For a time, I had some doubts that I would write this post. Notwithstanding the fact that I’ve driven since 16 (15, with a permit), never been in an accident or gotten a ticket, I momentarily doubted my capabilities of getting a driver’s license in Italy.
But I did it! I passed both the theory and practical exams. Here, I hope to explain it for other expats whose driver’s licenses cannot be converted from their home country’s to Italy’s.
What you need
First, you need to pass the theoretical part of the exam. See how I went about that here, How to get a driver’s license in Italy, Part 1. All of the documents you need are already taken care of by this point.
Then, beginning a couple of years ago, Italian law made it obligatory to take six hours of driving lessons with a certified Autoscuola before taking the exam. So if you did the theoretical part by studying independently, as I did (thus saving a couple hundred euros), now you need to sign up with a school. The six hours of driving include two in urban areas, two suburban, and two on the highway.
Third, I don’t know if all driving schools require this, but I had to stop by the school for two hours of theory lessons several days before the exam. That’s right: don’t forget everything you learned on the theoretical exam you passed months before, because the examiner will ask you questions during your test. Granted, they are usually practical (and thus easy for anyone who has driven before), but you never know what they might throw at you.
Examples of questions:
- What do you need to check before going on a long-distance trip?
- What do you do if the oil/battery/antifreeze light turns on?
- What documents do you always need when you drive?
But they might get technical, too. Our instructor made sure we knew:
- The colors of the different signals and buttons of the car
- Limitations for neopatentati, or new license holders
- Where to find what information about things like the weight your car is allowed to carry, pressure for your tires, how many people you’re allowed to transport, the energy class your car is in, or horsepower.
- And even the minimum width of the battistrada, or tread.
- How to change a tire (theoretically…not practically)
Why, for a moment, I thought I wouldn’t pass
I was initially very confident. The moment I turned the key and began to drive, I realized that I had not forgotten how, nor was driving in Italy particularly difficult as I feared it might be. Sure, the roads are narrower and there were more cars than I’m used to, but otherwise it’s the same.
But over the next few months of mandatory lessons, I began having serious doubts.
It felt like every Italian I spoke to said they did not pass the first time. “Bocciato,” they said, “failed,” “kicked out.”
Then, my driving instructor would say things like, “Tranquilla, stay calm, you’ll be fine, I’m trying to schedule your exam as soon as possible because you’re ready,” and then he would mutter, “If he fails you I’ll be so mad.” It left me wondering, but why should there be a question of me failing?!
But these are not the only reasons I thought I wouldn’t pass. The true reason lies with a certain substitute instructor that I now believe the Autoscuola purposefully assigns students at least once to put a fire under them. It certainly did to me! This man told me in no uncertain terms that I could (and likely would) fail so horribly that I would have to take the theory exam over again, and that it was incredible I hadn’t killed people while driving before. The lesson shook me up badly and also confused me, because everything I did was incorrect—from the moment I turned my blinker on to pull out into the road (he found something wrong with that too). For this man, everything I did would have gotten me bocciata from the exam.
Everything.
“Who taught you to do that?!” The other instructor, your boss.
But I survived that grueling, horrible hour and I also realized (searching hard for a silver lining, here) that I needed to focus on the many rules of precedence and, most importantly, think for myself instead of just following what the instructor says.
But the guy could have been kinder about it.
Exam day
“Take the whole day off for your exam,” my instructor advised me. The Autoscuola schedules the exam day.
I pictured finishing my exam and then relaxing to enjoy the rest of my day off.
Actually, it took the better part of one anxiety-ridden day.
Three of us were scheduled to take the exam that day. The instructor took us to the testing site (this sounds very Area-51) at 11-11:30. We each drove around for a few hours, stopped for a couple of breaks, and anxiously awaited the arrival of the examiner, who came at 2:45. That’s almost four solid hours of high-strung nerves. I volunteered to go first, because no way could I wait even longer.
First, the examiner asks you a theory question or two. He asked me about lights. Then I had to do a three-point turn, drive around…and that’s it. No parallel parking (my weak point), though he did ask the next girl to parallel park.
The licenses were already made and waiting in an envelope. The examiner told me I had passed and handed me my license, so I didn’t have to resort to Plan B: taking the envelope and running. He said, “Check and see if the signature and information is correct.”
Only slightly trembling with relief and happiness, I took the license, looked it over—
Looked again—
“No.”
That was not my signature under my name! A certain Giulio had signed underneath my photo. And perhaps, somewhere, a certain Giulio has my signature written under his photo. I had to fill out some forms after the other girls took their exams to sort this out, and hopefully I will have my license in hand next week. UPDATED: I received my license ten days later. The signature is barely legible because the DMV scanned a carbon copy of my signature. Apparently this “shouldn’t” matter. I was back home after all of this around 5:30. So, I did not have a free afternoon to take advantage of Italy’s summer sales like I hoped. But that’s okay! Because I passed.
Total costs
- €200 to change over from privatista, or doing the theory exam independently of an autoscuola, to sign up with the autoscuola
- €186 for six hours of driving plus the exam (€26 per hour, €30 for the exam)
But, I saved a couple hundred euro, at least, because some unscrupulous examiners apparently make money by failing students and then asking for €100-200 to “pass;” and, some schools say there is an “exam tax” that costs several times more than the actual €30 that it is supposed to be. Plus, signing up with the school from the very beginning costs several hundred euros more.
Filo Rosso 
Yay! So glad it all went well and you passed! You were so worried about it when I last saw you. I’m taking notes on everything you’ve written on the subject so far because I’ll have to go through the same thing now. 🙂
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Thanks! I’m so glad too. I’m sure I made it out to be more nerve-racking than it merited. I hope these posts help, but if you have any questions just ask me!
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hello, do I need to be able to speak Italian to get the drivers license or do they have an option where the classes and tests are done in English?
I don’t speak Italian at all.
Please help, thanks.
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At the time of taking the exam, they unfortunately did not have the option to take it in English. I recommend you ask, though, because you never know what has changed or what different cities offer.
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I went through this proccess two years ago and I passed the first time. I went to the school for the theory part and took private lessons so I could understand the terminology better! During my exam I was confused about the wording of one question and so I asked the examiner to re-word the question in Italian for me, and he said no!!!! I was like…what an asshole! During my whole exam there were two instructors smoking inside the room with the door open and talking the whole time…talk about having to concentrate in another language with all that distraction….anyways all in all I’m really happy I went through this process because first I learned a lot of Italian studying the book, and second I learned that there are actually a lot of different laws compared to the US. During the driving portion my teacher taught me to parallel park like James Bond and taught me to correctly shift as I apparently was doing it wrong this whole time, who knew! Anyways you should post this to the facebook group “Help I need my Folio Rosa”
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Likewise, I’m glad I took the test. Italians are very thorough in the laws and in getting things correct (and then it seems like they flout the rules of the road, sometimes–yet even this might have a complicated rhyme and reason to it!). I just wish it hadn’t taken so long. Or been so expensive… And I still need to get a car!
Thanks, I will post it to the group.
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Hi Diana,
Anyway, congrats!!!!
Thank you for taking the time to write these posts, they are very informative! The whole idea of getting an Italian driver’s license is pretty intimidating and I don’t need one right now, but you never know about the future….. First though I would have to learn how to drive a stick, I had one informal lesson so far and I kept making the car shut off spontaneously
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Glad you enjoyed them! Writing them was actually pretty cathartic…Keep on learning with stick, it’s fun once you know how!
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I love how you described it! I remember when you where complaining about the crazy driving teacher… so funny (for me, not for you, of course).
By the way… I prepared the “teoria” as privatista, like you did, but I never bought a book, I just took a lot of test simulations online (completely free). A tip for those who still have to do it!
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Yes, the test simulations are so important! I didn’t know there was a free option, what is it (for anyone reading the comments for helpful info)?
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I don’t remember the web site… but was something like that: http://www.patentati.it/quiz-patente-b.php
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Nina, did you pass? The reason I ask is because my auto scuola instructor told me that I should only use their online quizzes (the others are not good according to him), and that is why I did not pass the test yesterday. The irony is that I took most of the quizzes on my autoscuola site and few on patentati.it! Curious to know how you did.
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Hei Daina!
Is it possible to take the eksam in Englsih language?
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I mean theory for driving licens.
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When I took it, they didn’t have that option. You might find the option in Rome or Milan, but I understood they just stopped offering the English theory exam altogether.
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Hi I will driveing linces in Italy
How to possible
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you made me laugh! THIS!!! “State of mind: Calm and collected. I checked all the boxes and know that dealing with Italian bureaucracy only requires two things: patience and persistence. You’d do well to remember that, young grasshopper.” HAHAHAHA – I am an old and tired grasshopper LOL! I failed yesterday and was sooooooo pissed!!!!
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Oh no! Have you had the chance to retake the exam?
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Hey Diana,
Thanks for your efforts to collect and write this piece of information. It is very helpful for the newbies to know what they should do for the license.
I have one query. How much time as a non- Italian speaker did it take you, from the time you register in the scuola guida until the end?
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Glad to hear you found it helpful. It took me about 8 months total, if I recall correctly. I am fluent in Italian, however — I can’t imagine taking the esame di teoria not knowing any Italian!
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Thanks lot for sharing! I’ve just passed l’esame di teoria. It took me a year of reading the theory and doing the quiz on the “Guida e Vai” app. I usually did it when I was on the bus go to work or to come home. Towards, the last 2 months prior to the exam date, I practiced a bit more before my bedtime. I wanted to ace it the first time because I didn’t waste 150€ to redo it. Fortunately, I did pass the theory test the first time (smile). My advice is that you should feel ready if you make only 2-3 mistakes/quiz for 2 months.
I thought the practice part would be easy for me given that I drove in Canada but I was wrong :(. I still forget to shift gear at times and it really gets on my nerves whenever I’m in the middle of the roundable. Hope I can go over this patente ordeal soon because I need it to go to work :S
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Brava!! Congrats on passing, and the first time taking it, too. Agreed: I felt prepared after missing only a couple questions on the practice exams each time I took it for about 1 month. And best of luck on the driving part! When I got discouraged about the whole getting-a-license thing, I would tell myself, “Every single Italian driving on the road right now had to go through the same thing. If they did it, so can you.”
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Please, how how much does it cost to obtain the drivers licenses if I should pass through the school(autoscouala) and is it possible to write the exams in English?
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When I took the exam in Torino, English was not an option, I’m sorry to say!
I don’t know how much the autoscuole cost now, as I did everything at as low a cost as possible. Plus, different schools charge different rates. It’s worth shopping around and asking at the scuole near you, and ask for the opinions of others in the area, to see who has the best rate and the best teaching style.
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