Your First Idaho Driver's License After 18

Before your visit: what to prove

ITD wants four things from every applicant: citizenship or lawful presence, identity, Idaho residency and name. A certified U.S. birth certificate or passport is the usual citizenship proof, with a photo ID alongside. For residency, a lease, utility bills or job records with your name and Idaho street address work.

Copies are refused unless certified. Has your name changed since birth? Then bring the full paper trail, whether marriage certificates, divorce decrees or court orders, that walks from the old name to the current one. ITD also checks your Social Security number against federal records, so it has to match.

Before your visit: Star Card or not

Idaho brands its REAL ID as the Star Card. It is a normal license or ID card, marked with a star to show it satisfies federal security standards. Since May 7, 2025, getting on a commercial flight or into a federal facility has required one of these, a passport, or another federally recognized ID.

Skipping the star is fine if you just want to drive and show ID around town. The only real difference at the counter is paperwork: two residency proofs from separate sources for a Star Card, one for a standard card.

At the counter: eye, written and driving tests

On the eye chart, one eye reading 20/40 is enough, glasses or contacts allowed; if you needed them, the license will say so and you must wear them whenever you drive. On the written test, six wrong out of 40 still passes. Ask and the examiner will read it to you, and there are Spanish and plain-language editions too.

First-time drivers always take a skills test. ITD also requires one when a previous license has been expired 25 months or more, when your license is from a foreign country other than Germany, Korea or Taiwan, when your vision is below standard, or when an examiner has safety concerns. The written test comes first. The skills test runs about 30 minutes with an ITD-certified examiner in your own registered, insured car, and without a valid license you need someone licensed to drive you there.

Budget: fees by age and term

What a license costs depends on your age and how long it lasts, under Idaho Code 49-306. Below are the October 2026 totals. Testing is extra: ITD lists $5 to take the written test and $35 for the drive, of which the license office keeps $6.50 and the examiner up to $28.50.

Under 21, terms are short. Licensed at 18, 19 or 20, you get three years at most, ending five days past your 21st birthday; at 20 a one year card may be offered instead. After 21, pick four years, or eight if you are no older than 62.

• Instruction permit (class D): $20
• One year license at 17 or 20: $20
• Three year license, ages 18 to 21: $30
• Four year license, 21 and older: $35
• Eight year license, ages 21 through 62: $60
• Written test $5; skills test $35
• Duplicate license: $20

Worked example: a 19 year old in Boise

A 19 year old who never got licensed in high school pays $5 for the written test, $20 for the permit and $35 for the skills test.

Because he is under 21, he gets the three year license for $30, which ends five days after his 21st birthday. At that point he renews into a four or eight year adult license.

If you are new to Idaho

Moved here? ITD now gives you a month (30 days) to switch, even if your old license still has years left on it. You may see 90 days quoted; that was ITD's earlier figure and no longer applies. CDL holders face the same 30 day limit, set in statute by Idaho Code 49-301.

Bring the old card to the county office; you will leave it there. Plan on the vision check and the written test. With a current U.S. license the drive is normally waived, though an examiner may still ask for one. Two groups can keep their home-state licenses: students whose legal residence stays elsewhere, and active duty service members and their families holding valid licenses from home.

• Your car's title and registration are also due within a month of arriving
• Idaho's minimum liability insurance: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for injuries, $15,000 for property damage
• After the first visit, open a DMV Online Portal account for renewals and address changes

If your license is from another country

A license from abroad normally means taking the driving test, says Idaho Code 49-313, unless Idaho has a reciprocity deal with that country. ITD lists only three: Germany, Korea and Taiwan. Drivers from anywhere else take the full set of tests.

For lawful presence, carry your passport together with your visa and immigration papers. A license printed in another language? Call the county first and ask if they would like a translation.