Nevada Teen Drivers: From Permit to Full License

Before anything: is the course required?

For most first time drivers under 18, yes, says the Nevada DMV, and homeschooling does not change that. It is only the full license that needs the course. The permit does not, so your teen can begin practicing before signing up.

A teen may sign up from 15 and a half on. According to the DMV, the class comes after the written test, which is why the usual order is permit first, school second. At 18 the requirement drops away entirely.

Before you enroll: pick one of three paths

Nevada gives families three ways to satisfy the rule, and your choice sets the number of practice hours, so settle it early.

• Classroom: 30 hours at a DMV approved school, then 50 supervised hours (40 by day, 10 by night)
• Online: an approved online course, with the same 50 hours
• No course: 100 logged hours, 10 of them after dark, allowed only for a family living more than 30 miles from any classroom course whose teen also cannot get online

Before you enroll: finding an approved school

Private Driver Training Schools are licensed by the DMV and appear in its Schools for Training Drivers directory, which you reach from the DMV's Driving Schools page. Their offerings range from classroom and online study to correspondence and in-car lessons, for teenagers and grown-ups alike.

Prices and timetables are up to each school, and the DMV endorses none of them; phoning a few is the only way to compare. Programs run by public high schools, colleges and universities answer to the Department of Education instead, which is why you will not find them in the DMV's list. Expect a Certificate of Completion from a private school; a high school might give you a certificate, a report card or a transcript instead.

The week before the permit: forms and the test

Get the DMV 301 Certification of Attendance filled out by the school shortly before the visit, since it expires 60 days after signing. If your teen is excused for disability or homeschooled, you fill in Section 2 yourself; a teen who already finished high school also brings the diploma or equivalency certificate.

The knowledge test can be done at home now. The DMV's recommended route is KnowToDrive Nevada. It needs a computer with a camera facing the user (tablets and touch screens will not work) and runs in English or Spanish. Twenty five questions, an hour on the clock, twenty correct to pass; a failed attempt can be repeated the following day, and a pass counts for twelve months. Results go straight to the DMV.

The eye standard is 20/40 or better in at least one eye. Teens who reach it only with lenses get Restriction B on the permit.

While on the permit: the rules and the log

The permit is good for a year and must be in your teen's pocket whenever they drive. Renewing means an office visit, and a permit lapsed for over 30 days sends your teen back to the knowledge test. Each renewal comes with a fresh Financial Responsibility Statement for you to sign, and whichever parent signed it keeps the power to cancel the permit whenever they choose: file a DP-38 at an office and turn the card in.

Only two logs are accepted: the DLD-130 Beginning Driver Experience Log and the RoadReady app. Even app users need a parent's signature on page one of the DLD-130, and the paper version has to be filled out completely, in blue or black ballpoint (never gel pen or pencil), before you show up for the test. The form counts in minutes too: 3,000 total, 600 in darkness.

Record each drive's date, time and length as soon as you park. Time with a professional instructor counts. Your signature on the certification must be witnessed by a notary or by DMV field services staff, which means the counter on test day works fine. Example: a teen who starts the permit in November can bank most of the night hours on short winter evenings, when dark comes early.

On test day

The examiner checks the car first and then scores the drive. Serious errors, speeding or failing to yield among them, are an instant fail. A teen who fails gets feedback and may have to wait as long as 30 days for another try.

Need to cancel? Northern Nevada (Reno, Sparks, Carson City) is (775) 684-4368; Las Vegas area callers use (702) 486-4368. Anyone booking for your teen needs the permit number or Social Security number.

After the license: limits for drivers under 18

Under NRS 483.2523, a driver licensed at 16 or 17 may carry no passengers under 18 except immediate family during the first six months. Breaking that can bring fines and longer restrictions.

There is also a night limit: under 18, your teen stays off the road between 10 at night and 5 in the morning, except when driving to or from something scheduled, like a job or school event, and officers may ask for proof; the handbook keeps this curfew in place until 18. Hand-held calls and texting are illegal for every Nevada driver, and anyone under 21 is held to a 0.02 blood alcohol limit.

City curfews stack on top. The DMV notes that Las Vegas keeps minors without an adult off the Strip and downtown after 9 p.m., and elsewhere after 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday. In Reno, the downtown casino district closes to unaccompanied minors at 9 p.m., and other areas follow hours much like Las Vegas.

Off-road behavior counts too. Graffiti, a gun violation, an alcohol or drug offense, or a school reporting chronic truancy on the DMV 301 can each cost a minor the license. Under 18 licenses are laid out vertically and show the 18th birthday in red, so anyone can spot them.

Budgeting: fees

October 2026 fees: the permit is $22.50, and $25 more pays for testing, meaning the knowledge test plus the first road test. Each retest is $10, and turning the permit into a license costs another $22.50.

An applicant under 25 who is homeless can ask for fees to be waived by completing form DMV 128, the Declaration of Homeless Status, at an office. Fees change from time to time, so look at the current schedule first. Also ask your insurer whether finishing Nevada driver ed lowers your teen's premium; the DMV sets no discount, so it depends on the company.

If you are moving in with a teen driver

Per the DMV's FAQ, any under 18 driver on Nevada roads follows Nevada's teen limits. What the new resident pages leave out is how a provisional license or permit from another state converts. Before counting on any credit, phone the DMV or visit a full service office carrying your teen's license, course certificate and practice log.

Course already done in your old state? Ask that school's operator to fill out form DP 289, the out of state driver education affidavit, confirming 30 or more hours of classroom teaching that satisfy Nevada Administrative Code 483.774. Do it before the moving truck leaves, because chasing a school from a distance is hard.