When a driving ban ends, the licence is not returned automatically. It has to be obtained afresh: with tests at a service centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a current medical certificate and no outstanding fines. So people who have waited a year often learn about the tests only on the day they turn up.
The second common belief is that nothing can be done any more. Not so: a decision can be challenged even after the deadline, and the proceedings can be closed once the period for imposing a penalty has run. In that case the ban is treated as never having happened, and no tests are needed at all.
We start the return of a licence under Art. 130 of the Code of Administrative Offences by examining the decision itself: when it was made, whether you were served with a copy, and what evidence the file contains.
What is needed to get the licence back
- The ban must have run its course. Time runs from the day the decision came into force; the ban is entered in the ministry’s register. The licence must be surrendered to the office enforcing the decision, and driving during the ban is a separate offence under Art. 126.
- Tests at the service centre. After a ban under Art. 130 both are taken: theory and practical. For other articles less is required.
- A medical certificate in the prescribed form, valid on the date of application, from an institution entitled to issue it.
- No unpaid traffic fines, including ones you may not know about.
- An application to the service centre with the complete set of documents.
A ban under Art. 130 (driving while intoxicated) is the harshest version of the procedure: both in the tests required and in the scrutiny of the medical certificate.
Two strategies that return the right to drive early
1. Challenging the decision, even out of time
10 days, extendableThe appeal period is 10 days from the date of the decision. If the copy was never served on you — which is typical where the case was heard in your absence — the period is restored: it runs from the day you actually learned of the decision.
Quashing the decision means the ban never existed, and the licence is returned without any tests.
2. Closing the case once the penalty period has run
1 year under Art. 130A penalty under Art. 130 may be imposed within one year of the offence. If the court did not give its decision within that year, the proceedings must be closed.
Why “early return” does not exist
People regularly ask us to “shorten the ban”. The Code contains no mechanism for shortening a driving ban: the provision on shortening a deprivation of a special right has been removed. Offers to “arrange” an early licence are either a fraud or grounds for criminal proceedings for an improper benefit.
The right to drive returns early only where the decision itself is quashed or the proceedings are closed. There is no other route, and at the consultation we assess exactly that — the prospect of quashing, not a hypothetical reduction.
What derails the return
The licence was never surrendered
That does not extend the ban, but every journey during it is a fresh offence under Art. 126 — and a patrol sees your status in the register, not in whether you hold a plastic card.
The decision was made in your absence
People find out about the ban when stopped by a patrol, sometimes more than a year later. Here restoration of the appeal deadline works, because the copy was never served.
Unpaid fines
No licence is issued while arrears remain. A fine unpaid within 15 days doubles under Arts. 307 and 308, and then goes to the enforcement service with an enforcement fee on top.
An expired medical certificate
Or one issued by an institution not entitled to carry out that examination. The certificate is checked as at the date of the application, not the date of the examination.
Failing the test
After a long break the theory test is rarely passed first time. A retake is allowed, but there is an interval between attempts, so allow several weeks for the whole procedure.
If the service centre refuses
A refusal to issue the licence must be in writing, citing a specific ground. An oral “you are not entitled” cannot be challenged, so ask for a written answer.
A written refusal is challenged by an administrative claim: the service centre is a public authority. The court fee for an individual is 0.4 of a subsistence minimum, that is 1,331.20 UAH in 2026, or 1,064.96 UAH through the Electronic Court.
A case from our practice
In early 2026 a driver came to us after a patrol told him he was banned from driving. The court had made the Art. 130 decision in his absence more than a year earlier, the copy had gone to his old registered address, and he knew nothing about it. We obtained the case file, saw that the testing record had been drawn up without video and that there was no evidence he had been properly notified of the hearing, and filed an appeal with an application to restore the deadline. The deadline was restored, the decision quashed and the proceedings closed, and the licence was returned without any tests. About three months passed from the first approach to getting the licence; the client paid for a consultation, the appeal and two hearings (details changed).
How we work
- We analyse the decision and the case file for grounds to quash.
- We check the deadlines: when the ban ends and whether the period for imposing a penalty has run.
- We prepare the appeal with an application to restore the deadline where it has passed.
- We run the case through to quashing the decision or closing the proceedings.
- We handle the return: checking fines, the documents, booking the service centre.
- We challenge a refusal to issue the licence by administrative claim.
Cost of services
Court fees 2026: no fee is payable for an appeal against a court decision in an administrative offence case. Where a police decision is challenged in the administrative court, the rate is 0.2 of a subsistence minimum — 665.60 UAH. A claim against the service centre’s refusal to issue a licence is charged at 0.4 of a subsistence minimum — 1,331.20 UAH, or 1,064.96 UAH through the Electronic Court. The service centre’s charges for the tests and the licence are paid separately at the state rates.
Questions and answers (Getting a driving licence back)
What do the tests cost and how do I book?
Booking is through the electronic queue on the service centres’ portal or in the Diia app. You pay the charge for sitting the tests and for the licence card at the state rates; the figures are published on the service centres’ website and change, so check them on the day you book.
Can I take the test in another city?
Yes, service centres work on an extraterritorial basis: you may apply to any office regardless of where you are registered. In practice the queue for the practical test is longer in regional capitals, so some drivers deliberately travel to a smaller town.
What if the licence was lost and the ban has expired?
Losing the licence neither exempts you from the procedure nor extends the ban. An explanation about the loss is attached to the application, and instead of surrendering the document the service centre checks the register entry. If the licence was never surrendered, that comes out when the application is processed.
Can I drive while the challenge is pending?
Filing the appeal within the deadline suspends enforcement until the court decides. If the deadline was missed, the right to drive returns only once the court restores it. Until then you must not get behind the wheel.
Does an Art. 130 ban affect insurance?
The ban itself does not cancel the motor policy, but driving while intoxicated gives the insurer a right of recourse: it pays the victim and then recovers that sum from the driver. So the consequences of the decision reach well beyond the ban itself.
How long does the return take once the ban has ended?
If the fines are paid, the certificate is ready and both tests are passed first time, the procedure takes a few visits to the service centre. With arrears, retakes or a dispute over a refusal, it stretches to months.
Contact a Svarog lawyer about getting a driving licence back
Send us the decision and the charge sheet. We will check whether there are grounds to quash: if there are, the licence comes back without tests and without waiting out the ban. If there are none, we say so at the consultation and take you through the return procedure without needless refusals.