Car licence guide
Everything for the Car licence, where to go, what to pay, what happens.
1 · Which route is yours?
Your path depends on whether you already hold a driving licence that Taiwan accepts.
- Foreigners: register in person at a Motor Vehicles Supervision Station (監理站) and pick your exam date. An ARC or Gold Card works as ID.
- With an exchangeable foreign licence: physical exam → vision test → registration → knowledge test → driving test.
- Without one: you also need a learner permit + driving school or self-training before the tests.
2 · Medical check (before exam day)
Minimum age is 18. Do the medical at an authorised clinic a few days before, it is quick and not the same as the exam.
- ARC (Alien Residence Certificate) with 6+ months validity, Gold Card, or Taiwan ID
- Application form (provided at the Motor Vehicles Office, 監理站)
- Physical exam + vision test at the clinic, takes about 5 minutes, costs around NT$200, no health card needed.
- Bring 2 one-inch (passport-style) photos for the clinic, and keep 1 more for exam day.
3 · Fees (bring cash)
Pay at the Motor Vehicles Office (監理站). Bring cash, card is usually not accepted.
- Full test (all items): around NT$450.
- Re-test of a single failed item within 1 year: NT$225.
- Plus the licence issuance fee and your clinic medical.
- Your results stay valid for 1 year, finish everything within that window.
4 · Practice
Practise the written bank in this app, and the track + road test at a driving school.
- Written exam: 40 questions, 30 minutes, you need 85% to pass.
- The questions in this app are the official bank, the same ones come up in the real exam.
- There is also a free official online simulator to rehearse the exact exam screen.
- Driving schools (駕訓班) have approved closed circuits; some let you take the test on-site.
- Self-training is allowed, the official test circuit is at the 監理站.
- From June 2026 the car written exam is multiple-choice only.
5 · Exam day, what happens when
Everything is done on the same day, in order. You must pass the written test first; only then do you go to the practical test.
- Arrive early. Bring your documents, 1 one-inch photo, and cash.
- 1) Written test, 40 questions, 30 min. You need 85% to pass.
- 2) Practical test the same day: track test, then road test on public streets.
- If you fail, you can re-take just the failed item within 1 year (NT$225), you keep what you passed.
6 · The practical (driving) test
Done at the Motor Vehicles Office (監理站) circuit and on real roads. Each part is scored out of 100 and you need 70 to pass each. The car sits behind sensors that auto-score the track.
- Track test: uphill stop-and-start on the slope, S-curve, reverse into the bay (倒車入庫), parallel parking, and the railway crossing (stop, look both ways).
- Road test: drive on public streets, obey signs and signals, change lanes and turn safely.
- New rule: you must physically turn your head for blind-spot / shoulder checks before moving off, turning and changing lanes, skipping them fails you.
- Touching a line, knocking a pole, or stalling loses points fast, smoothness matters more than speed.
7 · Get your licence
Pass both the written and the practical test and the licence is issued the same day at the office.
- Keep it valid and renew on time.
- You can later add other vehicle categories.
Source: Directorate General of Highways (公路局) & Taipei Motor Vehicles Office, 2026. Verify details locally.