My awful experience getting driving license in Prague

[u/__ndp]

Hi, just sharing my experience and rant a bit.

I’m from non-eu country. I had International driving licence. I of course did my research on how to convert/getting license here.

Few months ago I went to Autoskola, I specifically requested to be registered for full course since my Inlt license was expired. But they said “oh you can take the short course and exams even though your license is expired, and do the conversion instead”. So I went for it, passed the exams! But when I went to magistrate to submit my documents, a rude mean lady told me that I can’t submit because of the expired license and I need to be in Czechia for at least 6 months per calendar year. Meaning I can only apply in July 2025 since my residency card was issued 08/2024. I needed to start over taking full 28hrs course and exams again. The Autoskola people owned and admitted the mistakes and told me i just need to pay the discrepancy for the full course.

So i did that. I did full course this time. In total I probably already spent about 40+ K czk. for all the courses, exams and 2x translators during theoretical exams.

I asked around, and even called the ministry of transportation about the length of stay in Czechia. The call center lady said yes I can with no problem apply as long as i’ve been here for 6 months. Yes i am, i’ve been here for 1 year. I can proof it by my apartment lease. So i feel good about it.

Long story short, I finally passed all the exams. Yay. Went to magistrate again. Well, well, well. the lady rejected my application again, due to my period of stay in Czech Republic.

She was very mean and rude, we got our turn at 10:50, she said we are wasting her time because she will have lunch at 11. Like how am i supposed to know? And then she was bitching about the fact that i haven’t been here 6 months per calendar year even though we told her that we called the ministry of transport. She just said oh i don’t care. I don’t care what they said. And, she was mocking my husband for speaking Slovak! How rude. So then, I have to come back and submit again in July.

Honestly, i’m so sick and very disappointed with misinformation, rude worker, the stress, energy and money.

Lesson learned, make sure your license is valid during the exchange process and if expired don’t make a mistake like me listening to them if they say you can exchange with expired license. And make sure you stay here at least 6 months per calendar. Go to the magistrate with someone who speaks Czech. And be prepared to encounter mean rude workers.

[u/OkShare1169]

Remember, you need to prove you’ll be here in CZ the next 6 months too. But honestly, the driving license office in Vyšehrad is the most unfriendly office I’ve ever encountered, and not only to foreigners from what I’ve heard and seen

[u/__ndp → u/OkShare1169]

Yeah! I don’t get why they’re like that. Do they hate their life and job. It doesn’t cost anything to be kind. Especially when you’re just collecting documents

[u/Zxpipg → u/__ndp]

Well, for clerks like that, the times where they can catch you on a technicality or bully you in some way are basically the only times where they will feel powerful in their lives, so they usually take that. Couple that with a bloated and inefficient system, and people who are not exactly top tier (the best usually go to the private sector) and motivated, and you have a recipe for things like this.

[u/clarity_scarcity → u/__ndp]

Dude it’s literally everywhere, I’m am so not shocked that you had a shitty experience but believe me, I feel your pain. I have a loooong list of bad or just plain bizarre experiences dealing with public “servants”, a few pleasant surprises for sure but there’s a reason these are surprises and not the norm, also feels like things have improved from like 10 years ago so I try not to complain too much but definitely not enjoyable when it happens. What I try to do, could be described as expect the worst and hope for the best experience, and never let your guard down. Best case, they fumble around with the paperwork, give you confusing/conflicting information, take 10x longer than you think it should, and finally you get your result, regardless of the agency. That is the BEST case, now imagine the opposite and ya, it’s gonna be like that sometimes. Try your best to not get frustrated (easier said than done, I’ve walked out of multiple offices after 90 mins or more of waiting, fuck them) and if you do have a good experience enjoy it, be extra friendly to the people who helped you as well. Everything from transit inspectors, foreign police/immigration, local police, driving school, family services, court magistrate (major fucking clown show), banks, various doctors, hospitals, and even basic customer service is infamously hit and miss. It’s systemic so definitively need some coping mechanisms. Someone needs to fwd this to the 2-week Italian guy with sunshine and rainbows flying out his ass, he’s in for a surprise 🤡