How to Fill Out the California DMV Vision Screening Form (DL 62)

The California DMV vision screening form, DL 62, is a Report of Vision Examination that your eye doctor completes to show the DMV that your sight meets the state’s driving standards. You fill in a short identification block at the top; your optometrist or ophthalmologist handles the clinical measurements; and you return the signed original to a DMV field office. The DMV usually asks for the form after you fail the Snellen chart screening at the counter, though a referral from law enforcement, a physician, or a family member can also trigger it.¹

Why You Were Asked for a DL 62

California’s screening standard is 20/40 with both eyes together, 20/40 in one eye, and at least 20/70 in the other, with or without corrective lenses.² Miss those numbers on the chart at the field office and the DMV refers you to a vision specialist who must examine you and complete the DL 62.

Older drivers get referred often, because age-related changes in clarity, contrast sensitivity, and night vision tend to appear during routine renewal screenings. If you already have a progressive eye condition on file, the DMV can set its own schedule for how often you need to come back.²

Download the Form and Fill in Section 1

You can download the DL 62 from the California DMV website or pick one up at any field office.³ Section 1 is yours. Enter your driver’s license number, date of birth, phone number, full legal name, and home address. At the bottom, sign and date the authorization line that lets the eye doctor send the results to the DMV for confidential use in evaluating your fitness to drive.

Complete Section 1 before the appointment. That way the doctor’s time goes to the clinical measurements rather than paperwork.

What the Eye Doctor Fills In

Section 2 is for your doctor. How much of it they need to complete depends on your acuity. If your eyes meet the state screening standard but the DMV still wants an exam on file, the doctor only has to complete the Visual Acuity measurements and the Signature block. If your vision falls below the screening standard, the doctor must complete all of Section 2.²

Section 2 covers nine areas:

Refraction, including whether new distance lenses are prescribed, night driving recommendations, and whether you use monovision correction.
Visual acuity for both eyes together, the right eye alone, and the left eye alone, tested without lenses, with lenses, and at best corrected acuity.
Diagnosis, with checkboxes for refractive, developmental, optical, retinal/optic nerve, and visual field conditions, plus space for monocular vision or prior eye surgery.
Prognosis, noting whether the condition is static or progressive, how long it has been stable, and when the DMV should require a new exam (options include one year, two years, five years, or a custom interval).
Visual fields, where the doctor maps the extent of your peripheral vision and any blind spots for each eye.
Visual abnormalities, rated mild, moderate, or severe, for decreased acuity, color deficiency, field loss, reduced depth perception, contrast sensitivity loss, abnormal eye movements, glare problems, and poor night vision.
Advice, confirming the doctor counseled you about how your condition affects driving.
Additional comments, a free-text space.
Signature, with the doctor’s printed name, medical license number, signature, exam date, and contact information.

Check the exam date before you leave the office. The DL 62 must be dated within six months of your driver’s license application date, or the DMV will reject it.²

What the Exam Costs

The DMV doesn’t charge a separate fee to process the DL 62, but the eye exam is on you. Without vision insurance, a comprehensive exam from an optometrist typically runs between $75 and $150 depending on provider and location. With vision insurance, co-pays often bring the cost down to around $25.

Call the office before booking and confirm the appointment will include everything the DL 62 asks for. A basic refraction-only visit may not cover visual field testing or the abnormality ratings the form requires.

How to Submit the Completed Form

Once your doctor signs and dates the form, you are responsible for returning the original DL 62 to the DMV. Bring it in person to a field office. Don’t mail it unless a DMV employee specifically tells you to.⁴ Make a copy for yourself before you turn it in, because you won’t get the original back.

The DMV does not issue a temporary or limited-term license to drivers with low vision while a DL 62 is under review. Until the review is done and the DMV confirms your vision doesn’t impair your ability to drive safely, your driving status stays in limbo.¹ Review can take several weeks, so submit the form as soon as it’s completed.

What the DMV Does with Your Form

The DMV compares your doctor’s findings against the state’s safety thresholds and decides what happens next.

If your acuity meets the 20/40 standard with corrective lenses, the DMV adds a corrective-lens restriction to your license and you’ll need to wear glasses or contacts every time you drive. If you meet the standard without correction, no restriction is added.

If your vision falls below the screening standard, the DMV will schedule a drive test or a Supplemental Driving Performance Evaluation to see whether you can compensate for the vision loss behind the wheel.¹ The regulation requires anyone who failed the field office screening to pass a vision drive test in addition to submitting the DL 62.²

One cutoff is absolute. If your best corrected visual acuity is 20/200 or worse in your better eye, the DMV is prohibited by statute from issuing or renewing your license.⁵ No drive-test performance changes that result.

Depending on what the DL 62 shows, the DMV may also add restrictions beyond corrective lenses, such as daylight-only driving for drivers with poor night vision or severe glare problems, limits on freeway use, geographic radius limits, or a requirement for extra side mirrors if you have peripheral field loss. The DMV mails you its final decision, and any restriction appears as a coded notation on your physical license.

If You Disagree With the DMV’s Decision

If the DMV suspends or revokes your license based on the DL 62 results, you have the right to request a hearing to challenge the action and review the evidence the DMV relied on.¹ Request the hearing promptly after the notice arrives, because your driving privileges stay affected during the review.

Bringing a second DL 62 from a different eye doctor can help if you believe the original exam understated your abilities, though the second exam still has to show acuity that meets the state’s thresholds. If your condition is treatable, cataracts being the common example, having the procedure done and then retesting gives you a concrete path back to a full license instead of an argument over the numbers on the existing form.

A Note for Commercial Drivers

The DL 62 is a California state form for standard driver’s licenses. It does not satisfy federal commercial driver medical certification. If you hold or are applying for a commercial driver’s license for interstate driving, federal standards from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration apply, and certification runs through a medical examiner listed in the FMCSA National Registry rather than through the DL 62.⁶

1
California DMV. Vision Impairment and DMV Requirements
2
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 13 California Code of Regulations 20.03 – Vision Screening
3
California DMV. Report of Vision Examination DL 62 (PDF)
4
California DMV. Forms
5
California Legislative Information. California Code VEH – 12805
6
eCFR. 49 CFR 391.41