How to Start a Driving School in Virginia: Licensing, Vehicles, and Approval

To start a driving school in Virginia, you need a license from the Department of Motor Vehicles, and getting one means forming a business entity, qualifying your instructors, securing a compliant office and vehicles, getting your curriculum approved, and passing an on-site DMV inspection before you enroll a single student. The school license itself costs $100 per year, but the real work is meeting every facility, vehicle, insurance, bonding, and staffing standard before you submit the application. The DMV has 30 business days to approve or deny a properly completed package, and incomplete packages get sent back.

Decide Which License Class You Need

Virginia issues two classes of driver training school licenses, and they cover different vehicles.

Class B covers training in standard passenger vehicles. This is the typical driving school teaching teens and adults to drive cars. Motorcycles are not included.
Class A covers training in commercial motor vehicles — tractor-trailers, buses, and other CDL vehicles. Instructor qualifications and training hours are more demanding.

Most new schools are Class B, and the requirements below focus on that path, though much of the framework applies to both.¹

Form Your Business Entity

If your school will operate as an LLC, corporation, or partnership, you must register with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and include proof of that registration in your DMV application.² Forming a Virginia LLC through the SCC costs $100.³

You will also need a federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS, which you can get at no cost by filing Form SS-4 online. If you plan to hire instructors as employees, get the EIN before you run payroll, and report any change to your responsible party to the IRS within 60 days.⁴

A warning on instructor classification. Because Virginia requires instructors to follow DMV-approved curricula, use school vehicles, and work under the school’s license, most driving instructors will likely be employees rather than independent contractors under the IRS tests for behavioral control, financial control, and the nature of the relationship.⁵ Misclassifying them can expose you to back employment taxes, including withholding, Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment.

Qualify Yourself and Your Instructors

Virginia holds owners and instructors to personal standards that go well beyond holding a driver’s license. Every instructor must be at least 21 years old and must document at least five years of licensed driving experience, with a minimum of two years in the United States.⁶ Instructors must hold a valid driver’s license from their state of residence throughout the entire time they hold the instructor license.

Driving records matter. Instructors cannot have more than six demerit points when licensed. Any of the following convictions in the five years before applying is an automatic disqualifier: DUI, reckless driving, refusal to take a breath or blood test, and vehicular or involuntary manslaughter.⁶ A suspended, revoked, or expired license at the time of application also results in denial.

Every instructor applicant, and every school owner or principal, must submit a national criminal records check completed within 60 days of the application date.⁷ Class B instructors must hold at least a high school diploma or GED and be able to communicate effectively in English, and all instructors must complete training on the current approved curriculum before teaching students.

One detail that trips up new owners: an instructor must already be employed by a licensed school at the time of application. Nobody can get an instructor license first and then shop for a school. That means your school license needs to be in process or approved before your instructors can file. Instructor license fees were set at $75 per person as of a 2025 legislative change.

Secure a Compliant Office and Classroom

Your school must have an established place of business in Virginia that is owned, rented, or leased by the school. The office needs space used exclusively for the school, a desk, chairs, filing space, working utilities, and a telephone listed in the school’s name. It must be open to the public at least eight hours per week during normal business hours.⁸

A home office can work, but only if the residence qualifies for a federal tax deduction for business use and meets every other office requirement. The office cannot share space with a classroom, and the whole location has to comply with federal, state, and local building codes, including ADA accessibility.

If you offer classroom instruction, the classroom needs seating and writing surfaces for every student, a blackboard or visual aid visible from all seats, current curriculum guides and textbooks per student, working audio and video equipment, and clean, accessible restrooms.

Check the location rule before you sign a lease. Your school — any office, classroom, or practice area — must be at least 1,500 feet from any DMV property used for driver examinations, measured in a straight line. Sign without checking and you may have to relocate before the DMV will license you.

Equip and Insure Your Vehicles

Every vehicle used for behind-the-wheel instruction has to meet strict equipment requirements, and the DMV must inspect and approve each one before students ever ride in it.⁹

Dual brakes on the passenger side so the instructor can stop the car.
A dual inside rearview mirror plus outside mirrors on both the right and left sides.
A rooftop sign in bold letters at least two and a half inches tall, visible from 100 feet front and rear, reading “Student Driver,” “Learner,” “New Driver,” “Driver Education,” or “Caution-Student.”
The school’s name as it appears on the license, displayed on the rooftop sign or on both sides of the vehicle.
A model year no more than nine years old, though the DMV may waive this for vehicles specially equipped for disabled students.
At least four safety belts.

You must carry insurance on every instruction vehicle at or above the minimums required by Virginia Code § 46.2-472, through an insurer authorized to do business in Virginia. File a Vehicle Insurance Certification (Form DTS-005) confirming each vehicle in your fleet carries at least the required minimum insurance.10 That form verifies insurance; the DMV handles the physical vehicle inspection separately.

Get Your Curriculum Approved

You don’t get to teach whatever you want. Class B school curricula must comply with the Curriculum and Administrative Guide for Driver Education in Virginia published by the Virginia Department of Education, plus any additional DMV requirements.¹¹ Submit your proposed curriculum with the license application; the DMV must approve it before any instruction begins.

In-vehicle instruction has its own rules. No more than three students may be in the car during a lesson, and generally at least two must be present, an observer and a driver. Students 18 and older can receive one-on-one instruction if the enrollment contract allows it. Students under 18 need a signed parental or guardian release for one-on-one lessons, and students under 19 may only receive behind-the-wheel instruction alongside other students who are also under 19.

Submit the Application and Pass Inspection

The complete package you mail to the DMV must include:⁷

A completed school license application covering business structure, ownership, and planned operations.
The $100 school license fee, which covers a one-year license and applies to renewals as well.
A surety bond payable to the Commonwealth of Virginia, issued by a corporation licensed to transact surety business in the state. The bond amount is set by statute for each license class.
A certificate of insurance on every instruction vehicle meeting at least the Virginia Code § 46.2-472 minimums.
A separate application and national criminal records check for each instructor.
A local business license or zoning documentation, or a letter from local authorities confirming none is required.
National criminal records checks for every owner, principal, manager, instructor, and other employee, completed within 60 days of submission.

Mail the package to the DMV Driver Training Work Center at P.O. Box 27412, Richmond, VA 23269-0001.¹² The DMV will approve or deny a properly completed application within 30 business days of receipt. If anything is missing, the package comes back and the clock restarts when you resubmit.

During that window, the DMV processes background checks, reviews your curriculum, and schedules an on-site inspection of your office, classroom, and vehicles. Once you pass, the DMV issues your license.

Keep Your License: Records, Renewal, and the Cost of Operating Unlicensed

Virginia requires every driving school to maintain student records, business records, and other records at its established place of business for at least three years, in paper, electronic, or microfilm form, retrievable systematically and available to the DMV during business hours or at other reasonable times.¹³ Student records must be stored securely, accessible only to school employees. If you cannot produce records showing a student completed a course, Virginia law presumes they did not, which can trigger complaints and enforcement.

Renew the school license annually for $100. Your bond and insurance must remain active the entire time your school operates; a lapse in either can result in suspension. All instructors must attend annual DMV training sessions after their initial licensure.⁶ If your school address changes, notify the DMV at least 30 days in advance.

Do not operate without a license while you wait on paperwork. Willfully running a driving school or teaching without the required DMV license is a Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. A third or subsequent conviction within 36 months becomes a Class 6 felony.¹⁴ The penalties apply to owners and instructors alike. The statute requires willfulness, but collecting fees for instruction without a license is strong evidence of intent.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC20-121-10 – Definitions
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1701 – Licenses Required for School and Instructor; Fees
3
Virginia State Corporation Commission. Virginia Limited Liability Companies
4
Internal Revenue Service. About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number (EIN)
5
Internal Revenue Service. Worker Classification 101: Employee or Independent Contractor
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC20-121-100 – General Instructor Licensing Requirements
7
Virginia Law. Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC20-121-60 – School Licensing Requirements
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC20-121-20 – Business Office and Classroom Requirements
9
Legal Information Institute. Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC20-121-220 – Equipment Requirements>
10
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Virginia Driver Training School Vehicle Insurance Certification
11
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC20-121-200 – Curriculum Requirements for Class B Licensed Schools
12
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Two-Year School License Application
13
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1701.3 – Records to Be Maintained; Certification of Classes
14
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1707 – Unlawful Acts; Prosecution; Proceedings in Equity