The Monegasque Driving Licence: Examination, Validity and Renewal

Where Monaco's licence comes from

The Monegasque driving licence is issued by the Service des Titres de Circulation (STC), 5 Promenade Honoré II, Hall B, 98000 Monaco, telephone (+377) 98 98 80 14, Monday to Friday 9.30 am to 5 pm by appointment. The same department examines candidates, issues the licence, runs the technical inspection centre and registers vehicles. The theory test itself is sat at the STC.

No part of this goes through a French préfecture, and there is no route by which a Monaco resident obtains a French licence in place of a Monegasque one. Monaco has its own Highway Code, its own examiners — inspecteurs du permis de conduire et de la sécurité routière — and its own register.

Two ways in

If you already hold a foreign licence from one of the 120-plus recognised states, you do not sit an exam: you exchange. That is not optional and the window is one year from acquiring resident status — the whole procedure is set out in Exchanging a foreign driving licence.

Otherwise — a first licence, or a licence from a country Monaco does not recognise — you take the Monegasque examination, described below.

Registering for the examination

Registration is exclusively through a driving school established in Monaco. Candidates cannot register themselves: the schools use a dedicated online service to view and book examination slots with the STC.

The sequence is:

1. You assemble your file and give it to the driving school.
2. The school lodges it with the Service des Titres de Circulation.
3. The school hands back your candidate number and the payment receipt.
4. The school tells you the day and time of each test.

The file contains a valid identity document — national identity card, passport or residence permit — two recent colour identity photographs of 35 × 45 mm taken within the last six months, and a medical certificate issued within the previous three months by a doctor authorised in Monaco, on the official model. Payment is by cheque.

Ages and categories

For the two commonest categories:

• Category B, the ordinary car licence — 18 years old
• Category B1, quadricycles — 16 years old

You may register and prepare before reaching the age required, and the theory test may be sat up to two months early. Monaco also examines for AM, A1, A2 and the motorcycle categories, and for BE, C, D, CE and DE.

Note that Monaco has not followed France in lowering the driving age to 17 for category B.

The tests

Theory (ETG). Forty highway code questions, with no more than five errors allowed. It is sat at the STC and must be passed before the practical test. The question bank was reformed on 1 October 2023: around 800 questions, clearer visuals, more weight on road signs and priority rules, and a new eco-driving strand. The reform tracked France's own September 2023 overhaul, but Monaco's rules on penalties remain its own.

Practical. Roughly 45 minutes of driving on the road with an inspector, in a vehicle belonging to the driving school.

What the exam and the licence cost

Under the 2026 tariff (Ministerial Order 2025-709):

Those are the STC's own charges. Driving school tuition is separate and set by each school.

No points — and what happens instead

The Monegasque licence carries no points. There is no capital of points to lose and no mechanism by which Monaco deducts points from a French or other foreign licence for an offence committed in the Principality.

What Monaco does instead is direct: fines, and according to the gravity of the offence, suspension of the licence — which can run to six months — or, for a foreign driver, a ban on driving in the Principality. Suspensions and driving bans are handled by the STC alongside renewals and duplicates.

Validity, renewal and duplicates

Categories B and B1 are valid until the age of 70, absent a medical contraindication. From 70 the licence is renewed after a medical examination. Renewal, amendment — a change of name or address — and a duplicate after loss or damage each cost €23, at the STC.

Loss or theft is declared to the STC, which has a dedicated procedure for it, and you can grant a mandate (proxy) to a third party to act for you at the counter, which is worth knowing when appointments are hard to place.

An international driving permit costs €32 and is issued by the STC to holders of a Monegasque licence. It is a translation of your licence, never a substitute for it: you carry both.

Alongside the licence

Driving legally in Monaco means holding the licence, but also keeping the car in order: registration on Monegasque plates (Registering a vehicle in Monaco), the annual estampille and the technical inspection cycle (Keeping a vehicle on the road in Monaco), and compulsory third-party insurance. Always carry the licence, the registration certificate and proof of insurance.

For the roads themselves, see Driving in Monaco, Parking in Monaco and Road safety in Monaco.