Age and license categories in Armenia: 16, 18, 19 and 21

In short: AM from 16; A, B, C from 18; BE, CE, DE from 19; T from 20; D and D1 from 21.

In Armenia a driver's license is issued for subcategory AM from 16; for categories A, B, C and subcategories A1, B1, C1 from 18; for the trailer categories BE, CE, DE and C1E, D1E from 19; for category T (trolleybus) from 20; and for category D and subcategory D1 from 21, or from 19 for those conscripted into the RA armed forces and other troops. The trailer categories and D/D1 are issued only to people who already hold the matching license (Law "On Ensuring Road Traffic Safety", Article 27, part 3).

You can start learning earlier: a learner must be at least 16, and you become a candidate at 17 — 16 for AM (Article 28, parts 1.1 and 4). The right to drive arises not when you pass the exam but when the license is issued or its digital version is allocated (Article 27, part 6).

The age thresholds in one table

Source: Article 27, part 3. A national license runs ten years, an international one up to three — never longer than the national license or the medical accreditation certificate (part 8).

16 and 17: learning before the license

Three ages are easy to confuse, and only one of them is the licensing age. 16 is the minimum age of a person learning to drive (Article 28, part 1.1; Rules of the Road, RA Government Decision No. 955-N of June 28, 2007, Annex 1, point 148), and learner driving on roads is allowed only with an instructor (Rules, point 146). 17 is when you can become a candidate, 16 for AM, and only candidates may take the practical exam (Article 28, parts 3 and 4). 18 is when a category B license is issued.

A driving school is not mandatory today: self-taught candidates may also sit the qualification exams for A, B and C and for AM, A1, B1 and C1 (Article 28, part 1.2). Details are in a separate article on driving schools, the whole procedure in the step-by-step guide.

What each category actually covers

Definitions: Article 27, part 1.

• AM — mopeds and quadricycles with equivalent technical characteristics. A moped is a two- or three-wheeled vehicle with an engine of no more than 50 cm³ (or an electric motor above 0.25 kW and below 4 kW) whose maximum design speed does not exceed 50 km/h (Article 2).
• A1 — light motorcycles up to 125 cm³ and no more than 11 kW (15 hp); A — all other motorcycles.
• B1 — tricycles and quadricycles.
• B — cars up to 3,500 kg maximum permissible mass, or with no more than 8 seats besides the driver's, including with a trailer up to 750 kg. A heavier trailer is still B if it does not exceed the car's unladen mass and the combination is no more than 3,500 kg; otherwise you need BE.
• C1 — trucks from 3,500 to 7,500 kg; C — trucks above 3,500 kg.
• D1 — buses with more than 8 but no more than 16 seats besides the driver's; D — any bus with more than 8 such seats.
• C1E, D1E — a C1 or D1 with a trailer over 750 kg but not over the car's unladen mass, combination up to 12,000 kg (a D1E trailer must not be designed to carry passengers); CE, DE — a C or D with a trailer over 750 kg.
• T — trolleybus; its practical exam is held by the trolleybus operators themselves (part 9; Decision No. 385-N, Annex 1, point 32).

The exam vehicle is not the same as the category: C is examined on a truck whose maximum permissible mass is over 7,500 kg and D on a bus with more than 16 seats besides the driver's, though both categories are wider (Decision No. 385-N, Annex 1, point 30).

One license, several categories

Article 27, part 10 says what each license additionally permits: A also covers AM, A1 and B1 vehicles with a motorcycle seat or handlebars; B also covers B1 (except those with a motorcycle seat or handlebars); C covers C1, D covers D1, CE covers C1E, DE covers D1E.

A common misreading: a category B license does not let you ride a moped or a motorcycle — AM and A1 are not on that list.

A second limit: trucks of categories C and CE and subcategories C1 and C1E may carry no more than 8 passengers; for more, the driver also needs a D, DE, D1 or D1E license (part 2).

The automatic-transmission mark

The practical exam is taken on a manual or, at the candidate's choice, an automatic, and the license is marked accordingly. A license carrying that mark is valid only for vehicles with an automatic transmission (Decision No. 385-N, Annex 1, point 30). The decision sets out no procedure for removing that mark later. The rest of the practical exam is in a separate article. Apply for two categories at once and the higher sets the exam vehicle: B with C is examined on a C vehicle (point 31).

Your category decides which questions you get

Since September 1, 2026 the knowledge-test questions have been split by category. The split covers the questions on the Law, the Rules of the Road and the vehicle-faults list (point 17, sub-points 1 and 2): applicants for A, B, C and AM, A1, B1, C1 get only those about A, B, C, BE, CE and AM, A1, B1, C1, C1E; applicants for D, T and D1 get only D, DE, T, D1 and D1E questions (Decision No. 385-N, Annex 1, points 17.1 and 17.2, added by Decision No. 979-N). The first-aid question is not split by category, and exactly which questions went into each set has not been published officially.

Categories, ages and periods belong to Group 2 — "Traffic Safety Law and basic terms". Read the Group 2 theory, then the Group 2 practice; the official bank comes with answers in the questions section, and the full format is in the exam simulation.

Scooters and mopeds: the rule of 16

Riding a personal mobility device — electric scooter, self-balancing scooter, Segway — is allowed to people over 18, and to those who have turned 16 and hold an AM entitlement. Everyone else under 18 may ride only where the community council designates (Law, Article 24.4, parts 1 and 3). A practical reason to take AM at 16: it is not only about mopeds.

How to prepare

The table is easy to memorize, but exam questions test the numeric boundaries: the 750 kg trailer limit, the 8 seats that separate a bus from a passenger car, and the ages themselves. Work through every Group 2 question in one sitting and repeat the ones you got wrong the same day.