Driving licence and right to drive

• a driving licence is valid for 10 years. A driving licence for motor vehicles of categories C and D and subcategories C1 and D1 and combinations of vehicles of categories CE, DE, C1E and D1E is valid for five years;
• a provisional driving licence is valid for two years;
• category B driving licence with the limited right to drive is valid until the person turns 18. Category T driving licence with the limited right to drive is valid until the person turns 16;
• the validity of a driving licence can be checked via the e-service of the Estonian Transport Administration.

In the event of a driving licence, provisional driving licence or driving licence with a limited right to drive issued in Estonia becoming lost, stolen or destroyed or in any other case deemed reasonable by the Estonian Transport Administration, the holder of the driving licence will be issued with a new document proving their right to drive pursuant to an application of the holder. The previously issued valid driving licence is repealed as of the date the written notice of the holder of the driving licence is received. Any driving licence which is found must be returned to a service bureau of the Estonian Transport Administration.

A driving licence, provisional driving licence or driving licence with a limited right to drive issued in Estonia will be replaced provided that your permanent residence is in Estonia. A foreigner staying in Estonia is issued with a new driving licence on the basis of their residence permit.

The new driving licence is issued with a period of validity of 10 years. In the case of replacement of a provisional driving licence or driving licence with a limited right to drive with a new document proving the right to drive, the new document is issued with the same period of validity as the document proving the right to drive being replaced.

To replace a driving licence, a service bureau of the Estonian Transport Administration must be provided with the following documents:

• a valid health certificate of the driver, if there is no data about the valid health certificate in the database of the motor register or if the state of health of the driver has changed;
• an identity document or document certifying permission to reside;
• a letter of explanation or proof from the police, rescue service or other relevant authority regarding the fact that the driving licence was stolen or destroyed;
• a photo that meets the requirements for a photo of an identity document. Estonian Transport Administration uses a photo from the database of identity documents or the Traffic Register. If the photo is older than five years in the databases, then the photo can be taken at the service bureau of Transport Administration. Other photos will not be accepted;
• the state fee has been paid.

A revoked driving licence cannot be reinstated.

At the time of formalising a driving licence, but no later than 10 working days after the day following the submission of a request to exchange a driving licence, you may, upon the existence of a valid right to drive, drive a power-driven vehicle without a document certifying the right to drive only in Estonia. The right to drive a power-driven vehicle is proven based on the data of the motor register.

Pursuant to the Traffic Act, in the event of the withdrawal or revocation of the right to drive power-driven vehicles, a person must surrender their driving licence to the Estonian Transport Administration within five working days of the entry into force of the decision.

If the person cannot take their driving licence personally to the service bureau, it can be taken to the office by a person authorised to do so in writing.

A driving licence can also be surrendered by post via registered letter. To do this, a surrendering form for a driving licence/provisional driving licence (depending on the type of driving licence) must be printed out, filled in and submitted with the driving licence to the service bureau of the Transport Administration.

Surrendering driving licence (digi) | 53.46 KB | pdf

Surrendering provisional driving licence (digi) | 64.81 KB | pdf

A driving licence can be replaced via the e-service  or at a service bureau of the Estonian Transport Administration.

It is possible to delivery a driving licence by post as a regular mail to Estonian postal address or at a service bureau of the Estonian Transport Administration. Driving licences are also issued by Estonian foreign missions.

The driving licence is issued within 10 working days of passing a respective test or of the day following the submission of a request to exchange the driving licence.

A driving licence is issued to or replaced for an Estonian citizen whose permanent residence is in Estonia and to/for a foreigner staying in Estonia on the basis of their residence permit.

A driving licence issued in Estonia is replaced pursuant to the application of its holder when it has expired, become useless, the holder’s data or the category of the right to drive a vehicle has changed or when it is not possible to recognise the holder from the photo.

If you are a holder of a provisional driving licence and you do not collect your provisional driving licence from the service bureau within one year of the start of the validity date marked on the provisional driving licence, the Estonian Transport Administration will revoke your provisional driving licence and a new provisional licence is issued only when you successfully pass the theory test and the driving test.

If you are a holder of a provisional driving licence and you have not obtained a full driving licence within 12 months as of the expiry of the provisional driving licence, you must re-apply for a provisional driving licence and successfully pass the theory test and driving test required for obtaining the provisional driving licence.

If you do not collect your driving licence from the service bureau within one year of the start of the validity date marked on the driving licence, the Estonian Transport Administration will revoke your driving licence and you will have to apply for a new driving licence.

A driving licence can be replaced via the e-service or at a service bureau of the Estonian Transport Administration.

A driving licence can be replaced via the e-service or the service bureaus of the Estonian Transport Administration.

To replace a driving licence the service bureau of the Estonian Transport Administration must be provided with the following documents:

• a valid health certificate of the driver, if there is no data about the valid health certificate in the database of the motor register;
• an identity document or a document certifying permission to reside;
• the driving licence to be replaced;
• a photo that meets the requirements for a photo of an identity document. Estonian Transport Administration uses a photo from the database of identity documents or the Traffic Register. If the photo is older than five years in the databases, then the photo can be taken at the service bureau of Transport Administration. Other photos will not be accepted;
• the state fee has been paid.

A driving licence can also be replaced via the e-service.

As of 1 April 2015, doctors only issue digital health certificates (certificates are issued on paper under special circumstances such as system failures, in which case the certificate must be digitised by the doctor at a later date). To get a health certificate, you must first fill out a health declaration at https://www.digilugu.ee/ and then contact your doctor. Digital health certificates are automatically added to the traffic register and do not have to be submitted physically at the Transport Administration.

Upon expiry of the validity of the health certificate or the expiry of the deadline for passing the next medical examination, a new valid health certificate must be submitted to the Estonian Transport Administration. The validity of the health certificate can be checked in the e-service of the Estonian Transport Administration.

If you have a health certificate issued before 1 April 2015 on paper:

• Submit it to the Transport Administration in person or by mail.
• The health certificate can also be submitted by e-mail but it must be digitally signed by the doctor.

Invalid health certificates can not be used when applying for a driving license as the certificate does not meet legal requirements.

From 31.01.2020

Driving licence front side

Driving licence reverse side

Driving licence 19.01.2013–30.01.2020

Driving licene	Driving licence reverse side

Driving licence 08.09.2008 - 18.01.2013

Driving licence 2004–2008

Front side	Reverse side

Driving Licence 1999–2004