FAQ and pitfalls: Montevideo
13 questions you run into on the way to a category A license in the department of Montevideo. Where there is no verified answer, it says so — a guess does not stand in for one.
For Maldonado we have verified 23 answers; for this department, 13. It is not that you have fewer questions: we have verified fewer of them for your department.
Answers checked on August 25, 2026
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Requirements you learn about at the counter
Is there any first-hand experience with a provisional cédula and the license?
There is, and it differs from department to department. One member of a Telegram chat got his license in Maldonado on a provisional cédula en trámite — the ID card issued while your paperwork is being processed — and his father used one just like it to exchange his foreign license, with the caveat «I accept it may not be like that everywhere». Another member of the same conversation reported that in Montevideo he was told the opposite at least twice: you need a cédula legal. This is the experience of chat members, not a rule, and it does not settle the contradiction between departments.
How much time do I have for the whole route?
180 calendar days. The count starts from the day you formally open the trámite, the paperwork — not from the medical certificate and not from the exam. Miss it and the file is closed: pay and take the exams again, and the money for the expired trámite is not refunded. Inside those 180 days you have to fit the medical certificate (which itself lives 60 days), the mandatory talk, both exams and every retake.
Exact wording
«Caducidad de las tramitaciones: La validez de la tramitación será de 180 días corridos a partir de la fecha de iniciada la gestión, durante la cual no se podrá iniciar para la misma persona y en las mismas categorías una gestión similar en el mismo u otro GD. Superados los 180 días sin haberse culminado, el trámite será dado de baja y deberá proceder a iniciar una nueva gestión, incluido el pago establecido y todos los exámenes que correspondan.»In Montevideo, can I hand the trámite over to a driving school?
Yes, and it is an officially described second route, not a service on top of the procedure. The trámite card splits the process in two outright: «on your own» or «through a driving school». In the second case you come to the school with your papers, and from there it runs the file at the intendencia itself. That is where the disagreement about when to pay comes from: going on your own you pay on the day you show up at the intendencia building, while the school takes the money on its own terms and up front — not a contradiction between sources but two different procedures.
Exact wording
«Este trámite se puede realizar de forma particular o por medio de una academia de conducción:»«Si lo vas a realizar a través de una academia de conducción, solo deberás dirigirte a ella con la documentación y la academia continuará la gestión ante la Intendencia.»«El pago se realiza en este momento.»What does the medical certificate cost in Montevideo?
There is no exact floor. The intendencia publishes the list of centers that issue it, but without prices — only name, address and phone. Prices verified on the centers’ own sites exist for two out of thirty-three, and they run 1,270–1,500 pesos; whether the rest are cheaper is unknown. Budget fifteen hundred and check with the particular place.
What exactly do they hand over at the end, and for how long is it valid?
A plastic card of the single national design: photo, cédula number — the ID card number — date of birth, the fields ADAPTACIONES, RESTRICCIONES and OBSERVACIONES, a barcode and the coat of arms; on the back, the table of categories with the dates «VÁLIDO DESDE» and «VÁLIDO HASTA». At the top «REPÚBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY», at the bottom «PERMISO ÚNICO NACIONAL DE CONDUCCIÓN», bottom left the intendencia that issued it. A first license is always provisoria and is given for two years at most — a national rule, the same in every department. Do not mix up the two periods: two years is how long the license lasts, 180 days is how long the procedure to get it lives.
In Montevideo, is a driving school mandatory?
The school, no; the hours, yes. The official page requires 15 hours of practice before the test and expressly allows you to put them in «particular», that is with your own accompanying driver: 21 or older, with a license of the category you need or higher and at least two years of holding it. People take a school for the car and the convenience, not because they would not be let in without one. The one thing you cannot do is bank hours in advance: anything before you filed the application does not count.
Exact wording
How much does the whole thing cost in Montevideo?
There are three mandatory items, not two: the medical certificate, the 2,360-peso fee and the 15 hours of practice. The third is free if you drive with your own accompanying driver, and costs from 10,500 pesos if you take a school package — which is why the minimum on the prices page is shown as two lines. Separately there is a charge for not showing up to a scheduled exam: 686 pesos.
Will an unpaid fine stop the trámite in Montevideo?
Yes, and not only your own. The trámite, the paperwork, is blocked by unpaid traffic fines and by overdue payment plans for them; if you have a plan, you will have to bring it up to date and pay the first installment ahead. The car you bring to the test is checked separately: it must have no debt for patente, tolls or fines. There are two exceptions, from decrees 303/023 and 18/026: a plan for the breath test (code 4.2.1) has to be paid off in full, and a plan for driving without a license (code 3.1.1) no longer blocks the trámite.
Exact wording
Where is it easier to get a license: Maldonado or Montevideo?
Judging by the requirements, in Maldonado — and the difference is not the strictness of the examiner but how much is mandatory. Montevideo requires 15 hours of practice before the test and a log form with twenty rows and signatures; Maldonado, a defensive driving talk. Nobody publishes an official comparison of departments, which is why the confidence level of this answer is community: it rests on the account of a person who got a license in July 2026.
If you fail the exam
I did not show up for the practical test — does that count as a fail?
And what if I miss the theory test or get caught cheating?
Missing the theory test is gentler than missing the practical one: the result is recorded as «absent», and with a justified reason it is annulled and a new date assigned. Cheating is described separately and does not get gentler: unauthorized materials, talking to another candidate or trying to substitute the content of the paper give the result «failed for cheating» and a new date. So it is a fail, not a warning.
Exact wording
«En caso que la persona no asista a rendir la prueba, se le asignará el resultado como "ausente", pudiendo ser revertido si el aspirante lo justifica debidamente y se le asignará nueva fecha para comparecer»«el examen teórico se catalogará como "reprobado por copiar", asignándole nueva fecha para comparecer»In Montevideo, is it true that after a fourth fail the application is annulled?
That rule does exist in the Digesto of Montevideo — article R.424.26 of 1993: it says the application is annulled on the fourth fail, and counts the procedure deadline as six months from the medical clearance. But it is a leftover never brought into line with the national rules: the PUNC does not limit the number of attempts inside the 180 days at all, counts the deadline from the start of the procedure, and has different intervals. What they apply at the counter is not confirmed — plan for the worst and do not drag it out. Separately from attempts: not showing up for a scheduled exam costs 686 pesos.
Exact wording
«caducando la solicitud cuando el aspirante fuese reprobado por cuarta vez.»«Todo expediente de aspirante a conductor de vehículos de tracción mecánica cuyo trámite no haya concluido a los seis meses de iniciado se considerará caducado y será destruído sin más trámite.»«A tales efectos se considerará como fecha de inicio del trámite la correspondiente a la habilitación del aspirante por el Servicio Médico.»Booking, lines and deadlines
How do I book the visit in Montevideo, and are the slots realistic?
The ways to book (the electronic agenda included) and the time the window opens are on the booking step; this is about whether you can realistically get in. The number of slots is limited, and the intendencia says so outright. How many they open at a time and how far ahead the calendar runs is published nowhere; the booking system itself is closed to automated checking, so it cannot be counted from outside either.