• Identity card or passport
• Current biometric photo (size 45x35 mm, portrait format, frontal shot) – no digital code possible!
  Note:
  Since May 1, 2025, the rule has been in place that a digital passport photo must be submitted to the registration authority for ID cards and passports. However, this requirement does not apply to the driver's license authority and therefore does not affect applications for driver's license documents. Please also note that the driver's license authorities do not have the technical equipment to take photos on site. You must therefore submit passport photos in analog form – preferably together with the complete application documents – to the driver's license authority.
• If applicable, a copy of the index card from the issuing authority (if the driver's license to be exchanged was not issued by the Mainz city administration).
  To speed up the issuance of the driver's license, you can request a copy of the index card in advance by telephone from the driver's license authority that originally issued the license.
  You can send the index card transcript to the Mainz driver's license authority by fax (+49 6131 12-2563) or by email (fuehrerscheinstellestadt.mainzde).
• If applicable, proof of improved vision; the requirement for visual aids may be waived by submitting an ophthalmologist's report in accordance with Appendix 6 of the Driver's License Regulation.

Please note:
Due to the high importance of adequate vision and the uncertainties regarding the permanence of an improvement in vision, a vision test certificate in accordance with Section 12 (3) FeV issued by an optician or ophthalmologist is generally not sufficient.
Regardless of the driver's license classes affected, you must always provide proof of vision correction in the form of a certificate or report from an ophthalmologist.
If the sole purpose of laser treatment was to improve vision, this certificate or report may also be issued by the treating ophthalmologist or eye clinic.
In the case of laser treatment due to an eye disease, which also resulted in an improvement in vision, the certificate or report cannot be issued by the treating ophthalmologist or clinic.
The reason for the laser treatment must be stated in the certificate or report in all cases.

Collection of the card driver's license from the driver's license authority:

in person

• Letter from the driver's license authority
• Identity document

by an authorized person

• Letter from the driver's license authority
• Identification documents of both persons
• Written power of attorney