Getting Your First Learner Credential in Michigan

First: which credential do you need?

For teens, Michigan avoids the word permit. The teen credential is the Level 1 Learner's License, the first rung of the three level Graduated Driver Licensing ladder. Adults who have held no license anywhere in the past four years get a Temporary Instruction Permit, which allows practice but is not a license.

Before Level 1 there is an optional extra, the Parent Driving Permit. With a parent's go-ahead, the Segment 1 provider can issue it to a teen who is enrolled and attending class. Practice under it is limited to the teen's own parent or guardian, who must be licensed.

Before the visit: is there a written test for teens?

Not at the Secretary of State. For a teen, the written test that matters is the state exam at the end of Segment 1, given by the provider. A score of 70% or more earns the certificate.

For adults it is different: the state's knowledge test is required. From 18 you can do it at home for $6.50 with a keyboard, mouse and webcam, or for free on a branch computer, where it can be started until an hour before closing. Online, plan on roughly 45 minutes for the Operator part and 15 for Signs. Written and audio versions exist in English and several other languages.

Before the visit: documents for Level 1

Expect to show the Segment 1 Certificate of Completion, two or more papers with a Michigan address, and proof of identity, of citizenship or legal presence, and of a valid Social Security number. The parent or guardian signs at the counter.

Few teens get bills in their own name, so a parent's address documents are accepted as long as something else, such as the birth certificate, shows you are related. Every document has to be approved, and occasionally approval takes more than a day and a second trip.

• The Segment 1 certificate
• Proof of the Social Security number, such as the card
• Birth certificate or other legal presence document
• Identity document
• Two address documents (a parent's, if the relationship is proven)

At the counter: the card and the fee

Since March 16, 2021, Level 1 has come as a photo hard card instead of a paper permit, and your teen must carry it on every drive. Because the photo is on file, most teens never set foot in a branch again until 18; Level 2 and Level 3 arrive automatically.

Pay the $25 in cash, by check or money order (payable to the State of Michigan), with a debit or credit card, or with a phone wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay). Card payments add a service fee.

After you leave: rules for every practice drive

The supervisor rides in the front seat and needs a license that is valid and not expired. If that person is a designated adult rather than the parent, they should carry a signed letter from the parent or guardian. Kelsey's Law bars phone use at the wheel except to report a crash, a medical emergency, a hazard, a crime or a threat to someone's safety; the car's own built-in voice controls are allowed.

Until 18, a parent or guardian may book a branch visit to hold a teen back at Level 1 or to cancel the license altogether. Other states may or may not honor a Level 1 card, so check before a road trip. The card expires on the 18th birthday, and from then the teen follows the adult TIP route.

For adults: how the TIP works

Pass vision and knowledge, prove your Social Security number, legal presence, identity and address, pay $25, and the TIP is yours. A knowledge test pass is good for a year, but if the TIP lapses and you need another, you test again.

The road test cannot come until you have practiced 30 days on the TIP, and it has to be passed within 180 days of the TIP's issue date or the whole application restarts. Anyone whose privileges are under suspension, revocation or denial should skip the online test: the $6.50 is charged and neither a refund nor a license follows.

A worked example for a teen

A teen who turns 14 and 9 months on September 15 and passes the Segment 1 exam in late September can book the branch visit for early October. With the hard card in hand that week, the 50 hour log starts, and Segment 2 opens up in early January once three months and 30 hours are reached.