Your Teen's First Kansas Instruction Permit

Before you apply: which rules cover your teen

Two different statutes govern Kansas permits, depending on age. K.S.A. 8-2,100 handles anyone from 14 until the day they turn 17, and it requires a parent or guardian to sign the application for an applicant under 16. Applicants who are already 17 fall under K.S.A. 8-239 instead, with no parent signature and no waiting period.

The KDOR chart for 14 to 16 year olds does not require driver ed to get the permit. The course comes into play later, if your teen wants the restricted license at 15. Still, a teen who finishes class before visiting the office can skip the written test there.

A quick example: if your teen turns 14 in October and you apply that week, the permit year ends the following October, just as your teen nears 15. Applying in January instead pushes the earliest restricted license to the next January.

Gathering documents the week before

Plan on one identity document from List A or B. A state-issued birth certificate, a valid U.S. passport or a permanent resident card all work. Hospital certificates, city birth registrations and census records do not. Then add one List D item that shows the complete Social Security number, like the card itself or a W-2.

Address proof comes from List C, and you need two. A current report card or school transcript works for a teen, and you as the parent can complete a Certification of Address supported by two proofs of your own. If your teen is not a citizen, the office checks status through the federal SAVE system, and that can take an extra day or more.

On test day: the eye check and the 25 questions

The exam has 25 multiple choice items covering signs, pavement markings, Kansas law and safe driving habits. Your teen needs 80 percent. There is no clock in the office, and most people are done in 15 to 20 minutes. Teens who qualify can take the online KnowToDrive version at home and carry the pass to the office.

For vision, your teen needs 20/40 or better in at least one eye. If the office screening goes badly, KDOR hands over form DV-124V for an eye doctor to complete, due back within 90 days. When glasses or contacts are what get your teen to the standard, the permit carries a corrective lens restriction.

If your teen fails: retakes and costs

According to the fee chart marked updated May 2023, the permit runs $2 and the photo $8, with a $3 charge for the first exam. That exam charge disappears for a teen with a driver ed form. Retesting inside six months is $1.50; coming back after six months means a $3 abandonment fee.

A retest is allowed as soon as the next working day. Four attempts are the limit, though. After the fourth failed written test, your teen sits out at least six months, counted from that last attempt.

After the permit: rules for every practice drive

Your teen may drive only with a supervisor who is 21 or older, licensed, and has driven for at least a year, sitting in the passenger seat beside them. The rest of the front seat stays empty. Your teen keeps the permit on them and does not touch a phone or other wireless device except to report a crime or summon help.

There is no curfew attached to the permit, since an adult is always along. Violating the conditions can get the permit suspended under K.S.A. 8-291, which throws off the timeline for the restricted license.

The class permit slip versus the real permit

When your teen starts driver ed, the school issues a blue DE-99 permit slip. KDOR says plainly that this slip works only while the course is running and does not count toward the one year holding period. Only a permit from a driver's license office, or a farm permit, starts the clock.

That is why many families get the state permit at 14 before class starts. If your teen finishes the course first, the office accepts the completion form instead of the written test and issues the state permit at that point.

If you move, lose the permit or let it lapse

A Class C instruction permit expires a year after it is issued, and renewing it means passing the written test again. Replacing a lost permit costs $16. An address change or similar update costs $8.

The KDOR teen FAQ says Kansas will not take another state's permit in place of its own, even one held for six months. The restricted license statute, K.S.A. 8-2,101, does give credit for an out-of-state permit with equal or stricter requirements. Ask the office to look at your teen's previous permit before you assume the clock starts over.