You must be at least 16 years and 3 months of age to obtain a Virginia driver's license, and if this is your first driver's license and you are between the ages of 15 years 6 months and 19, you will need to apply for a Virginia learners permit which requires a vision test and a written exam on traffic signs, motor vehicle laws and safe driving techniques.

When you receive a valid Virginia learner’s permit, then you will then need to pass a road skills test to receive a Virginia driver’s license.

If you are age 19 or older, you must provide proof of successful completion of a state-approved driver education program or you must hold a learner's permit at least 30 days before taking the road skills test.

If you are under age 19, you must provide proof of successful completion of a state-approved driver education program and you must hold a learner's permit at least nine months before you can receive a driver's license.

If you are under age 18, you must provide a driver education completion certificate or show proof of your successful completion of a state-approved driver education program. Along with, your parent or guardian certified that you have received at least 45 hours of driving practice, 15 hours of which have been completed after sunset.

The Virginia DMV requires that all applicants must pass a written exam on traffic signs, motor vehicle laws and safe driving techniques. If you fail the exam, you must take the test again with the charge of re-examination fee.

New residents with an out-of-state license must obtain a Virginia license within 60 days of establishing a permanent residence in Virginia. Be sure to take the license from your former state as you will be required to surrender it in order to obtain the new license in the DMV office.

The written exam and road skills test are may not required to change a valid out-of-state license to a Virginia driver's license, but you will need to pass a vision test.

Under the age of 19 - your out-of-state driver's education may be accepted if it was successfully completed while residing in that state and the program meets a minimum of 30 classroom hours and six in-car hours.

If you hold a current out-of-state driver's license but do not have proof of driver's education, you may be issued a Virginia six-month temporary license. If the out-of-state license has been expired for more than one year, then you will have to take the vision test, written test and road test and should make an appointment for the exam.

If you are a non-resident temporarily living in Virginia, you may drive with your home state or country driver's license and license plates for no more than six months. If you become gainfully employed, you are required to hold a Virginia driver's license.

If you are age 19 or older and you hold a valid driver's license issued by a country other than Canada, France or Germany, you may not be required to show proof of successful completion of driver education or hold a learner's permit for 30 days. You should pass the two-part knowledge exam, road skills test and a vision screening.

Before you leave to the Virginia DMV Office, make sure you have all the required documents to get your driver's license:

Before applying for an intermediate license, the driver must be at least 16 years and 3 months old, and not allowed to drive between the hours of midnight to 4 AM. For the first 12 months, the licensee isn't allowed to have more than one passenger under the age of 18, after that, the licensee may not have more than 3 passengers under the age of 18.

When all your licensing requirements have been met, you will receive your new:

CDL Endorsements are required for double/triple trailers, tanker vehicles, passenger vehicles and vehicles placarded for hazardous materials. If you live in Virginia and drive a Class A, B or C commercial vehicle, you must have a Virginia Commercial Driver License (CDL).

To operate a commercial vehicle in one of the following classifications, you must have a Virginia CDL Endorsement.

Class A License - This classification applies only to combination vehicles with a Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR) exceeding 26,000 pounds provided the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed exceeds 10,000 pounds. The holder of a Class A license, which includes any appropriate endorsements, may operate all vehicles included in Class B, C, and D.

Class B License - This class includes single or combination vehicles where the GVWR of the single vehicle exceeds 26,000 pounds. The vehicle in tow must not exceed 10,000 pounds. Class B licensees, with appropriate endorsements, may drive all vehicles in Class C or D.

Class C License – This class includes vehicles designed to transport 16 or more passengers, including the driver, and vehicles placarded for hazardous materials, that do not meet the criteria for Class A or B above fall under this classification and may drive all vehicles in Class D.

If you wish to operate a school bus designed to carry fewer than 16 occupants, including the driver, you do not need to obtain a commercial driver's license. However, you will need to take the commercial driver and school bus tests to obtain the school bus endorsement on your driver's license. You will be restricted to driving a bus designed to carry fewer than 16 passengers.

Commercial driver's license requirements don't apply to:

Operators of farm vehicles when:

You will have to take one or more knowledge tests, depending on what class of license and what endorsements you need. All CDL applicants must take the general knowledge test.

You may take the CDL knowledge exam(s) only once per business day. If you fail any knowledge exam, you must pay a $2 re-examination fee if you retake the exam within 15 days.

There are three types of general skills that will be tested:

You must take these tests in the type of vehicle for which you wish to be licensed.

Pre-Trip Vehicle Inspection: You will be tested to see whether your vehicle is safe to drive. You will be asked to do a pre-trip inspection of your vehicle and explain to the examiner what you would inspect and why.

Basic Vehicle Control: You will be tested on your skill to control the vehicle. You will be asked to move your vehicle forward, backward, and turn it, etc, within a defined area. These areas will be marked with traffic lanes, cones, barriers, or something similar to it. The examiner will tell you how each control test is to be done.

On-road Test: You will be tested on your skill of how safely you can drive your vehicle in a variety of traffic situations. The situations may include left and right turns, intersections, railway crossings, curves, up and down grades, and single or multi-lane roads, streets, or highways. The examiner will tell you where to drive.

You must be at least 18 years of age to hold a CDL. Under federal law, you must be a commercial driver at least 21 years of age to:

If you are under 21 years of age, you may be issued a CDL with an L restriction. This restriction indicates that your driving privileges are valid only in Virginia.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require drivers to pass a physical examination once every 2 years. The main physical requirements include:

To apply for a CDL or CDL instruction permit, you must show two proofs of identity, only one primary document if you are under age 19

Your Virginia CDL is valid for eight years and expires on your birthday. Your first license will expire on your birthday in the eight year of license validity.

Anyone who drives a motorcycle must have a Class M motorcycle license or motorcycle instruction permit, under Virginia DMV guidelines,

If you already hold a valid Virginia driver's license without a motorcycle designation, you may add Class M that will allow you to also operate a motorcycle. To obtain the motorcycle designation, you must:

If you are under 19, you must also:

Providing a Virginia Rider Training Program certificate of completion that is issued after July 1, 2007 will exempt you from taking the motorcycle knowledge exam and road skills test for a period of one year from course completion.

If you are under 19, you must provide proof of successful completion of an approved driver education program before receiving any Virginia driver's license, even if you are applying for a motorcycle-only license. This is a separate program from the Virginia Rider Training Program.

The Virginia DMV requires that all applicants should pass

If you fail the exam, you have to wait at least until the next day to take the test again and with the charge for re-examination fee.

Before you leave to the Virginia DMV Office, make sure you have the required documents to get your motorcycle license; like

When your licensing requirements have been met, a Class M endorsement will be added to your driver's license. The safe operation of a motorcycle requires