Medical examination for a driving licence: who, where, how much

A driving licence medical examination costs at most 200 zł, the cap set by the Act on Vehicle Drivers. Every candidate must pass it before the PKK is created, with a doctor authorised to examine drivers and entered in the regional marshal's register. For category B you do not need a psychological certificate.

Who must have a medical examination

Anyone applying for the right to drive a moped, a motor vehicle or a tram must be examined (art. 75(1)(1) of the Act on Vehicle Drivers (ustawa o kierujących pojazdami)). This covers categories AM, A1, A2, A, B1, B, B+E, T and all higher ones. Without the certificate the office will not create your candidate profile, and a driving school cannot train you (art. 22).

You have the examination at the very start, before you visit the office. The certificate is one of the documents you submit together with your application for a Driver Candidate Profile (PKK).

Other groups are sent for an examination too: drivers renewing a licence issued for a fixed term, people applying to have a licence restored after it was withdrawn on health grounds, and drivers who drove after drinking alcohol (art. 75(1)(2-4)). As a learner, only the first case applies to you.

Who can examine driving licence candidates

Only an authorised doctor can issue the certificate, meaning a doctor entered in the register kept by the marshal of the voivodeship, the regional government (art. 77). The Act requires at least 5 years of professional experience and a specialisation in transport medicine or occupational medicine, or another specialisation supplemented by training in driver examinations. A GP without that entry cannot issue the certificate, even if they have known your health for years.

How to find such a doctor:

1. Ask at your driving school. OSK (ośrodek szkolenia kierowców, a driving school) usually work with doctors who examine drivers.
2. Look for an occupational medicine clinic (przychodnia medycyny pracy) in your town.
3. Check that the certificate will show the doctor's entry number in the register of authorised doctors. Without it the office may reject the document.

How much a driving licence medical examination costs

You will pay at most 200 zł (PLN). This upper limit is set by the Act on Vehicle Drivers (art. 79a in the 2025 consolidated text): the doctor cannot charge more, but may charge less. The examination is at the expense of the person examined (art. 76(2)), so neither the driving school nor the office refunds this amount.

In practice price lists stick to the limit. Rankomat, in its August 2026 overview of driving licence costs, quotes 200 zł as the standard rate (as of September 2026). The same limit applies to a repeat examination when you appeal against the certificate.

How these amounts add up to the full bill is covered in our article on how much a driving licence costs in 2026.

What the examination looks like step by step

The course of the examination is set out in the regulation of the Minister of Health of 5 December 2022. It goes like this:

1. The doctor checks your identity. Without an ID document the examination cannot go ahead (§ 2 of the regulation).
2. You fill in a health declaration in the form of a questionnaire. You answer "yes" or "no" to questions about treatment, medicines you take and past illnesses: among others high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, fainting, head injuries, sight and hearing problems, mental illness. You sign the questionnaire under penalty of criminal liability (art. 78 of the Act), so do not hide an illness.
3. The doctor tests your sight and hearing and assesses your musculoskeletal, circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems, your mental state, signs of alcohol abuse and the effect of the medicines you take (§ 4 of the regulation). With diabetes, the doctor takes your blood glucose test result into account.
4. If anything needs clarifying, the doctor may refer you to a specialist or a psychologist for a consultation, or order additional tests (art. 79(1) of the Act).
5. After the examination you receive the original medical certificate. A copy stays in the doctor's records (§ 7).

One examination covers all the categories you apply for at the same time (§ 9). If you plan B and A2 together, tell the doctor before the examination.

Do you need a psychological certificate

For category B: no. The Act exempts candidates for categories AM, A1, A2, A, B1, B, B+E and T from psychological tests (art. 11(1)(2)(b)). You attach a psychological certificate to your application only for the lorry and bus categories.

One exception: during a category B examination the doctor may refer you to a psychologist for a consultation if they consider it necessary to assess your health. That is a consultation within the medical examination, not a separate psychological certificate. You will find ages and entitlements side by side in the table of driving licence categories.

What the medical certificate contains

The doctor states whether or not there are health contraindications to driving vehicles in a group of categories: separately for AM, A1, A2, A, B1, B, B+E and T, separately for C1, C1+E, C, C+E, D1, D1+E, D, D+E, and separately for trams. The certificate may contain restrictions arising from your state of health (art. 79(3) of the Act):

• a validity period for the entitlement, meaning a fixed-term certificate with the date of the next examination;
• the vehicles you may drive, their equipment, marking or adaptation;
• special requirements for the driver.

The doctor records restrictions using the codes and sub-codes defined in the driving licence regulations. A typical example is the requirement to drive in glasses or contact lenses.

If you disagree with the certificate, you have 14 days from receiving it to request a repeat examination. You submit the request through the doctor who issued the certificate, and the examination is carried out by the voivodeship occupational medicine centre (wojewódzki ośrodek medycyny pracy). The repeat examination is paid for (up to 200 zł), and the certificate issued after it is final.

Glasses and contact lenses: what about poor eyesight

A sight defect does not close the road to a driving licence. For categories AM, A1, A2, A, B1, B, B+E and T the regulation requires binocular visual acuity of at least 0.5 with correction. Correction with glasses and contact lenses is allowed without restriction, provided you tolerate it well and have adapted to it. Colour recognition is not required in this group of categories, so colour blindness is no obstacle for category B. The horizontal field of vision must be at least 120 degrees.

If you do not reach the required acuity without glasses, the doctor will enter a coded restriction in the certificate. That means an obligation to drive in glasses or lenses, not a refusal. Bring the glasses you wear every day to the examination, or wear your usual lenses.

Diabetes, epilepsy and chronic illnesses

The regulation describes separately the examination for cardiovascular disease, epilepsy, sleep apnoea and diabetes (annexes 5-8). A chronic illness does not automatically mean a contraindication. The doctor assesses the type of condition, how advanced the symptoms are and the danger to traffic that could arise while driving (§ 4(2)).

With a chronic illness the doctor may use art. 79(1): refer you to a specialist for a consultation or order additional tests. The outcome of the consultation decides whether the certificate is indefinite, fixed-term or negative.

We leave the detailed medical criteria to the doctor. Your job is to fill in the questionnaire honestly and bring your treatment records, because with them the doctor can assess the illness without sending you off for extra paperwork.

What to bring to the examination

• Your ID card or passport. Without an ID document the doctor will not start the examination.
• Glasses or contact lenses, if you use them.
• Records of chronic illnesses: discharge summaries, test results, a list of medicines, an opinion from your treating doctor.
• Money for the fee (up to 200 zł); ask in advance whether the practice takes cards.
• Information on which categories you are applying for, because one examination can cover several of them.

How long the examination takes and what comes next

The regulations do not set a length for the visit. If you have no health problems, the questionnaire, the sight and hearing tests and the conversation with the doctor fit into one visit, and you receive the certificate when the examination ends. A specialist consultation extends the process by the wait for an appointment.

With the certificate in hand:

1. Have a colour photo taken, 35 x 45 mm.
2. Submit your PKK application at the wydział komunikacji (the transport department of your district office) for your place of residence.
3. With your PKK number, sign up for a course, or go straight for the theory test at WORD (Wojewódzki Ośrodek Ruchu Drogowego, the regional driving test centre).

A practical tip: do not leave the examination until the end. If the doctor refers you for a consultation, every week of delay pushes back the creation of your PKK, and with it the start of your course. Make the examination your first step, ideally in the same week you decide to go for a driving licence.