undergo the examination at their own expense within the period the authority sets. That is another reason to read the order in full beforehand: the cost arises before the result is known.
Can I choose where the assessment takes place?βΎ
There is some latitude: with the order the authority names the assessment centre or centres that come into consideration. The choice is made from that circle rather than from an arbitrary list online, so the text of the order governs.
What happens to a foreign driving licence?βΎ
The law addresses this separately: with a foreign licence, withdrawal has the effect of removing the right to make use of it within Germany. The document itself remains, but it may no longer be used to drive here.
How long does the blocking period last?βΎ
Where a court withdraws the licence it simultaneously sets a block within a range of six months to five years. In extreme cases the law permits a permanent block.
Will I need to retake the driving tests?βΎ
Not necessarily. It depends on the time elapsed and the circumstances: after a longer break the authority may require a test of knowledge and skills. The precise answer sits in the decision on your own case.