The German MPU: what it is and when you need one
The MPU is the assessment German authorities order when they doubt someone is fit to drive, and it applies to foreign licence holders too.
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Your MPU budget, item by item
Total cost (your figures + authority)
€640.80
| Assessment | €600 |
| Tests | €0 |
| Authority re-issue, from | €40.80 |
Re-issue costs €35.7 to €258.5 under GebOSt no. 202.3, plus €5.1 for checking the application. Assessment centres set their own MPU prices.
The MPU, short for medizinisch-psychologische Untersuchung (medical and psychological assessment), is an expert report from an officially recognised driving aptitude assessment centre (Begutachtungsstelle für Fahreignung) that the licensing authority demands when it doubts your fitness to drive. Under Section 13 of the Driving Licence Ordinance (FeV) it is compulsory after driving any vehicle with 1.6 per mille or more in the blood, or 0.8 mg/l in breath, after repeated alcohol offences, and when a licence was withdrawn for alcohol; Sections 13a and 14 set similar triggers for cannabis and other drugs. After a withdrawal at 8 Flensburg points the authority normally requires it before granting a new licence (Section 4(10) StVG). You pay for it yourself, and there is no official price: the old fee scale was abolished, so each centre sets its own. The examination may be held with a sworn interpreter at your expense. Not handing in the report by the deadline allows the authority to treat you as unfit.
What the assessment is for
The MPU is not a punishment and not a driving test. It is an expert opinion that answers questions the licensing authority (Fahrerlaubnisbehörde) has about your fitness to drive. A doctor and a psychologist at an officially recognised centre examine you, but only on what matters for driving: annex 4a of the Driving Licence Ordinance rules out looking at your personality as a whole. The authority decides afterwards, on the basis of the questions it asked.
Assessors work to the official assessment guidelines on driving fitness (Begutachtungsleitlinien zur Kraftfahreignung), to which annex 4a refers in the version of 12 December 2025. They describe, for each type of question, which findings speak for or against fitness. Before starting, the assessor must explain what the examination covers and why, and must keep records of it.
Centres need official recognition from the state authority, granted for ten years at most (Section 66 FeV). To keep assessments independent, nobody who prepares candidates, treats them for MPU-related problems or runs rehabilitation courses may examine people at a centre, and the same applies to anyone contractually linked to such businesses.
When an MPU is ordered
Some triggers oblige the authority to order an assessment, others allow it. For people who live here and drive on a foreign licence, the same rules apply as for German licence holders.
| Trigger | Legal basis | Order |
|---|---|---|
| Driving with 1.6 per mille or 0.8 mg/l breath alcohol or more | Section 13 no. 2(c) FeV | compulsory |
| Repeated offences under the influence of alcohol | Section 13 no. 2(b) FeV | compulsory |
| Signs of alcohol misuse, or withdrawal for alcohol | Section 13 no. 2(a), (d), (e) FeV | compulsory |
| Cannabis misuse, repeated cannabis offences, withdrawal for cannabis | Section 13a no. 2 FeV | compulsory |
| Withdrawal for drugs, repeated drug-driving offences | Section 14(2) FeV | compulsory |
| New licence after withdrawal at 8 points | Section 4(10) StVG | as a rule |
| New offences in the fresh probation after a withdrawal | Section 2a(5) StVG | as a rule |
| Serious or repeated traffic offences, crimes, signs of aggression | Section 11(3) nos. 4 to 7 FeV | possible |
The 1.6 per mille threshold applies to every vehicle, bicycles included. A cyclist stopped on the way home from a beer garden can therefore end up with an MPU order for a car licence. Below that value, a second offence at 0.5 per mille is enough on its own, because repetition triggers the assessment. The legal limits are set out on the page about the German alcohol limit, and the fines on drink-driving.
Cannabis has a section of its own. Section 13a FeV looks at misuse, meaning whether someone can keep use and driving apart, rather than at a single positive test. Driving once above 3.5 ng/ml THC is a regulatory offence with a fine and a ban; repeated cases lead to an MPU. Details are on cannabis and driving.
From the order to the report
Section 11(6) FeV sets out the procedure. The order states which questions are to be answered, why the authority has doubts, which centres come into consideration and by when the report is due. You choose one of those centres, commission it yourself, and tell the authority which one; the authority then sends the questions and your file to the centre. You may inspect the documents it sends.
The examination has a medical part and a psychological interview. In alcohol, cannabis and drug cases, annex 4a requires the assessor to judge your likely future behaviour. If dependence was diagnosed, stable abstinence must be shown; if there was misuse without dependence, the question is whether you reliably separate consumption from driving. The report has to describe a fundamental change in attitude and conditions that make a relapse unlikely.
Language
For many expats the psychological interview is the real hurdle, because it is a long conversation about your own behaviour. Annex 4a allows the examination to take place with a sworn or officially appointed interpreter or translator. The centre appoints the interpreter, and you pay. Raise it when you first contact a centre, since the appointment depends on it.
The report
It must be written in plain language, be logically consistent and verifiable, and keep the history separate from the current findings. Because you commissioned it, it comes to you first. You are not obliged to submit an unfavourable report, but if nothing reaches the authority by the deadline, Section 11(8) FeV allows it to conclude that you are unfit. A report may recommend a recognised rehabilitation course to people who hold no licence at the time; in some cases the course certificate then replaces a second assessment, though not after a points withdrawal or an order based on traffic offences and crimes under Section 11(3) nos. 4 to 7.
A medical report may come first
Where the facts point to dependence on alcohol or cannabis rather than misuse, Sections 13 and 13a FeV start with a medical report (ärztliches Gutachten), for example from a specialist in traffic medicine or a public health doctor. Only if that doctor finds no dependence but signs of misuse does the full MPU follow. For other drugs, Section 14(1) FeV also begins with the medical report when there are signs of use or dependence.
Old offences that no longer count
The centre receives your file only as far as the authority may lawfully use it. Once an entry has been deleted from the Flensburg register, Section 29(7) StVG forbids using the offence and the decision against you, unless it is cited as the basis of a withdrawal or refusal that is still on record. If you are unsure what is stored, a free extract from the KBA shows it before you book the assessment, and it helps you prepare for the questions the psychologist will ask about your history.
What it costs
There is no official price. The road traffic fee schedule (GebOSt) once contained rates for MPU examinations; those entries have been deleted. Section 6f StVG would allow the transport ministry to set fees by regulation, with minimum and maximum rates, but the current fee schedule contains no such tariff. Each centre sets its own prices, which vary with the questions to be answered. Ask for a written quote for your specific case before you commission the assessment.
What is fixed are the authority's own fees: €5.10 for checking the application and between €35.70 and €258.50 for granting a licence again after withdrawal (GebOSt nos. 201 and 202.3). Abstinence tests, optional preparation, an interpreter and possibly new driving lessons or tests come on top. The budget tool below adds up your own figures and the authority fee; the licence cost calculator covers the rest.
Where the points system leads
An MPU after Flensburg points only comes at the end of the road: the licence has been withdrawn at 8 points, 6 months have passed since you handed it in, and you apply again. Section 4(10) StVG says the authority will normally require the assessment, and a rehabilitation course cannot replace it in that case. The guide to Flensburg points shows how the stages before it work. New drivers face a separate route under Section 2a StVG: an assessment can be ordered during probation when the offences themselves suggest unfitness.