If you have a current driver's license from another country you can legally use it to drive in Malta for up to 12 months from the most recent date that you entered Malta.  Once your license expires or you have spent more than 12 continuous months here you need a Maltese license.

For EU nationals this is as simple as going to the licensing office (located in the governement complex at St. Francis Square in Victoria) and arranging to exchange your license for a Maltese license.

However, if you are a national of a non-EU country, like we are, you must retest.

Martin is still driving on his unexpired Canadian license.  Mine expired earlier this year so I had to take steps to get a Maltese license.

Although I had driven for a dozen years in Canada, I learned to drive on an automatic transmission car and never had the opportunity -- or the nerve -- to figure out how to drive a car with a manual or standard transmission.

In Malta, standard transmission cars are the default and unless you want to have a special automatic transmission condition on your license you have to be tested on a standard transmission automobile.  Also, of course, we drive on the left here.  Therefore I decided that some driver training was in order before I could take the driver's test.  In Malta it is somewhat less complicated to test as a motoring school student than as someone who is being taught by a private citizen.  The details about testing and licensing are on the ADT website.

So I found the contact numbers for the three motoring schools here in Malta and called a couple.  One lady wanted Lm5 a lesson, which seemed a little steep.  Then I called another school and spoke to the lovely wife of the very kind and patient man who taught me to drive here.  He charges Lm4 per hour.

I spent a couple of months going out three times a week and trying not to crash this very nice man's older Ford Fiesta (a great car to learn on).  I will spare you the details about grinding the gears, driving into potholes, navigating extremely narrow and hilly streets, avoiding horse and donkey carts, and getting used to a driving style here that could best be termed assertive.  I ended up loving to drive here.

The driver examination process is two part.  The first part is a written test (actually done on computer at the testing center in Xewkija) and the second part is the practical exam (you start in Xewkija, the examiner points you to Mgarr or Victoria, and you simply do your best to follow the rules and drive safely).  To prepare for the written test, you spend Lm3 for a CD-ROM that contains all the questions and answers to memorize.  The written test itself costs (if I recall correctly) Lm8.  After you pass the written test you are granted a learner's permit.

When you are ready, you again go to the licensing office in Victoria and get an application to book a practical test, which I think costs Lm10 (it got a little expensive altogether).  Before you can take the practical you need to provide passport pictures and a doctor's certificate of health (a doctor's visit is about Lm4).  Pass the practical and Lm7 gets you your license.  It's an EU license so you are good to drive anywhere in the EU!

Update from Martin: 

Catherine wrote the article above a couple of years ago.  I  have been driving with my Canadian license up until last month (May, 2008).  That license was set to expire, so I had arranged to take lessons from the same instructor that Catherine had contacted.  I was in a slightly different position, since I was legally allowed to drive with my Canadian license. 

All the government fees that Catherine listed are now charged in Euros and they have not been inflated.  When the currency changeover took place, they stuck to a conversion of 1 Maltese Lira ('pound') to 2.33 Euros.

The driving school  has raised their price slightly.  I was charged 12 Euros per lesson.  The ADT regulations make it very complicated to get a driving license without being sponsored by a driving school.   On the whole, I think that is a good thing.

The doctor's certificate of health seemed like a mere formality to me.  It may be that older persons get a more detailed exam.  

The driving examiner briefly tested my eyesight and hearing as well.

I passed :) 

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