Some Russian-speaking residents in Lithuania are seeking new ways to take driving license exams after the country banned Russian-language examinations at the start of 2026, with candidates increasingly opting for interpreters in Ukrainian or Polish instead.
For some applicants, the change has meant restarting or adapting a process they began before the new rules took effect.
Darya, a Belarusian national who has lived in Lithuania for four years and asked that only her first name be used, said she rushed to complete the theory exam in Russian in 2025 after learning the language would no longer be available.
“I immediately went to take the exam. I managed to pass the theory test in Russian in April,” she told LRT.lt.
She then spent nearly a month looking for a driving school offering instruction in Russian before beginning the practical driving test in the summer of 2025 with the help of an interpreter.
