How Old Do You Have to Be to Get a Permit in Virginia?

You have to be at least 15 years and six months old to get a learner’s permit in Virginia. If you’re under 18, a parent or legal guardian also has to sign your application to give written consent.¹ There’s no upper age limit. Adults who have never been licensed anywhere start with a learner’s permit too, but their path to a full license is shorter.

The Minimum Age and Who Signs

Fifteen and a half is the floor set by state law. You can walk into a DMV customer service center on the day you hit that age, not before.¹

Applicants under 18 need a parent or legal guardian to sign the application in person or on a signed, notarized form. If a minor is legally emancipated or married, a court order or marriage documentation can stand in for parental consent.²

Applicants 18 and older don’t need anyone’s signature. If you’re an adult who has never held a license from any state, U.S. territory, or foreign country, you still start on a learner’s permit, but you can take the road skills test for a full license after either holding the permit 60 days or completing a state-approved driver education program.³

What to Bring to the DMV

Every applicant, teen or adult, needs to show up with the same core paperwork:

A completed DL 1P application (the Application for a Virginia Driver’s License). You can fill it out online or print it at home ahead of time.
One proof of identity.
One proof of legal presence.
Two proofs of Virginia residency.
Proof of your Social Security number, if one has been issued to you.

If you want a REAL ID–compliant permit, which is required for boarding domestic flights and entering certain federal facilities, your identity and legal presence documents also have to meet REAL ID standards. The DMV publishes the list of qualifying documents.²

For minors, the parent or guardian who signs the DL 1P needs to be with the applicant at the counter, or the application has to carry a notarized signature.

Fees

The learner’s permit itself costs $3, added to the yearly driver’s license fee. A standard Virginia license runs $4 per year, so an adult paying for a full eight-year term pays roughly $35 total. Under-18 applicants usually pay less, because their license expires sooner.⁴

Tests You’ll Take the Same Day

Meeting the age cutoff and bringing the right documents gets you to the counter. You still have to pass two tests before you walk out with the permit, and both happen at the same appointment.

Vision Screening

You need at least 20/40 visual acuity in one or both eyes and a horizontal field of vision of at least 110 degrees. If you only hit those numbers with glasses or contacts, the DMV adds a corrective-lens restriction, meaning you have to wear them whenever you drive.⁵

Virginia also offers a restricted daytime-only license for people with at least 20/70 acuity and 70 degrees of horizontal vision, which limits driving to between half an hour after sunrise and half an hour before sunset.⁵

Knowledge Exam

The written exam has two parts. Part one covers road signs: 10 questions, and you have to answer all 10 correctly to move on. Part two is 30 general-knowledge questions on traffic laws and safe driving, and you need at least 24 correct (80 percent) to pass.⁶

The Virginia Driver’s Manual covers everything the exam tests. Fail three times and you have to take the applicable portion of a driver education course before your fourth attempt.⁷

How Long Until You Can Get a License

The age you got your permit shapes how long you hold it.

Under 18

Before applying for a provisional driver’s license, a minor has to hold the learner’s permit for at least nine months (or until turning 18, whichever comes first), complete a state-approved driver education program, log at least 45 hours of supervised driving with 15 of those hours after sunset, and pass the road skills test. A parent or guardian certifies the practice hours on the DL 1P.⁸⁹¹⁰

The driver education program itself runs 36 classroom sessions, seven behind-the-wheel driving sessions, and seven observation sessions, each 50 minutes long. For minors enrolled in driver ed, the road skills test is built into the program as the final exam, so a separate DMV road test usually isn’t needed.⁹

The license issued to anyone under 18 is a provisional license, carrying passenger and curfew restrictions until the driver turns 18.³

18 and Older

Adults have two routes. Hold the permit at least 60 days and then take the road skills test at a DMV office, or complete a driver education program while holding the permit, which waives the 60-day wait. Either way, passing the road test earns a full, non-provisional license.³

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-335 – Learner’s Permits; Fees; Certification Required
2
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver License Eligibility Requirements
3
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Apply for a Learner’s Permit
4
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. DMV Fee Chart
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-311 – Minimum Standards of Visual Acuity and Field of Vision
6
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. The Knowledge Exam
7
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Training for Three Exam Failures
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-335.2 – Learner’s Permits; Required Before Driver’s License; Minimum Holding Period
9
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Education
10
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Virginia Driver’s License and Identification Card Application