Getting a Learner's Permit in Rhode Island

First decision: which permit matches your age

If you are 16 or 17, you get the limited instruction permit, the first level of the graduated licensing system set out in G.L. 31-10-6. If you are 18 or older, you get the instruction permit, which needs no class and lets you reach the road test far sooner.

Some adults who have driven before also land here. A Rhode Island license that lapsed over five years back, or one from another state that has been dead five years or longer, puts you back on a permit. The same goes for anyone 18 or older moving in with a license issued abroad.

Before you apply as a teen: the course certificate

No certificate, no permit: the DMV wants proof your teen finished the CCRI-certified 33 hour course. CCRI takes students from 15 years and 10 months. If your teen starts on time, the certificate can be ready by the 16th birthday.

Online classes stopped counting on July 1, 2022. When we looked in October 2026, five schools were authorized: CCRI, The MET Driving School, Newport County Driving School, Labonte's Auto School, and the AAA Driving School in Providence. Schools can be added or dropped, so look at the DMV's live list on the day you register.

At the appointment: knowledge exam and eye test

G.L. 31-10-21 asks two things of everyone: prove you understand road signs and traffic rules, and pass a vision check. Students who passed the standardized test given at the close of an approved course have already covered the written part and are not tested on it again at the DMV.

Testing at the DMV means booking a reservation for the computer exam, offered in Spanish, Portuguese and English. Need a different language? Book, then ask online for a printed version. Show up an hour ahead at the first floor Enforcement Office in Cranston with a helper who can translate for you outside the room; you sit the exam alone.

Study from the state Driver's Manual, which the DMV also posts online chapter by chapter, flagging the parts that are testing material. After a failed exam, 8 days must pass before a retake.

What to bring

Use the checklist inside the LI-1 to pick documents that show who you are, your Social Security number and your Rhode Island address. Applicants who are not U.S. citizens bring all of their immigration paperwork so staff can review it; students on F1 or F2 status need the I-20 along with a passport.

When a teen applies, the signing adult needs ID. Guardians and licensed foster parents should also carry the court or agency papers that show their authority. For a REAL ID, add two residency documents in your name (utility bills are typical), your Social Security number, and either an unexpired passport or a certified birth certificate.

• The completed LI-1
• Course completion certificate, if you are under 18
• Proof of identity and date of birth
• Social Security number, or an SSA letter saying you are not eligible
• Proof you live in Rhode Island
• A parent or guardian with ID, if you are under 18

After you get it: driving on a limited permit

Keep the permit with you on every drive. Your supervising driver takes the front passenger seat and nobody else shares the front. Every rider is buckled or in the correct child seat, and so are you, unless the DMV has a doctor's note excusing you.

Lessons get one exception. If you are at least 16 and signed up with a driving school or school program the DMV has approved, you may drive that school's dual-control car, permit or not, as long as your instructor is in the seat beside you. Separately, drivers under 18 may not touch a phone, even hands-free, unless it is an emergency.

If your permit is running out

The limited permit expires after a year or at the 18th birthday, and you get whichever date is later. G.L. 31-10-6 also lets the DMV stretch it out when a family shows hardship.

Adult permits run 12 months. In October 2026 the DMV's permit page allowed a single renewal, handled through the mail, the drop box or an in-person reservation; there is no online option. After that one renewal, or once a permit has sat expired for two years, the knowledge exam has to be passed again. Replacing a lost permit costs $13.50.

For adults: the 30 days and driving alone

Thirty days after the permit is issued, an adult may road test. According to the DMV's permit page, adults may even drive unsupervised until then. The statute, G.L. 31-10-7, puts no supervision condition on the adult permit. Very few states allow that, so call your insurance company and get a clear answer before driving alone.