How to apply for a driving license in Rwanda

Driver licensing in the republic of Rwanda is managed by Rwanda National Police ‘s Department of Traffic Police and Road Safety, A government agency that has among other mandates ensuring safety, security, accountability, transparency and the rule of law both on the public roadways and entire Rwanda territory in partnership with irembo.

With multiple offices around the county, the Rwanda National Police staff are available through both mail, phone, email: P. O. Box 6304 KIGALI – RWANDA; Phone: +250 788311155. info@police.gov.rw. In an effort to modernize services to citizens, recently, increasingly government services, driving licensing services included, have been availed on the one-stop portal irembo.gov.rw to provide a seamless process in the driving licensing process.

Age Requirement: In Rwanda, the process of obtaining a driving license starts with meeting age requirements. One becomes eligible of obtaining a driver’s license upon attaining the age of 18 for driving license categories A and B and 20 years of age for driving license categories C, D, and E.

License Validity/Renewal: In Rwanda, Driver License validity depends on one’s age. Drivers with or below 45 years of age valid or renewed for 10 years. Drivers between 45 and 50 years get their license valid or renewed for the validity of the remaining years to turn 55. Drivers aged between 50 and 68 are renewed for 5 years. Drivers between 68 and below 70 years get renewed for 4 years and finally, those above 70 years get their license renewed for only three years.

Steps for getting a driving licence in Rwanda: 

• Attending a Driving School for Driving Theory Course (Optional)
• Pass Driving Theory Test (Required)
• Obtain a Provisional License (Required)
• Attend a Driving School for Driving Practice Course(Optional)
• Obtain a Definitive Driving License (Optional)

Attending Driving School (Preparing for Driving License Theory Exam): In Rwanda attending a Driving School is not a requirement. It is however recommended given the low pass rate. There are many driving schools spread across the country that one can attend to insure is prepared before taking both the driving theory course or the final driving exam. With our platform students also have an option to take either a course here at eDrivingSchool.org choosing from a Standard, free, light version or Premium Course, paid advanced course. It is our recommendation to make sure that one is prepared enough in order to save time whether you choose to study on his/her own, attend a classic driving school or take an online course here at edrivingschool.org.

Obtaining a Provisional Driver License

As stated the minimum age for obtaining a provisional driver’s license is 18 years.  From time to time, a provisional driving license exam was done by attending an open exam prepared by the RNP-unit of traffic police.this exam consists of a series of between ten to twenty to pass exactly. It might be multiple choice, tick tack questions, open questions or the mix of all of them. The exam is based on traffic highway code in the Driver Handbook published in the National Gazette, related to highway code. 

The exam for provisional driving license is organized in the form of multiple questions, multiple-choice, true or false format.The passing note is 12/20 in minimum and the exam duration may not go above 30 minutes. The RNP prepares a suitable place to pass the provisional driving license on district level-this means seasonally/monthly districts alternate in passing provisional driving license exam.

In light of the government digitization initiative, Rwanda National Police in the process of moving to a new system where the provisional license exam will be administered online through Rwanda National Police website the test taker will be scored automatically and associated with the identification of the candidate.

Attending Driving School (Preparing for Driving License Practice Exam): Attending a Driving School is not a requirement. This is however recommended. Another way to prepare is to rely on friends and family, and doing this a lot of time doesn’t give the aspirant driver enough time to practice and be ready for passing the test. The situation is complicated by the fact that Rwanda, up until now, requires using sticky shift or standard vehicles for the final driving exam. Despite outcry from the public, according to authority, it is stipulated that using sticky shift instead of automatic vehicles is mandated by the law, and will only be changed if parliament takes action to change that directive.  

Obtaining a definitive driving license in Rwanda: Definitive driving licence is a plastic card document that contains owner Identifications. It looks like a National Identification card(ID) or a Visa Card or MasterCard. It is exclusively offered by RNP-unit of traffic police to a candidate that has passed  practical driving examination and it is the only document that authorizes individuals to operate vehicles on the Rwandan Public Roadways.

On the driving License Content: The Rwanda Driving License contains the following information:ON ONE FACE(RECTO): first name & last name, date of birth, gender, place of birth and place of issue, driving license number, owner’s passport photograph and ON THE OTHER FACE(VERSO) the Driving license categories that the owner possess. This card is the property of the driver who has already passed successfully a driving exam.

Driving License Categories: Definitive driving license categories differ by the driving capacity of the owner/driver; In Rwanda there exists the following categories: A, B, C, D, E, F and every category defines car/track is the driver is able to conduct/drive. Different types of vehicles are 

covered by different driving license categories and have varying minimum age restrictions. If you want to add a new vehicle driving license, then the vehicle you take the test in must certain requirements:

category	specification	minimum age
A	Motorcycle	18 years old
B1-motor tricycle	Max weight 500kg	18 years old
B-passenger vehicle and small good vehicles	Max weight 3500kgUp to 8 seats+driver	18 years old
C1-medium goods	Max weight 7500kg	18 years old
C-heavy goods	Max 10 tonnes at least	21 years old
D1-Minibus	Up to 16 seats+driver	18 years old
D-Large passenger	More than 16 seats in addition to driver’’ seat	21 years old
E1-Trailer	Trailer weight greater than 750kg up to the max with combination	18 years old
E-Trailer/large passenger	Trailer weight greater than 750kg	21 years old
F-Agricultural tractor		18 years old

Application for a definitive driving license. In order to apply to sit for a definitive license exam or obtain a driver’s license one must meet the following conditions:

• One must not be under eighteen(18) years old for license A,B and C1.
• One must not be under twenty(20) years old for licenses C, D, E, and F.
• One has to have passed a successfully provisional driving license.
• One has to have National ID or passport or other related documents from local

        Administration.

• One has to be physically fine/not having any physical disability as mentioned on provisional driving license and in the national gazette
• One must possess a valid provisional driving license

Any individual who meets all these conditions can register to sit for the driving examination prepared by RNP-Unit of Traffic police but this exam is done after registration and admission provided through Irembo Portal. The process of registration and validity can take in maximum fourteen days(14) and every candidate must pay fifty rwandan francs(50,000 rwf) through irembo Portal.

Day of the Definitive/Practical driving exam

Upon meeting requirements, one can register for a driving practical assessment or exam or definitive driving exam. The exam is done step by step: after passing one step you are allowed to pass to the following and when one fails you are automatically disqualified. these steps are the following: parking exam, start-up exam(demarrage), and traffic exam(circulation).

During definitive driving license, an agent of the Rwanda National Police – Traffic Unit assesses the performance of the candidate for driving permits i.e he must even accompany all the candidates all the time during the exam to assess both ability, attitudes and skills. 

The examination is done at any place suitable for both the candidate and the examiner with the exception of remote places. While the capital city of Kigali has most of the tests administered in its districts, The Rwanda National Police – Traffic unit balances exam administration, holding examination sessions at least once in every province at the district level in the spirit of government services decentralization.  A complete list of test schedule is published on the Rwanda National Police website and Social media accounts.

One is required to obtain a category only after obtaining the previous category only with the exception of F which only requires having only obtained a provisional license. Completely as all categories follow one another from first provisional driving license and then A, B, C, D, and F. You cannot present yourself for any category without having already the previous category.