How to Get a Category D1 Driving Licence in Albania?

Albania sets a firm upper age limit for D1 at 65, after which you can no longer drive buses, coaches, or articulated vehicles carrying passengers, a full five years stricter than the 70-year cutoff that applies to goods vehicles. This piece covers what D1 authorizes, the standard “LEJE” exam process, and the upper age boundary to plan around.

What Category D1 covers

D1 falls within Albania’s family of professional passenger-transport categories, alongside D, D1E, and DE, and follows the standard EU technical specification for minibusses.

Minimum age

You need to be 21 to hold a D1, which aligns with the age requirement for Albania’s C1, C, D1, and D professional categories.

The firm upper age limit

Plan around this if you’re building a long career in passenger transport. Albania sets the maximum age for driving buses, coaches, road trains, semi-trailers, and articulated vehicles designated for passenger transport at 65, five years stricter than the 70-year limit for goods-carrying vehicles.

The theory and practical exam content

The theory exam covers traffic legislation and road safety knowledge specific to passenger vehicles. In contrast, the practical exam assesses the actual handling, maneuvering, and safe control of a minibus in real-world traffic conditions.

Why does the upper age limit exist

Setting a firmer cutoff for passenger transport than for goods transport reflects a road-safety rationale common across several countries: driving a vehicle full of passengers carries a different risk profile than transporting cargo, and reaction times and health considerations become more significant with age in that specific context.

Documents you’ll need

• A copy of your valid identity document
• A medical certificate for drivers, issued within the past six months.
• A copy of your existing driving license, certified with your driving school’s stamp, if you’re adding D1 as an additional category

The “LEJE” authorization and exam process

Once you submit your documentation, DRSHTRR issues a “LEJE” authorization valid for six months, during which you can attempt the theory exam up to five times, with a minimum of ten calendar days between attempts. If you don’t pass within that window or after five attempts, you’ll need to re-register at your driving school from scratch. Each retake requires a 400 lek service fee, paid before the retest, not when you submit your initial documents.

Category equivalence and automatic entitlements

Under Albania’s official category equivalence table, holding a B category license also entitles you to drive a D1, provided you’re at least 21 years old—a useful automatic entitlement built into the system.

What full Category D covers beyond D1

Full Category D covers larger buses and coaches, with the same 21-year minimum age and 65-year upper limit as D1.

Automatic transmission

As with other EU-aligned systems, testing on an automatic-transmission vehicle typically restricts the resulting license to automatic machines only.

D1E: adding a heavier trailer

D1E authorizes D1-category vehicles combined with a heavier trailer, following the same registration and practical-exam procedures used across Albania’s other combination-vehicle categories, alongside C1E, CE, and DE.

Validity

While Albania’s amateur categories (AM through B) run on a 5-year cycle up to age 60, and then 3 years past that, professional categories, including D1, follow their own validity structure, subject to the specific age limits described above and periodic medical fitness confirmation.

Where applications are processed

DRSHTRR (Drejtoria Rajonale e Shërbimeve Të Transportit Rrugor), the regional directorate covering your registered residence, processes applications for D1 and other categories.

Tips that actually help

• Factor Albania’s 65-year upper age limit for passenger transport into your long-term career planning.
• Check whether you already hold Category B, as it may automatically cover D1 if you’re 21 or older.
• Keep your medical certificate current within the six-month window required for your application.
• Track your “LEJE” authorization’s six-month window and the ten-day gap required between exam attempts.

Where this fits going forward

D1 in Albania offers a genuine route into passenger transport, with a distinctive upper age limit that is useful to understand from the outset. If you plan to pursue professional driving, review the driver section, browse current vacancies, see which employers are hiring on FastDriver.eu, and explore our broader job guides. Our driving license in Albania and license eligibility pages provide a broader picture.

Declaration

This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Fees, training requirements, and administrative rules can change and may vary by region in Albania. Always confirm current requirements with official Albanian sources, such as the DPSHTRR, before making decisions. FastDriver.eu accepts no liability for decisions made based on this information.