California DL 62 Driver Vision Examination Report: How to File and DMV Review

The California DL 62 form, officially the Report of Vision Examination, is a two-page document the DMV uses to decide whether your eyesight meets state driving standards. You complete the top section with your personal information and signature, then an ophthalmologist or optometrist performs an exam and fills out the clinical portion. The form is a free PDF download from dmv.ca.gov, and the completed exam must have taken place within the previous six months for the DMV to accept it.¹

When You’ll Need to Submit One

Most people encounter the DL 62 after failing the vision screening at a field office. The DMV applies a two-part standard using a Snellen chart: at least 20/40 acuity with both eyes together, and at least 20/40 in one eye with no worse than 20/70 in the other, corrected or uncorrected.² Miss either number and the technician will hand you a DL 62 to take to an eye specialist.

The screening also applies to drivers 70 and older, who cannot renew entirely online and must visit a field office.³ Separately, the DMV can order a reexamination any time it receives a report from law enforcement, a physician, or a family member suggesting a physical condition may affect driving. Vehicle Code Section 12818 gives the DMV that authority.⁴ If you get a reexamination notice in the mail, a blank DL 62 is usually included.

One hard floor sits beneath everything else. Under Vehicle Code Section 12805, the DMV cannot issue or renew a license for anyone whose best corrected acuity is 20/200 or worse in the better eye.⁵

Section 1: What You Fill Out Yourself

Download the DL 62 from the DMV website or pick one up at any field office.² Section 1 is the only part you handle yourself. Enter:

Your driver license number
Date of birth
Telephone number
Full legal name
Residential address

Then sign and date the authorization line at the bottom of Section 1. That signature lets your eye doctor send the results to the DMV for the confidential purpose of evaluating your fitness to drive.¹ Leave Section 2 completely blank. That whole section belongs to the doctor.

Section 2: What Your Eye Doctor Completes

Bring the form to a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist. Bring your current glasses or contacts too, along with any DMV correspondence that explains why the exam was requested. The doctor’s clinical judgment carries real weight in the DMV’s final decision, so context helps.

Section 2 runs through nine subsections:

Refraction. Whether you need new distance lenses, whether night driving is advisable, best corrected acuity, and any use of monovision contact lenses.
Visual acuity. The core measurement, recorded for both eyes together, right eye alone, and left eye alone, each without lenses, with lenses, and at best correction. A separate “DMV Use Only” area stays blank for the field office technician.
Diagnosis. Checkboxes for the category of condition (refractive, developmental, optical, retinal or optic nerve, or visual field), with space for specific diagnoses such as glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration, plus monocular vision details and any eye surgery history.
Prognosis. Whether the condition is static or progressive, when it stabilized, and when a new report should be required.
Visual fields. A diagram where the doctor maps peripheral extent and any blind spots for each eye.
Visual abnormalities. A severity rating (mild, moderate, or severe) for decreased acuity, color defect, visual field loss, reduced depth perception, contrast sensitivity loss, abnormal eye movements, glare problems, and poor night vision.
Advice. Any driving-related guidance the doctor gave, such as avoiding freeways or sticking to familiar routes.
Additional comments. Open space for the doctor’s overall assessment of your visual and perceptual capabilities for driving.
Signature. Printed name, M.D. or O.D. license number, signature, exam date, and contact information.

If the doctor recommends against night driving, expect the DMV to add that restriction to your license.

How to Submit the Completed Form

Once the doctor signs, get the form to the DMV using whichever route matches how you were referred:

Driver Safety Portal. If you received a reexamination notice, log in at dmv.ca.gov and upload the completed form. The portal also lets you check case status and schedule hearings.⁶
Mail. Send the original to the Driver Safety Office address printed on your notice. Photocopy it first for your records.
Field office. If you were referred during a license visit, bring the completed form back to a field office on a scheduled appointment.

Speed matters. Under Vehicle Code Section 13953, the DMV can suspend your license 30 days after sending written notice, and can act immediately if it concludes your condition poses a safety risk.⁷ Returning a completed DL 62 promptly, with favorable results, is the best way to avoid any gap in your driving privileges.

What the DMV Decides After Review

The DMV weighs the whole form together: acuity numbers, visual fields, diagnosis, prognosis, and the doctor’s advice. The outcome falls into one of three categories.

Full License

If your corrected vision meets the screening standard and the doctor flags no safety concerns, the DMV issues or renews without restrictions. This is the common outcome when the problem is fully correctable with standard lenses.

Restricted License

When vision is adequate for some driving but not all, the DMV adds restrictions. Common ones include a corrective lens requirement, a daylight-only limitation, or bioptic telescopic lenses.² If you pass the vision test wearing glasses or contacts, the corrective lens restriction is added automatically.⁸ Some drivers also take a Supplemental Driving Performance Evaluation, a behind-the-wheel test that checks whether you can compensate for a vision condition in actual traffic.⁹

Suspension or Revocation

If the DL 62 shows vision too limited for safe driving and restrictions cannot reasonably compensate, the DMV suspends or revokes the license. Written notice generally goes out 30 days before the action, with immediate action possible when the DMV sees an urgent hazard.⁷ After treatment such as surgery or new corrective lenses, you can submit a fresh DL 62 with updated results. Reinstating a suspended license costs a $55 reissue fee.¹⁰

Challenging a Suspension

If the DMV suspends or revokes your license based on vision findings, you can request an administrative hearing. Vehicle Code Section 14100 gives you 10 days from receipt of the suspension notice to make the request.⁷ You can file and schedule through the Driver Safety Portal.¹¹

At the hearing you can dispute the DMV’s evidence or present new medical records, for example an updated DL 62 showing improved acuity after cataract surgery. Requesting a hearing does not automatically pause the suspension if the DMV considers your condition an immediate safety risk; the suspension stands until medical evidence shows the condition no longer prevents safe driving.

If You Use Bioptic Lenses

Drivers who use bioptic telescopic lenses go through a more involved process with its own fields on the DL 62. The regular carrier lens must correct vision to better than 20/200, and the telescope then gets you to the 20/40 screening standard; the telescope alone cannot be used to clear the 20/200 floor.⁵ Your eye doctor records the bioptic training details in the refraction subsection. Bioptic license holders also face a written knowledge test, a road test including freeway driving, and in-person renewal at every cycle.¹

If You Hold a Commercial License

The DL 62 covers state licensing only. For an interstate commercial driver license, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires a separate Vision Evaluation Report, Form MCSA-5871, with its own federal standards.¹² If the DMV has also asked for a state-level evaluation, coordinate with your medical examiner so both forms get completed from the same exam.

1
Department of Motor Vehicles. California DMV Report of Vision Examination
2
California DMV. Vision Conditions
3
California DMV. Senior Drivers
4
California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 12818 – Reexamination
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California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 12805
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California DMV. Driver Safety Offices
7
California DMV. Evaluating Driver Impairment
8
California DMV. Section 3 – The Testing Process
9
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Preparing For Your Supplemental Driving Performance Evaluation
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California DMV. Reissue Fees
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California DMV. Driver Safety Case Management
12
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Vision Evaluation Report Form