How to Fill Out and Submit Pennsylvania Form DL-31 for a Learner’s Permit

Pennsylvania Form DL-31 is the application you use to replace, extend, add, or correct a non-commercial learner’s permit. It is not the form for a driver’s license or photo ID card. If your permit has been lost, stolen, damaged, or never arrived in the mail, or if your name or date of birth on it is wrong, the DL-31 is the right paperwork. Fill it out, sign it, enclose payment, and mail it to PennDOT’s Bureau of Driver Licensing in Harrisburg.¹

When to Use the DL-31

The form’s full title spells out its uses: “Non-Commercial Learner’s Permit Application to Add/Extend/Replace/Change/Correct.” You would file it in any of these situations:

Your permit was lost, stolen, or mutilated and you need a replacement card.
PennDOT mailed your permit but it never arrived. If you file within 90 days of the original issue date, the replacement is free.
You need to add a learner’s permit or extend an existing one.
Your legal name changed through marriage, divorce, or court order, your date of birth is printed incorrectly, or other personal details need updating.

Under 75 Pa. C.S. § 1513, anyone whose learner’s permit has been mutilated, lost, stolen, destroyed, or become illegible is entitled to a duplicate by filing the right paperwork and paying the required fee.²

Filling Out the Form

You can download the DL-31 as a PDF from PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services website or pick one up at any Driver License Center.¹ The form has five sections, though most people only need to complete two or three.

Section A: Reason and Personal Information

Check the box that matches your situation: lost, stolen, mutilated, never received, add/extend, or change/correct. Then select your permit class. Class C covers most passenger vehicles; Class B or Class A applies if you hold a higher-class non-commercial permit.

Fill in your full legal name, date of birth, phone number, email address, and Social Security number. Enter your street address, city, state, and zip code in the address block. If you are correcting or changing information, use the fields in Section A to indicate the specific change (name change with reason, date of birth correction, or other).

The physical description fields ask for your height and eye color. Use the eye-color options printed on the form: blue, brown, green, hazel, gray, black, pink, dichromatic, or other. A mismatch between your form and what PennDOT already has on file can slow processing.

Section C: Signature, Voter Registration, and Optional Contributions

This is where you sign. The certification statement confirms the information is true, authorizes PennDOT to verify your Social Security number, and acknowledges that receiving a Pennsylvania permit cancels any permit or license from another state. Sign and date it in ink or the form is not valid.

Below the certification is a voter registration notice. The DL-31 doubles as a voter registration update unless you check the opt-out box. If you have moved or changed your name, this keeps your voter record current without a separate trip to the county elections office.

Two optional checkboxes appear for voluntary contributions: $3.00 to the Organ Donation Awareness Trust Fund and $5.00 to the Veterans’ Trust Fund. Checking either box adds that amount to your total payment.

Section D: Notary

Most applicants skip this section. A notary is required only if you checked “never received” or if you are under 18. In the “never received” case, the notarized oath confirms you are telling the truth about not getting the original permit. Sign in front of the notary and have them complete the seal and signature fields.

Section E: Parent or Guardian Consent

Applicants under 18 need a parent, guardian, or spouse who is at least 18 to sign Section E consenting to the application. Adults leave it blank.

Fees and Payment

Fees depend on which transaction you are filing. Check PennDOT’s current fee schedule before writing your check.³ The one exception is a permit that was never delivered: if you file within 90 days of the original issue date, the replacement is free.¹

Make your check or money order payable to “PennDOT,” not the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Write your permit or license number on the check so PennDOT can match the payment to your file. If you are mailing the form, only a check or money order works. Driver License Centers also accept debit cards and credit cards but do not accept cash.³

Where to Send It

Mail the signed form and your payment to:

PennDOT
Bureau of Driver Licensing
P.O. Box 68272
Harrisburg, PA 17106-8272¹

Verify the address before sealing the envelope. Keep a copy of the completed form and your payment receipt in case something goes wrong in the mail.

Processing Time and Tracking

Expect the replacement to arrive in about seven to ten business days after PennDOT receives your application.⁴ The new card comes by regular mail to the address you wrote on the form, so make sure that address is current. If two weeks pass without a card, check the status through PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services online portal.⁵ If a month goes by with nothing, call PennDOT’s customer service line with your copy of the DL-31 in hand.

If you later find the original permit after receiving the duplicate, state law requires you to return the original to PennDOT.² Carrying two valid permits at the same time creates problems you do not want.

A Note on REAL ID

Federal REAL ID enforcement began on May 7, 2025. A duplicate permit processed through the DL-31 matches whatever compliance level your original permit had. If the original was REAL ID-compliant, the duplicate will be too. If the original was not compliant and you want to upgrade, that is a separate transaction handled at a Driver License Center, not through the mail-in DL-31.

If You Actually Need to Replace a License or ID

The DL-31 is only for learner’s permits. For other products:

Non-commercial driver’s license: use Form DL-80. You can apply online if PennDOT already has your photo and signature on file, or go to a Driver License Center. In-person applicants get a 15-day interim license on the spot while the permanent card is printed and mailed. The replacement fee is $42.50.⁶³
Photo identification card: use Form DL-54B at a Driver License Center. The replacement fee is $42.50 if PennDOT has your photo image on file.³

If Your Permit Was Stolen

Replacing the card is only half the job when a theft is involved. The person holding your permit has your name, date of birth, address, and photo. Alongside filing the DL-31, consider these steps:

Place a fraud alert by contacting any one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion). That bureau is legally required to notify the other two. The alert lasts one year and is free.⁷
Consider a credit freeze, which blocks new creditors from pulling your report. You must contact all three bureaus separately, but there is no cost and it stays in place until you lift it.⁷
File an identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov. That report qualifies you for an extended fraud alert lasting seven years and serves as documentation for disputing fraudulent accounts later.
File a police report. PennDOT does not require one to process the DL-31, but it strengthens any fraud disputes and creates an official record.

If you suspect someone is actively using your identity to get a fraudulent license or ID in Pennsylvania, PennDOT has a separate fraud reporting process that accepts supporting documents such as your birth certificate, Social Security card, and police reports.⁸

1
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. DL-31 Non-Commercial Learner’s Permit Application
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 Chapter 15 Section 1513 – Duplicate and Substitute Drivers Licenses and Learners Permits
3
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Payments and Fees
4
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Renew Your Learner’s Permit or Apply for a Duplicate
5
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Online Driver and Vehicle Services
6
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Replace a Driver’s License
7
Federal Trade Commission. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
8
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Report Driver’s License, Identification Card or Vehicle Fraud