PA Permit Physical Form: DL-180 Provider Check, Vision, Consent

The PA permit physical form is the Non-Commercial Learner’s Permit Application, known as the DL-180. It’s a single document that serves as both your application and your medical exam form: you fill out the top yourself, and a healthcare provider completes the medical section on the back after examining you. You can download it from PennDOT’s website or pick one up at any Driver License Center.¹ Both minors and adults use the same form.

What You Fill Out Before the Appointment

Complete the top portion of the DL-180 yourself before you see your provider. You’ll need your full legal name, current home address, Social Security number, and date of birth. These need to match your identification documents exactly. Any mismatch will cause problems later at the Driver License Center, so double-check spellings and numbers against the ID you plan to bring.

Leave the back section blank. That’s the medical portion, and only your healthcare provider can fill it in.

One timing rule catches people off guard. The physical exam cannot be completed more than six months before your 16th birthday, and once completed, the DL-180 is only valid for one year from the date of the exam.² Get the physical too early or wait too long afterward, and you’ll need a new one.

What the Provider Checks on the Back

The physical isn’t a routine wellness visit. PennDOT uses it to confirm you’re physically and mentally capable of controlling a vehicle. Your provider works through a list of conditions that could prevent safe driving and checks a box for each category, noting any specifics:

Neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders affecting brain function, coordination, or judgment
Cardiac and circulatory disorders that could cause sudden incapacitation
Seizure disorders — you must have been seizure-free for at least six months to qualify, with or without medication, and auras alone during that period don’t disqualify you³
Repeated lapses of consciousness, such as narcolepsy
Uncontrolled diabetes
Alcohol or drug abuse that impairs driving
Cognitive impairment or any amputation or condition of a limb that affects vehicle control

If you have a seizure disorder, the provider records the date of your last seizure.⁴ The point of the exam is to identify conditions that need monitoring or accommodation, not to disqualify people unnecessarily.

Vision Requirements

Vision screening is part of the same exam on the DL-180, and PennDOT will run its own vision test at the Driver License Center to confirm the results. Pennsylvania sets its standards by combined visual acuity in both eyes:

20/40 or better combined: you can drive without corrective lenses, but if one eye is worse than 20/40, that eye must be corrected to its best possible acuity⁵
Worse than 20/40 but correctable to 20/40: you can drive with corrective lenses at all times
Correctable only to 20/60: daylight-driving-only restriction
Between 20/60 and 20/70 with best correction: daylight driving may be permitted, but only with a recommendation from a licensed optometrist or physician using proper evaluation equipment
Worse than 20/100 with best correction: you do not qualify to drive

Pennsylvania also requires a combined horizontal field of vision of at least 120 degrees. If your provider finds your vision below the 20/40 threshold, they’ll check the box for a Report of Eye Examination, and you’ll likely need a separate evaluation from an optometrist or ophthalmologist before PennDOT will process your application.

The Consent Form for Applicants Under 18

If you’re under 18, a second form goes with the DL-180: the Parent or Guardian Consent Form, known as the DL-180TD. A parent, legal guardian, person in loco parentis, or spouse who is at least 18 must complete and sign it.¹

How they sign depends on whether they can come to the Driver License Center with you. If they can, they sign in front of the license examiner. If they can’t, they must sign in front of a notary before you go.⁶ Notary fees for a single signature typically run between $5 and $15. Getting the form signed ahead of time saves you a return trip if schedules don’t line up.

Bringing the Completed Form In

Once the DL-180 is filled out on both sides, you take it to a PennDOT Driver License Center in person. There’s no mail or online option. Bring:

The original DL-180 with the provider’s signature and date on the back — photocopies and scanned printouts won’t be accepted¹
The DL-180TD if you’re under 18, either notarized or ready to be signed at the center
Original proof of date of birth and identity. A valid U.S. passport or passport card works; other acceptable documents are listed on the back of the DL-180
Your signed Social Security card
Two proofs of residency if you’re 18 or older, such as utility bills, a W-2, tax records, a lease, or mortgage documents²
$45.50, which covers the initial permit and a four-year license. PennDOT accepts debit cards, credit cards, checks, and money orders, but no cash⁷

The no-cash rule trips people up more than any other detail. A debit card is the simplest option if you’d rather not deal with checks or money orders. Staff will review your paperwork and run their own vision screening to confirm what your provider documented on the DL-180. If results don’t match or your vision has changed since the exam, you may need additional evaluation before the application moves forward.

1
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Get a Learner’s Permit
2
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Driver’s Manual – Applying for a Learner’s Permit
3
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. 67 Pa. Code 83.4 – Seizure Disorder
4
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Pennsylvania Non-Commercial Learner’s Permit Application (DL-180)
5
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. 67 Pa. Code 83.3 – Visual Standards
6
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Parent or Guardian Consent Form (DL-180TD)
7
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Payments and Fees