PKK, short for profil kandydata na kierowcę (driving licence candidate profile), is the first formal step towards a driving licence. It is created by the office where you file your driving licence application (wniosek o wydanie prawa jazdy), and the PKK number then becomes the key by which the driving school and the exam centre find you in the system. Without it you cannot start a course or book the state exam.
What a PKK is and who creates it
The Act on Persons Driving Vehicles (ustawa o kierujących pojazdami) defines the driving licence candidate profile as a set of data identifying and describing a person applying for a driving licence, kept in an ICT system (Article 2(3)). The profile is generated by the authority that issues driving licences - the starosta (head of the county), and in practice the wydział komunikacji (traffic department) of the starostwo powiatowe (county office), of the urząd miasta na prawach powiatu (city office of a city with county status) or, in Warsaw, of the urząd dzielnicy (district office).
The profile holds your personal data and photo, the category you are applying for, information from medical certificates (orzeczenia lekarskie), parental consent if it was needed, and later also the result of the state exam. Each profile has a unique number - that is your “PKK number”.
A PKK is not only for your first driving licence. You also create a profile when you already hold a licence and want to get another category.
When to apply for a PKK
You file the application before starting a course at a driving school (ośrodek szkolenia kierowców). As a rule, you can start the course itself no earlier than 3 months before reaching the minimum age for the category, and take the state exam no earlier than one month before that age. For category B, available from 17, this means a course from 16 years and 9 months and the exam from 16 years and 11 months.
You can file the application once you meet the age requirement for starting the course - for category B at 16 years and 9 months at the earliest. The office checks this when it creates the profile. Without a medical certificate the application will be incomplete, so start with the medical examination and go to the office with all the documents.
How to get a PKK at the office
You file the application at the office competent for your place of residence: the starostwo powiatowe, the urząd miasta na prawach powiatu or, in Warsaw, the urząd dzielnicy. The steps are simple:
- You are examined by a doctor authorised to examine drivers and receive a medical certificate.
- You gather the documents from the table below.
- You file the application at the office, in person or by post.
- You collect the PKK number - at the office, or by post if that is how you applied.
The application form is an annex to the regulation on issuing documents confirming entitlement to drive vehicles. You can fill it in at home or on the spot at the office.
How to get a PKK online
You can file the driving licence application, and with it the PKK application, electronically, to the electronic inbox of the office (elektroniczna skrzynka podawcza). You sign it with a trusted profile (profil zaufany), the personal signature (podpis osobisty) from the Polish e-ID card (e-dowód) or a qualified electronic signature.
To the electronic application you attach scans of the required documents and of your specimen signature, and a photo in digital form. The originals of the medical certificate and, if required, of the consent of a parent or guardian you deliver to the office in person or by post - the rules require this before the licence is issued, and the Ministry of Infrastructure advises sending them right after the application.
With an electronic application the office may ask for proof of payment straight away, together with the scans - ask the office you are sending the application to. You will receive the PKK number by the route you choose in the application: to your account on the ePUAP platform (the Polish public administration e-services platform) or by post.
Which documents to prepare
| Document | When you need it |
|---|---|
| Driving licence application | always |
| Medical certificate confirming no health contraindications | always, unless the office already has a certificate in your file that is valid for this category |
| Psychological certificate (orzeczenie psychologiczne) | for categories C1, C, D1 and D and their “+E” versions - not for AM, A1, A2, A, B1, B, B+E and T |
| Colour photo 35 × 45 mm | always; taken no earlier than 6 months before you file the application, may be in digital form |
| Written consent of a parent or guardian | if you are not yet 18 - for the course and for the issue of the licence, including category B from 17 |
| Copy of the driving licence you hold | if you already hold a licence and are getting another category |
| Identity document | to show at the office |
Parental consent is easiest to arrange on the spot: gov.pl (the Polish government portal) advises coming to the office with a parent or guardian, who signs it in front of the official.
The list is based on § 5(1) of the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 5 August 2025 on issuing documents confirming entitlement to drive vehicles (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1073, as amended) and on Article 11(1) and (2) and Article 21(2) of the Act on Persons Driving Vehicles (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1226, as amended). The office may also ask for a document showing your registered address (adres zameldowania) - ask about this before your visit.
How long you wait for the PKK number
The office has 2 working days from the filing of the application to generate the profile, and within the same time it gives you its number. If the application is complete, according to gov.pl you may get the number straight away.
It only takes longer when the office has to clarify something - for example a negative medical certificate or a driving licence obtained abroad. According to gov.pl this can take up to a month, and exceptionally up to 2 months. If the application has gaps, the office will ask you to fill them.
You can check the status of your PKK profile, and later also of the finished driving licence, online - on the info-kierowca.pl portal or on info-car.pl.
How much a PKK costs
There is no separate fee for creating the profile. You spend money on the things around it:
- Medical examination - the price is set by the clinic, but the Act caps it at 200 zł (Article 79a of the Act on Persons Driving Vehicles).
- State exam - the fee is set by the sejmik (provincial assembly) of your province, so it differs between regions.
- Issuing the driving licence - 100 zł (Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 9 July 2025, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 953). You usually pay it after passing the practical exam - that is how gov.pl describes it - and with an online application the office may ask for proof of payment straight away. The office issues the licence once it receives confirmation of payment.
We have collected all the items, with the resolutions of the provincial assemblies and the statutory ceilings, in the article on how much a category B driving licence costs.
What to do next with your PKK number
You give your PKK number to the driving school when you sign up for the course, and to the wojewódzki ośrodek ruchu drogowego (WORD, provincial road traffic centre) when you book the exam. Once they have your PKK number and PESEL number (the Polish national identification number), both the school and the centre can see your profile in the system. You can book the exam in person at WORD or online - online bookings are now handled by the info-kierowca.pl portal (previously info-car.pl), which you log in to with mObywatel (the Polish state digital ID app) or your e-dowód. There you enter your PKK number and pay the exam fee straight away, and the fee goes directly to WORD - the portal itself is free of charge. Take an identity document to the exam - without it you will not be examined.
You can take the theory exam at WORD even before the end of the course. The certificate of completion of training (zaświadczenie o ukończeniu szkolenia) is only needed for the practical part (Article 50(2)(5) of the Act). Theory classes are still part of the course - for category B at least 26 hours, which the school may also run online - but you can prepare for the test itself in parallel. What the test looks like is described in the article on what the theory exam looks like.
Before the exam, remember one formality: no later than on the day you take the state exam, the day you collect the driving licence in person or the day it is due to be sent by post, you submit a declaration that you live in Poland, with a criminal liability clause (Article 11(1a) and (1b) of the Act). If you are not yet 18, you cannot take the exam without the consent of a parent or guardian. For category B before your eighteenth birthday, restrictions also apply after you get the licence, which we describe in the article on driving licence categories.
If you want to change driving schools during the course and the previous one has blocked your profile, the office will release it at your justified request.
After you pass the practical exam, WORD sends the result to your profile and the office prepares the driving licence. According to gov.pl the document is ready for collection no later than 9 working days after the day the office receives confirmation of payment. You can check whether it is ready on info-kierowca.pl or info-car.pl.
Do the PKK and the theory result expire
The rules give the profile no expiry date. There is, however, one case in which the matter goes back to the office: if for a year from your last exam you do not take another one or have none scheduled in that time, and you still do not meet the conditions for issuing the licence, the exam centre sends your documents back to the office and the application is left unprocessed. At your request, the office then makes the profile available again.
A pass in the theory exam is now valid indefinitely. Abolishing the time limit did not, however, revive results that had expired before 24 August 2014 - details are in the article on how long the theory exam result is valid. The medical certificate, on the other hand, may have its own time limit: you will find the date of the next examination in the certificate itself.
Before you book the exam
Once you have your PKK number, how quickly you get your driving licence depends mainly on how you prepare for the test. You can take a full set of 32 questions under state exam rules, free and without an account, in the driving licence tests.
