How to Get a Learner's Permit in Virginia: Requirements and Steps

Virginia’s learner’s permit requirements are set by Va. Code § 46.2-335, and they are shorter than most people expect. The applicant must be a Virginia resident over the age of 15 years and six months, pass the written or automated knowledge examination and the vision examination, document that he meets the chapter’s other requirements, and pay a fee of $3.

A minor has two additional hurdles that an adult applicant does not: evidence of compliance with Virginia’s compulsory school attendance law, and a parent’s signature in some circumstances. Everything else is documentation.

One naming point before the detail, because it sends people looking in the wrong place. A Virginia driver’s permit, a drivers permit and a driving permit are all the same document: the Code calls it a learner’s permit, and § 46.2-335 is the only section that issues one. There is no separate “driver permit” in Virginia law, and the only other permits the chapter mentions are the motorcycle learner’s permit — same section, same $3 — and the temporary driver’s permit that § 46.2-323 names in passing as an item DMV may issue. Anything advertised as a different kind of permit is a course or a practice test, not a document from DMV.

Virginia learner’s permit requirements: who can apply

The age floor is 15 years and six months — the statute says “over the age of 15 years and six months,” so a birthday plus six months and a day. There is no upper age limit, and adults apply for learner’s permits routinely.

The applicant must be a Virginia resident. Section 46.2-335 F applies the residency evidence and certification rules of § 46.2-323 and § 46.2-334 to permit applications, which means proving residence the same way a license applicant does. A minor’s parent or guardian signs the residence certification alongside the applicant.

The examinations you have to pass

Section 46.2-335 A conditions issuance on “successful completion of the written or automated knowledge and vision examinations.” That is two tests, not three — there is no road test for a learner’s permit, because the permit exists to let you practice before taking one.

A motorcycle learner’s permit adds the automated motorcycle test.

The Code does not provide for taking the knowledge examination remotely, and § 46.2-323 B contemplates applicants who are “required to appear in person before the Department to apply.” Where and how the test can be taken is published by Virginia DMV, which is the source to check before assuming anything can be done online.

What the application itself requires

Section 46.2-323 governs the application form for a learner’s permit as much as for a license. It requires:

• the applicant’s usual signature in ink;
• full legal name, date of birth, social security number, sex and residence address;
• whether the applicant has previously been licensed anywhere, and whether any license has been suspended or revoked, with dates and reasons;
• surrender of any driver’s license issued by another state;
• a certification statement signed under penalty of perjury that the information is true and correct. If the applicant will not sign it, DMV may not issue the permit.

Applicants who must appear in person may also be required to present proof of identity, residency, and social security number or non-work authorized status. DMV publishes the acceptable document list, and it is the part of this process that most often sends families home for a second trip.

What a minor needs that an adult does not

Two extra conditions apply to anyone still of compulsory school age.

Good academic standing. DMV “shall not” issue a permit to a minor required to show compliance with the compulsory school attendance law unless the applicant is in good academic standing — or, failing that, unless a parent or guardian with custody provides written authorization on a DMV form. The form exists precisely so that a struggling student is not automatically shut out.

Exemptions. A minor who provides proper evidence of marriage, or a certified copy of a court order of emancipation, does not need the academic-standing certification or the parental authorization at all.

Note what is not on this list: a learner’s permit itself does not require completion of a driver education course. Driver education becomes a condition later, when the minor applies for the license that follows under § 46.2-334.

The fee

$3 — for an ordinary learner’s permit and for a motorcycle learner’s permit alike, under § 46.2-335 H. No fee is charged for homeless youth as described in § 22.1-3. The figure is genuinely that low, and the full breakdown of what the $3 does and does not cover is worth reading before budgeting for anything else.

What the permit allows once you have it

A learner’s permit entitles the holder to drive while carrying the permit and accompanied by a licensed driver aged 21 or older, by a parent or legal guardian, or by a brother, sister, half-sibling or step-sibling aged 18 or older. The accompanying person must be alert, able to assist, actually sitting in the seat beside the driver, and lawfully permitted to drive at the time.

It does not authorize more than one passenger under 21 (family and household members excepted, and approved driver education courses excepted), and it does not authorize driving between midnight and 4:00 a.m. A fuller account of what the permit is for and where its limits fall sits on its own page.

If you already hold a license from another state

Section 46.2-323 B requires DMV, as a condition of issuing any driver’s license, temporary driver’s permit, learner’s permit or motorcycle learner’s permit, to take the surrender of any driver’s license issued by another state and held by the applicant. You cannot keep the old card.

Minors moving to Virginia have their own routes and do not necessarily start again with a permit. Under § 46.2-334 E, a person at least 16 years and three months old who holds a valid license from another U.S. state, territory or Canadian province, and who has not been found guilty of a motor vehicle offense, may be issued a temporary Virginia license valid for six months on certifying Virginia residence — and it cannot be renewed or reissued. Under § 46.2-334 I, a minor in the same position who has also completed a government-approved classroom and in-car driver education program, has held the license for 12 months, and passes DMV’s behind-the-wheel and knowledge examinations, may be issued a full Virginia license.

Transfer applicants generally need documentation of at least 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of in-car instruction from a government-approved program elsewhere.

What the permit builds toward

For anyone under 18, § 46.2-335 B sets the requirement that turns a permit into a license: 45 hours of driving while holding the permit, at least 15 of them after sunset, certified by a parent, foster parent or legal guardian on a DMV form. The certification is part of the license application and is signed under a warning that a false statement may be prosecuted.

How long the permit has to be held. For a driver under 18 the figure is nine months, which is Virginia DMV’s published requirement rather than a number written into § 46.2-335 — the statute fixes the 45 hours, not the calendar. DMV’s own page is the one to confirm it against, because it is DMV that applies it.

An adult first-time applicant is on a different clock, and that one is in the Code. Section 46.2-324.1 A applies to applicants at least 18 years old who have never held a driver’s license in Virginia or anywhere else: no license may be issued to them unless they have either completed an approved course of driver instruction or held a learner’s permit for at least 60 days before a first behind-the-wheel examination. Section 46.2-335 A adds a narrow provision for anyone 25 or older caught by that requirement — the permit may be issued even where a court has ordered restrictions on the applicant’s driving privilege, and those restrictions carry over to the permit.

One change is already on the books for 1 January 2027. The version of § 46.2-324.1 that takes effect that day (2026 Acts cc. 754, 755) leaves the either/or intact for applicants 21 and over, but an applicant at least 18 and under 21 will need both an approved driver education course and a learner’s permit held for at least 90 days. That is a real tightening for the 18-to-20 group, and it is worth checking the current text of the section before planning around the 60-day route.

An ordinary learner’s permit stays valid “until the holder thereof either is issued a driver’s license … or no longer meets the qualifications.” A motorcycle learner’s permit is valid for 12 months and may be reissued on a fresh application, fee and examinations.