Applying for a Virginia Learner's Permit

Before you go: who can apply, and whose signature you need

Anyone at least 15 years and 6 months old may apply. Under 18, a parent or legal guardian signs the DL 1P, which Virginia treats as written consent; emancipated minors show the court order instead.

Report cards matter too. A teen who is not in good standing at school can still get the permit, but only with your signed authorization on DMV paperwork (Code of Virginia 46.2-335). If attendance or grades are shaky, talk to the school counselor early.

Adults who have never been licensed get the very same permit with the same paperwork and test. There is no separate adult permit; only the holding period afterward changes with age.

Before you go: proving four things

Think of the documents as answering four questions: who are you, are you lawfully present, where in Virginia do you live, and what is your Social Security number. A U.S. birth certificate or passport usually answers the first two at once.

For the address, bring a pair of documents. At least one should be a primary item on DMV 141; a deed, a lease and a utility bill no older than two months all qualify. Applicants younger than 19 have a shortcut: mom, dad or a guardian comes to the counter, shows their own ID and two proofs of address, and certifies where the teen lives.

On the form, match your legal name letter for letter to your ID; nicknames cause trouble. Your Social Security card can often stay home, because DMV checks the number electronically if you know it. Be ready for surprises, though: DMV reserves the right to request extra papers or revise its list at any time.

• Who you are: a U.S. birth certificate or passport, for example
• Lawful presence: frequently the same birth certificate or passport
• Where you live: two items from the DMV 141 list
• Your Social Security number, if you were issued one

At the testing station

You answer multiple choice questions on a DMV computer; some high schools give the same test in a classroom. The first 10 questions are road signs, and all 10 must be right. The next 30 cover general knowledge, and 24 correct, or 80 percent, passes.

Besides English, DMV offers the exam in American Sign Language and over 20 other languages, Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese among them, and every customer service center can give it orally on request. Getting help, having the answers in your possession, or using your phone during the test is against the law.

A pass is good for a year. If you have not been issued a permit or license by then, you take the exam again.

If you fail: the waits and the three-strike rule

Under 18, a failure means waiting a full 15 days. DMV's example: fail on January 1 and the first possible retest is January 17. Adults can come back the next day, since 18 and older may test once a day.

Three failures, at any age, mean finishing the classroom part of a Virginia-approved driver education course and showing the certificate before a fourth try. The course must be completed after the third failure; one taken earlier does not count.

Once you have it: what you may and may not do

Every drive needs a licensed supervisor in the front passenger seat who is 21 or older, or 18 or older if that person is your legal guardian or your brother or sister. They must be alert and able to take over, so a dozing passenger does not count.

Teens with permits get one non-relative under 18 as a passenger, no more. Phones stay untouched for anyone under 18, even on speaker or hands-free mode, unless there is an emergency and the car is legally parked. Breaking permit rules costs 3 demerit points.

Solo driving arrives only when three things line up: your teen is at least 16 and 3 months, the permit is nine months old, and the school has signed the DTS B showing classroom and in-car work both done. Paired with the permit, that DTS B serves as the license until the plastic card shows up.

How long you will keep it

Under 18, the permit stays at least nine months and driver education must be finished before licensing. Adults 21 and older either keep it 60 days or complete driver education.

For 18 to 20 year olds the rules tighten on New Year's Day 2027: three months on the permit, with an approved course completed inside that stretch. The deciding date is when the license is issued, so even a permit from 2026 does not get a 19 year old out of the class if licensing happens in 2027.

Fees, expiry and lost permits

DMV 201, as of October 2026, prices the permit and license together at $3 plus $4 for each year of the license. Adding REAL ID is a one-time $10. A lost permit costs $2 to replace, and a motorcycle learner's permit is its own $3 credential.

Expiration falls on a birthday. Most standard permits can run eight years (five for applicants 75 and up). Temporary visitors with REAL ID permits get a credential matching their authorized stay, or 12 months when the stay has no set end.

If you are moving to Virginia with a permit

Carry your current permit into DMV with the rest of your papers. Whatever time you have already logged on it gets credited against Virginia's waiting period, whether that is nine months, 90 days or 60.

Expect Virginia's own eye check and written test regardless. Teens additionally need driver ed, either a Virginia course or proof of one elsewhere that ran at least 30 hours in class and six in the car.