Egyptian, Turkish, Chinese, Georgian and Indian Driving Licences in Poland — Exam or Not (2026)

Whether you exchange your driving licence without an exam is decided by the country that issued it: Egyptian, Turkish and Georgian licences are exchanged in Poland without an exam, while Chinese, Indian and American ones only after passing the theory test. That is how Article 14(1) of the Act on Driving Vehicles works after the change of 17 December 2025, which kept one of the two road traffic conventions. Below is the answer for each of the six countries you ask about most often, the 6 months after which the old document stops being enough, and what happens if you overrun it. If you want to check your country right away and order the exchange, see the online driving licence exchange.

Why the issuing country decides about the exam

Until 16 December 2025 a licence defined in either of the two road traffic conventions — Geneva 1949 or Vienna 1968 — was exempt from the exam. The amendment of 17 October 2025 (Journal of Laws 2025, item 1676) changed Article 14(1) of the Act on Driving Vehicles: since 17 December 2025 only a document consistent with the model and data set of the Vienna Convention is exchanged without an exam. Countries party only to the Geneva Convention and countries outside both conventions ended up in one group — their nationals sit the theory part of the state exam and present a certified translation.

The country is only the first condition, though. The second concerns the document itself: the office checks whether this particular licence matches the Vienna model, and this is where old paper documents without category markings in the convention format fail. The full country lists for both groups, checked with the convention depositary at the UN, are in our article which country's driving licence is exchanged without an exam.

Egyptian driving licence in Poland — valid and exchanged without an exam

Egypt is a party to the Vienna Convention, so an Egyptian driving licence is valid in Poland for 6 months from the start of your stay and is then exchanged for a Polish one without an exam. In practice Egyptian cases fail on two things. The first is the translation: the document is in Arabic, and the translation must be made by a sworn translator of Arabic or certified by a Polish consul; a translation from an agency without sworn status is rejected and the clock starts again.

The second is confirmation of the data with the authority that issued the document. The county office sends an enquiry to Egypt and waits for the reply, and neither the official nor the representative can speed that up — and a licence whose data cannot be confirmed is not exchanged at all (Article 14(2e)). So the application must be complete from day one, so that the only stage you wait for is the Egyptian one. Old Egyptian documents without a Latin transcription of the name and without categories in the convention layout are worth showing to a lawyer before you pay for the translation.

Turkish and Georgian licences — the same group, different traps

Turkey and Georgia are parties to the Vienna Convention, so Turkish and Georgian driving licences are exchanged without an exam. Turkish licences issued since 2016 are cards in the European format and pass verification without remarks; the trouble comes with older paper documents, where the office examines consistency with the convention model and may ask for additional explanations. Georgian card licences with Latin script are recognised without problems; the longest stage is data confirmation in Georgia.

The same group includes, among others, Vietnam, the Philippines, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova and Armenia — for them the procedure looks identical: sworn translation, application, data confirmation in the issuing country, collection of the Polish document. One rule for all: an expired licence is exchanged under Article 14(1a), after data confirmation and with a medical certificate, and for categories C and D also a psychological one.

Chinese, Indian and American licences — the exam is waiting here

Three countries, three different reasons, the same result: you get a Polish driving licence only after passing the theory part of the state exam and presenting a certified translation of the document.

• China is not a party to either convention, so a Chinese national driving licence does not entitle you to drive in Poland and is not exchanged without an exam; the case starts with a sworn translation from Chinese and booking the theory test;
• India is a party only to the Geneva Convention — until 16 December 2025 an Indian licence was exchanged without an exam, today the national document does not match the Vienna model and the theory test applies; for the first 6 months of your stay you drive only with an international driving permit;
• The United States is also a party only to the Geneva Convention — an American licence, whatever the state, is exchanged after the theory test; at the start of your stay it entitles you to drive only together with an international driving permit, for 6 months.

The theory part of the exam does not require a course at a driving school and can be taken in English, German or Ukrainian; after you pass, the exchange application is processed like any other. The same applies to Japan, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and to Mexico, which signed the Vienna Convention but never ratified it.

6 months of validity and what happens after the deadline

A national licence of a state party to the Vienna Convention, as well as a Geneva or Vienna international driving permit, entitles you to drive in Poland for 6 months from the start of permanent or temporary residence (Article 5(4) of the Act on Driving Vehicles). In the seventh month driving on the old document is driving without a licence: Article 94 § 1 of the Code of Petty Offences provides a fine of no less than 1500 zł, detention or restriction of liberty, and the court must impose a driving ban. After an accident the insurer may seek recovery of the compensation paid.

The deadline runs from the stay, not from the exchange application, and the law does not extend it for the duration of the procedure. Since data confirmation in the issuing country takes weeks, the application has to be filed early enough for the Polish document to be ready before the half-year ends. Separate rules — temporary protection, Brexit, exemptions from data confirmation — apply to Ukrainians, Belarusians and Britons, which we describe in our article exchanging a Ukrainian, Belarusian or UK driving licence.

Procedure, documents and costs — identical for every country

The application is filed with the county governor competent for your place of residence (in Warsaw — the Citizens' Affairs Office branch of your district); a Polish driving licence can be issued to a person who stays in Poland at least 185 days a year because of personal or professional ties (Article 11(1)(5) of the Act on Driving Vehicles). The set is short, but every gap means a summons and weeks of delay:

• an application with a handwritten signature, which goes onto the document itself, and a current photograph meeting the requirements for identity documents;
• a copy of the foreign driving licence with a translation made or certified by a sworn translator or a Polish consul;
• a residence card or a passport with a residence document and a declaration of living in Poland at least 185 days a year;
• for an expired document and for professional categories — a medical certificate, and for C and D also a psychological one; for countries in the exam group — a certificate of the passed theory test.

The fee for issuing a driving licence is 100 zł; the sworn translation and the 17 zł stamp duty on the power of attorney are paid separately. The office issues the document within 9 working days of having the data confirmation from the issuing country and the fee, but the confirmation itself usually takes several weeks. You hand in the foreign licence when collecting the Polish one. We describe the whole procedure step by step in our article exchanging a foreign driving licence for a Polish one.

How we handle the case and what it costs

The law firm Kancelaria Radców Prawnych Bartosz Krajewski handles the exchange of a foreign driving licence for a fee of 1000 zł: we assess a scan of both sides of the document, order the sworn translation, assemble the application, file it as your representative and collect the Polish driving licence. If your country is in the exam group, we say so before you pay: we book the theory test and file the exchange after you pass — we do not promise an exchange without an exam where the law does not provide for one. The 100 zł official fee and the translation are settled separately.

For professional drivers and people working in deliveries a Polish driving licence is often a condition of employment, which is why we handle it in parallel with the residence case. The full scope of our help is described on the page foreigners' cases in Warsaw.