Your First Alabama Driver License After 18

Before you go: why adults skip the teen steps

Act 2010-735 covers drivers under 18 only. At 18 or older you face no driver education requirement, no practice log and no six month wait, so passing both exams in a single visit gets you licensed that day.

Not ready to drive for the examiner yet? Pass the knowledge test, take a learner license, and practice. It is good for four years, has a Y restriction, and requires a licensed companion beside you whenever you drive.

Before you go: documents ALEA recognizes

Primary list documents include an unexpired U.S. passport, a certified U.S. birth certificate, an Alabama license or ID, a certificate of naturalization or citizenship, a certificate of U.S. birth abroad, a green card (permanent resident card), or a foreign passport that is valid and paired with a valid U.S. immigration document.

The secondary list covers items like a license or ID from another state, a DD-214 or other military papers, student ID cards, a health insurance card, a W-2 together with the previous year's tax return, and court orders for adoption, divorce or a name change. For Social Security you can show the card, a W-2, a DD-214, or a Medicaid or Medicare card whose number ends in A.

• A photo ID and a second ID, or three IDs without photos
• One or more from the primary list
• Social Security card or an accepted substitute
• Two residence proofs
• School proof if you are under 19

On test day: the road skills exam

The examiner works from ALEA's road test study guide. You will be scored on smooth stops, reversing around 50 feet in a straight line, handling signs and signals, turning around in three moves, yielding, parking and pulling out on a hill, signaling turns from 100 feet or more away, passing, staying in your lane, the horn, your following gap and your speed.

The car you bring needs valid insurance and equipment in working order. A collision, a traffic violation, reckless driving or refusing the examiner's instructions all end the test as a fail.

At the counter: standard license or STAR ID?

Alabama's REAL ID goes by the name STAR ID and shows a gold star. Without it, you will need a passport or a similar accepted document to fly within the country or get into some federal buildings.

ALEA issues a first STAR ID face to face only, at an examining office, after checking the items on its STAR ID list. If you are going in for testing anyway, pack those documents and handle both in one trip.

If you are new to Alabama

Section 32-6-1 of the Code of Alabama sets a 30 day deadline for new residents to switch licenses, counted from when you establish residence. Until then your current license from the old state remains good to drive on. Transfers are handled only at ALEA offices.

Testing is usually waived: ALEA says an out of state license expired for no more than one year does not require a driver examination. Hand in the old license, show two residence proofs, a primary list document and your Social Security card, and pay $5 for the transfer plus $36.25. Alabama takes back every other license before issuing its own.

A worked example: if you move to Huntsville on June 1 with a license that expired last November, you are inside the one year window, so you can transfer without testing. Do it by about July 1 to stay within the 30 days.

If you may not need an Alabama license at all

Some drivers can keep a license from home. ALEA's list: federal workers in federal vehicles, nonresidents studying full time who hold a valid license from home, and out of state service members based in Alabama along with their families.

Visitors 16 or older from a country that does not issue driver licenses can drive here for as many as 90 days per calendar year, provided the vehicle is registered in their home country. Non citizens who settle here as residents apply using a resident card or a foreign passport with visa, and must show they are authorized to stay longer than 30 days.