Is an Exam Required to Upgrade from C1 to B2?
2 Answers
An exam is required. Conditions for upgrading from a C1 driver's license to a B2 driver's license: Age between 20 and 60 years old; Height not less than 155cm; Held a C1 driver's license for at least 1 year; No record of accumulating 12 penalty points in the current scoring cycle or the most recent scoring cycle before application; Visual acuity must reach 5.0 or above on the logarithmic visual acuity chart; No record of drunk driving or being primarily responsible for a traffic accident causing casualties while holding a C1 driver's license. Specific process for applying for a B2 driver's license: Apply to the vehicle management office for upgrading to a B2 driver's license; Fill out the application form, submit ID card and physical examination form, and provide the original copy of the current motor vehicle driver's license; Attend theoretical and practical exams as scheduled; Upon passing the exams, the new-level driver's license will be issued by the applying vehicle management office within 7 working days.
I just upgraded to a B2 license for truck drivers last year, and I can clearly say you have to retake all the exams! Even though they're both driver's licenses, upgrading from C1 to B2 means starting from scratch with subjects one through four. The B2 test is much stricter than C1 now—reverse parking uses a 9.6-meter truck, and parallel parking involves a 10-meter-long trailer. During practice, I crushed three traffic cones before passing. The most troublesome part is the medical exam—corrected vision must be 5.0 or above, and the color blindness test is extremely strict. I recommend signing up at a driving school three months in advance; even a slight steering wheel shake gets penalized in the electronic test now. But once you get the license, it's totally worth it—logistics companies are eager to hire B2 drivers, with monthly salaries at least 3,000 RMB higher than driving small cars.
