Apply for a driving licence permit to upgrade a driving licence | Traficom
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Transport and Communications Agency

Apply for a driving licence permit to upgrade a driving licence

Use this service to add new categories to your valid driving licence by taking a driving examination. Acting on behalf of another person is not possible in the service.

A driving licence permit remains valid for three years. During this period, you must take the theory and driving tests of the driving examination, and the possible handling test.

Please note that you can only hold one valid driving licence permit at a time. A permit that you obtained earlier will expire when you apply for a new one. This is why you should be careful when selecting the driving licence categories in the e-Services.

Before submitting your application, read more on this page about the requirements related to your age and fitness to drive that apply to upgrading your driving licence.

If your driving licence is about to expire and you would like to both renew and upgrade it, please visit an Ajovarma service point.

To upgrade your motorcycle driving licence to a higher category, see the page Upgrading a motorcycle driving licence category. Check if you can use this service or if you should to visit an Ajovarma service point.

How to upgrade the category of your motorcycle driving licence

When can you use the e-Services to upgrade your driving licence?

You can use the Apply for a driving licence permit to upgrade your driving licence service if

  • your driving licence is valid and you have not been banned from driving.
  • you do not hold a driving licence issued in another EU or EEA country. By using this service, you consent to this information being verified against records in other EU and EEA member states.
  • your permanent address is in mainland Finland. Your driving licence will be sent to your address in Finland recorded in the Population Information System. When you take a driving examination, you also need to have a permanent address in mainland Finland.
  • you have previously submitted your facial photograph and signature to the authorities, for example for a passport.
  • you do not have special condition 95 indicating professional competence in your driving licence.
  • you are not under the obligation to use an alcohol interlock when driving.
  • you can log into the service using online banking identifiers or a mobile certificate.

You cannot use the service if

  • your driving licence is about to expire within the next six months and you would like to renew it in addition to upgrading it.
  • you are upgrading your driving licence to category B96.
  • you are upgrading your driving licence using an examination certificate issued by the Defence Forces.
  • you are upgrading a category A1 or A2 driving licence to a higher category A by taking driving instruction or by completing a category A handling and driving test.
  • you are upgrading your driving licence based on a vocational upper secondary qualification certificate for bus drivers (exemption from the age requirement for a category D driving licence; age requirement 18 years)
  • you are applying for a driving licence based on special condition 131 (exemption from the minimum age requirements for categories C and/or D; the licence may be issued based on a freely worded report provided by an authority or employer for driving related to fire-fighting or rescue sector operations, operations of the Defence Forces or the Border Guard, or for driving required for maintenance and repair shop activities).

Do the following

  • Step 1

    Check that you can upgrade your driving licence using the e-Services

    Read this page to check if you can renew your driving licence in the Apply for a driving licence permit to upgrade your driving licence service.

  • Step 2

    Log into the service and complete the online application

    Apply for a driving licence permit to upgrade your driving licence in Traficom’s My e-Services. You can find the application form in this service under the heading Driving licence.

    When you log into the service, you can see your facial photograph and signature obtained from the passport photo register of the police. When you renew your driving licence in the e-Services, you accept the use of the photo and the signature on your driving licence.

    If the system does not contain your photograph or signature or you do not want to use them on your driving licence, you cannot upgrade your driving licence using the e-Services.

  • Step 3

    3. If necessary, retrieve your fitness to drive information from Kanta services

    In certain cases, a medical report is required for upgrading your driving licence. See Requirements related to fitness to drive below on this page for cases in which a medical report is mandatory.

    If you have seen a doctor and the doctor has recorded a medical report on your fitness to drive (F122) in Kanta services, you can retrieve the information on your fitness to drive using the service.

  • Step 4

    Pay for the application

    Pay for your order in the e-Services. Submitting your application for a driving licence permit in the e-Services costs EUR 28.

  • Step 5

    Participate in driving instruction and complete a driving examination

    Take the theory and/or driving lessons required for your driving licence category and complete the tests included in the driving examination.

  • Step 6

    The driving licence will be sent to your home address

    Once you have completed the required studies and tests acceptably, your driving licence will be posted to your home address in around 2 weeks.

An automated decision-making procedure is used in the e-Services. Read more about automated decisions at Traficom.

If you cannot use the e-Services, you can apply for a driving licence permit to upgrade your driving licence at Ajovarma. Fill in the driving licence permit application at the service point. Also read the Driving licence permit page in advance and check which attachments you may need for your application.

Read more about the driving licence permit and the attachments required for the application

Book an appointment with Ajovarma

Requirements related to age and fitness to drive

You can use the e-Services to upgrade your driving licence as follows:

  • Categories AM/120, AM/121, T and/or A1: you can apply for a driving licence permit after you have turned 15.
  • Category B: you can apply for a permit after you have turned 16. You may take the driving test after you have turned 18.
  • Categories B and BE (if you are applying for category BE along with category B): you can apply for a permit after you have turned 17. You may take the driving test after you have turned 18.
  • Category A: if you have a category A2 right to drive and you upgrade it by taking a driving examination, you can apply for the permit at the age of 19. You may take the driving test after you have turned 20 and your category A2 right to drive has been valid for at least 2 years. If you do not have a category A2 right to drive (but you do have some other group 1 right to drive) and you are taking a driving examination to upgrade your category, you can apply for the permit when you are 23. You may take the driving test after you have turned 24.
  • Category A2: you can apply for the permit at the age of 17 when upgrading your category by taking a driving examination. You may take the driving test after you have turned 18.
  • Category C1 or C1E: you can apply for the permit at the age of 17. You may take the driving test after you have turned 18.
  • Category D1 or D1E: you can apply for the permit at the age of 20. You may take the driving test after you have turned 21.
  • Categories C and CE: you can apply for the permit at the age of 20 or, if you have completed basic professional competence training of ordinary length for lorry drivers (280 hours), at 18 years of age. If you have completed professional competence training, you may take the driving test when you turn 18.
  • Category D or DE: For category D or DE, you can apply for the permit at the age of 23, and you can take the driving test after you have turned 24. If you have completed basic professional competence training for a bus driver in the fast-track scheme (140 hours), you may apply for the permit at the age of 22 and take the driving test after you have turned 23. If you have completed basic professional competence training for a bus driver of ordinary length (280 hours), you may apply for the permit at the age of 20 and take the driving test after you have turned 21.

If you are upgrading your licence to one of the categories entitling you to drive a lorry or a bus, you must have a category B driving licence. If you do not have a category B right to drive, you must also apply for it and pass a category B driving examination before the categories entitling you to drive a lorry or a bus.

You can take a theory test at the earliest one month before reaching the required minimum age. An exception to this is category T theory test, which you can only take after turning 15.

In some cases, you must provide a medical report on your fitness to drive to upgrade your driving licence. The medical report must not date back more than six months. Only the Medical report on fitness to drive (F122) is accepted as the medical report.

The Apply for a driving licence permit to upgrade your driving licence service offers you the option of retrieving the information on your fitness to drive from Kanta services. You can skip this option if you do not need a medical report for upgrading your licence and you have not had a medical examination. If you need a medical report, retrieving the information on your fitness to drive is mandatory.

You will need a medical report if

  • you are upgrading your driving licence from group 1 to group 2: your driving licence has one or several of the following group 1 categories: AM/120, AM/121, T, A1, A2, A, B, BE and you are upgrading your driving licence to one or several categories entitling you to drive a lorry or a bus (C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D, DE)

You will not need a medical report if

  • you are upgrading your group 1 driving licence within this group: you have one or several of the following group 1 categories on your driving licence: AM/120, AM/121, T, A1, A2, A, B, BE and you would like to upgrade your driving licence to include one or several of these categories
  • you are upgrading your group 2 driving licence: you have at least one category entitling you to drive a lorry or a bus on your driving licence (C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D, DE) and you are upgrading your driving licence to any category in group 1 or 2.

So far, only some medical centres are able to save medical reports to Kanta services, enabling Traficom to access the information.

Check with your doctor whether the information in the report can be transmitted electronically for Traficom’s use. If the information cannot be transmitted, you cannot use the e-Services.

Based on the medical report, a special condition may be added to your driving licence, or an existing condition may be removed. The special conditions may also remain unchanged. The most common special condition is 01, which indicates that the driver must wear glasses or contact lenses while driving.

If you have visited a doctor and the doctor has changed the terms or restrictions of your driving licence and saved the information of the medical report to Kanta services, retrieve your fitness to drive information when using the e-Services.

Upgrading your driving licence with an examination certificate issued by the Defence Forces

Once you have finished your military service, you can upgrade your driving licence with the right to drive a lorry, bus or motorcycle obtained during the military service if you wish to use it in civilian life. To upgrade your driving licence, you will need the examination certificate issued by the Defence Forces.

To upgrade your driving licence using an examination certificate issued by the Defence Forces, make an appointment with an Ajovarma service point to submit your application for a driving licence permit. You can get the application form at the service point. Attach the examination certificate issued by the Defence Forces to your application.

An examination certificate issued by the Defence Forces is valid for three years. If you submit your application for a driving licence permit during this three-year period, you do not need to attach a medical report. If you submit your application for a driving licence permit later than this, attach a medical report on your fitness to drive (F122) to the application. You must also complete a driving examination.

You can only exchange a category A right to drive obtained while doing your military service to a category A1 or A2 driving licence.

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