What the driving exam costs in Armenia: fees and retakes

The theory qualification exam in Armenia costs 3,000 AMD, the practical exam takes two payments, 3,000 and 10,000 AMD, and issuing or replacing a driver's license costs 12,000 AMD. Once you pass the theory exam, you have two years to take the practical. If you fail the theory exam, you can take it again no sooner than 7 days later (and if the second attempt also fails, no sooner than one month later); a paid fast-track retake costs 30,000 or 45,000 AMD, depending on which working day you choose. You can book the exam in advance online at roadpolice.am or turn up and be served in a live queue. These amounts can change, so always check the official site before you pay.

Here is what each payment actually covers, which of them the law sets and which appear only on the site of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), and how to avoid paying more than you have to.

Every payment in one table

The right-hand column matters more than it looks. The 10,000, 12,000 and 6,000 AMD amounts are state duties written directly into the Law "On State Duty" (text in Armenian). The base duty is 1,000 AMD (Article 8), and every rate is a multiple of it: 10× for holding the practical exam (Article 14, point 5.3), 12× for issuing a license and 6× for a first-time digital-only license (Article 20, part 1, points 1 and 1.1).

Neither of the 3,000 AMD amounts, however, appears in the Law "On State Duty" — both come only from the FAQ section of roadpolice.am (checked on September 18, 2026). RA Government Decision No. 385-N of March 26, 2020 does require two receipts for the practical exam — one for the state duty and one for the service fee (Annex 1, point 25; Annex 2, items 2 and 3). The practical takeaway is simple: go by the amounts the official site shows on the day you pay, and don't be surprised if one of them is nowhere in the text of the law.

If you pass both exams on the first attempt, the payments come to roughly 28,000 AMD in total (about 22,000 AMD if you take a digital-only license). In practice the bill usually runs higher for one reason: retakes.

Retakes: when and at what price

If you fail the theory exam, you can take it again no sooner than 7 days after the day of the failed exam. If you fail the second attempt too, each further theory exam must wait at least one month after the last failed exam (Decision No. 385-N, Annex 1, point 23). Point 23 does not use the word "working", unlike the State Duty Law, and the period runs from the day of the failed exam.

The exception is the paid fast-track retake (Law "On State Duty", Article 20, part 1, point 1.2):

Fast-track retakes are available for both the theory and the practical exam.

Note the word working. The law says "working day" everywhere, while roadpolice.am's answers drop it. Count the way the law does: after a Friday exam, the next working day is Monday and the 3rd working day is Wednesday.

And note the ratio. The theory exam itself costs 3,000 AMD; a single fast-track retake is 10 to 15 times more. Two failures can double the cost of the whole process. The cheapest trick is a boring one, but it works: pass on the first attempt.

A passed theory result is valid for two years

After you pass the theory exam, you have two years to take the practical. If you don't pass the practical within those two years, the theory result lapses and you have to sit the theory exam again (Decision No. 385-N, Annex 1, points 22 and 24, as amended by RA Government Decision No. 979-N of July 2, 2026, in force since July 4, 2026; the period used to be one year).

This is one place where the official website lags behind the regulation: as of September 18, 2026, the Armenian and Russian FAQ pages on roadpolice.am still answer "within a year". The amended decision is what applies — two years.

Practical advice: don't take the theory exam "to have it in the bank" if you aren't ready to start driving. It's better to sit the theory once your practical lessons are already scheduled.

How to book the exam

The MIA registration and examination units (հաշվառման-քննական բաժին, ՀՔԲ) work in two modes: you can book online in advance, or use most services in a live queue (MIA notice of 07.09.2026, in Armenian).

Booking online. Go to roadpolice.am — you log in with an ID card (նույնականացման քարտ) or Mobile ID — then choose the exam, a registration and examination unit that suits you, and an available day and time. A four-digit code is sent to the email address you gave. Arrive at the unit 15 minutes before your booked time, enter that code at the terminal and confirm your attendance.

Live queue. If you haven't booked in advance, go to the unit, take a ticket from the terminal and wait your turn.

Registration and examination units operate in Yerevan and in the regions (the list with addresses is on roadpolice.am). For technical questions there is a support line: 060 83-83-02.

Bring an identity document to the theory exam (a passport or ID card for Armenian citizens) and the receipt for the state duty (Decision No. 385-N, Annex 1, points 11–12; Annex 2, items 1 and 2). For a category B license you normally don't need to bring a medical certificate (when you do, in a separate article). We've set out the whole route from application to license, step by step, in a separate guide, and what exam day itself is like here.

The cheapest route is passing first time

The 30,000–45,000 AMD for a fast-track retake is a cost entirely within your control. The theory exam has two parts: a 3-question psychological test in which every answer must be correct, and a 20-question knowledge test in which you need at least 18 correct answers, with 30 minutes to answer. You can prepare for that well enough that nothing in the exam room comes as a surprise.

In bibip's practice section, all 10 groups of the official question bank and the color-plate practice group are free and need no account. You can also take the exam simulation, which follows the official format, without an account, and creating one adds progress tracking, saved simulation results and a mistake-review mode. A few weeks of steady practice costs far less than a single fast-track retake.

Short answer: how much the theory exam costs and when you can retake it.