How do you get and renew a driver's license in Peru?

What the law requires for an A-I license

The class A category I license (called brevete in everyday Spanish) is the one for private cars. Article 9 of D.S. 007-2016-MTC defines it as the license for M1 and M2 passenger vehicles for private use and N1 light goods vehicles.

Article 13.1 (original 2016 text) lists the requirements:

• A form with a sworn statement.
• Minimum age 18. The same article lets people over 16 with full civil capacity under articles 42 and 46 of the Civil Code apply.
• Completed secondary school.
• Not being suspended or disqualified.
• A sworn statement that no final court ruling has taken away your right to drive.
• A health certificate, a knowledge exam and a driving test, all three registered in the Sistema Nacional de Conductores.
• Payment of the processing fee.

The gob.pe page (updated 26 September 2023) repeats the core of it: health certificate, knowledge exam and driving test, each «aprobado y registrado en el Sistema Nacional de Conductores».

Driving school is not required for A-I

Neither article 13.1 nor the gob.pe page asks for a driving school certificate for A-I. That certificate, the COFIPRO, is required to move up to a professional license. Article 14.1 requires it for A-IIa, along with having held A-I for at least two years.

If you have no license and want to practice on the street, article 7 provides a one-time provisional permit of up to sixty days, and only if you are accompanied by someone with a class A license and at least three years of experience.

How long the license lasts

The original text of article 18 said 8 years for A-I, and 2 years for a first license. That is no longer what the current official sources say.

• A-I: the page for getting the license says 10 years, or 5 if you were sanctioned with a temporary disqualification. The renewal page gives three tiers: 10 years with no sanctions or only minor ones, 8 with a serious or very serious sanction without suspension, and 5 with a suspension or disqualification. The two pages do not fully match; check the official page before you apply.
• Professional (A-IIa to A-IIIc): D.S. 014-2021-MTC set 5 years, dropping to 4 if you were sanctioned for minor offenses and to 3 for serious or very serious ones.
• Class B: 5 years, according to the renewal page.

From age 70 you can only get or renew A-I. Both sources give 5 years up to age 75, then 3, then 2. But they disagree on the 3-year band: article 20 says ages 76 to 80, and the gob.pe page says 75 to 81.

Renewal: what can block you

The MTC renewal page asks three things for A-I: no unpaid fines «(multas electorales y papeletas impagas)», meaning electoral fines and unpaid traffic tickets, and no pending sanctions; a passed medical exam; and the fee. It does not ask for a rules exam for A-I. For professional licenses it does, with an exemption if you have no listed offenses.

You can renew while the license is still valid or after it has expired. Driving with an expired license is a very serious offense, according to the same page.

If you have pending traffic tickets, see how to appeal them or what happens if you don’t pay. If an electoral fine is holding up your paperwork, its legal status is disputed: we explain it in electoral fines.

What it costs: the official sources disagree

These are the fees shown on official pages. They do not include the medical exam or the exams at the evaluation center.

The 2024 page is for a different procedure, the exchange, so we do not know whether it reflects a general increase or only that procedure’s fee. Confirm the amount on the official page on the day you pay.

The electronic license

The renewal page says you can apply online, from anywhere in Peru, for the electronic class A license, «valida a nivel nacional» (valid nationwide). You need to create your MTC electronic mailbox (casilla electrónica). According to the MTC, these licenses carry a QR code that lets authorities check that they are genuine and current.

The points system

D.S. 025-2021-MTC regulates the system:

• You start at zero points (article 5.1) and each offense adds points.
• The cap is one hundred points (article 5.3).
• The first time you reach one hundred, your license is suspended for six months. The second time, twelve months. The third time, it is cancelled and you are barred from getting another one (article 10.3 in 2021; now item 10.4).
• Points count for two years (article 9.3; D.S. 012-2025-MTC kept that period).

In August 2025 the regulation was amended. The gob.pe page lists the decree as D.S. 012-2025-MTC, dated 14 August 2025; the MTC press release calls it D.S. 025-2025-MTC. According to the text published in El Peruano on 15 August 2025, the bonus for two years without sanctions rises from 20 to 50 points (article 12), and the penalties for reaching one hundred points move to item 10.4 with the same periods. In January 2026, D.S. 001-2026-MTC changed the discount for passing the road safety course (Curso de Seguridad Vial para Conductores): 40 points for the online course and 50 for the in-person one (item 13.2).

You can check your points and your driver record online with your ID number. Remember that to drive you also need valid SOAT insurance.

If you have a license from another country

A foreign license does not mean starting from scratch. There is an exchange procedure with its own requirements: see exchanging a foreign driver’s license.