This is not legal advice and we are not the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles or any state agency. Rules and fees change. Confirm anything that affects you on the DMV site before you go.
The path
New York's first step for a new driver is a learner permit. You must be 16 or older to apply. See the learner permit page.
The Class D operator license starts at age 18. Age 17 is enough if you finished driver education. Under 18, the license you earn is usually Class DJ, a junior operator license. Ages are in Chapter 1 of the Driver's Manual.
- Study the New York State Driver's Manual.
- Complete form MV-44, the Application for Driver License.
- Bring proofs of your name, your date of birth, and your Social Security number.
- Pass the vision test and the written test, then pay the fee.
- Practice with a supervising driver who is at least 21.
- Finish the 5-hour Pre-Licensing Course, or a driver education course.
- If you are under 18, hold the permit for six months and certify your practice.
- Pass the road test.
Those steps come from the learner permit page and the driver licenses chapter. The fee depends on your age and your date of birth. Those pages do not print a dollar amount.
What to bring
Bring your papers to a DMV office. The core list is in the driver licenses chapter.
- Application — completed form MV-44.
- Your name — documents that total six points or more. At least one must show your signature.
- Your date of birth — one original or certified copy from the DMV list.
- Your Social Security number — you provide it with the application.
- English — every proof is in English, or it has a certified English translation.
You need six points of name proof, and at least one proof must be signed. Age can be shown with one original or certified document, such as a birth certificate or a U.S. passport. Details are in the same chapter.
Form MV-45 is a parent or guardian statement for an applicant under 21. That rule is in the driver licenses chapter.
If you use MV-45, that parent or guardian must go with you. Sign it at the office, in front of a DMV worker. Do not sign it before you arrive. The permit-test page says this.
Your permit will be Standard, Enhanced, or REAL ID. The type depends on your proofs and the fee. That is on the permit-test page.
For a REAL ID, bring two proofs of your New York residence. A P.O. box is not accepted. You must go to a DMV office. You cannot get a REAL ID online, by phone, or by mail. See the driver licenses chapter.
Beginning May 7, 2025, a license you use to board a U.S. flight must be a REAL ID or an Enhanced license, or you need another ID the federal government accepts. The printed Driver's Manual names May 3, 2023 for that rule. The chapter on the DMV website is the current word.
The learner permit
The DMV issues your learner permit after you pass the vision test and the written test and pay the fees. You can then start to practice. That is in the driver licenses chapter.
The vision test calls for 20/40 vision in at least one eye. Corrective lenses are allowed. If you cannot pass, contact a DMV call center. Same chapter.
A learner permit is valid for about 5 years. The exact date depends on your birthday and the day you apply. See the learner permit page.
Who must ride with you
You may not drive alone on a learner permit, at any age. Your supervising driver must be at least 21 and licensed for your vehicle. That person sits in the front seat. Rules are on the learner permit restrictions page.
Some roads are closed to every learner permit. Do not drive in a DMV road test area. Do not drive on a street inside a New York City park. Do not use a bridge or tunnel run by the Tri-borough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. In Westchester County, stay off the Cross County, Hutchinson River, Saw Mill River, and Taconic State parkways. Same restrictions page.
If you are under 18, a junior permit adds tighter hours and a shorter list of supervisors. Those rules are later on this page, and on the restrictions page.
The written permit test
The written test covers the rules of the road and safe driving techniques. It also covers road signs and the laws about alcohol and drugs while driving. That wording is in the driver licenses chapter.
The Driver's Manual prints the pass mark in its own words. You must get at least 14 of the 20 questions right. You must also get two of the four road-sign questions right. The manual does not print a time limit. Same chapter.
Class D permit tests are given in 20 languages. The list is on the permit-test page.
- English, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, and Bosnian.
- Chinese, French, Greek, Haitian Creole, and Hebrew.
- Italian, Japanese, Korean, Nepali, and Polish.
- Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, and Yiddish.
At a DMV office, the Class D test can be on a touch screen or on paper. That is in the driver licenses chapter.
If you are under 18, you may take the permit test online. After you pass online, wait three business days before your office visit. If you go sooner, you must take the test again at the office. See the permit-test page.
Students age 15 years and 11 months may take the written test at a participating high school. The program is the Online Knowledge Test Application. It is offered in English and Spanish. You must be at least 16 to carry the passing receipt to an office and apply. If you fail at school, you may retry as many times as the school allows. All of that is in the driver licenses chapter.
These pages do not print a fee for another try at the office test. Study the Driver's Manual and the DMV page of road signs you must know.
On this site, a practice test shaped like the real test has 20 questions, with 6 misses allowed. That is the manual's rule of 14 right out of 20. The road-sign questions allow only two misses, out of four. The rule is in the driver licenses chapter.
Practice that test here, free. A right answer passes without comment. A miss is explained where it happens, because that is the moment it teaches.
Moving here with a license
If you become a New York resident, you must get a New York driver license within 30 days. That is on the moving page.
Living here for 90 days is presumptive evidence that you are a resident. The DMV uses that phrase on its exchange page.
You can exchange a photo license from another U.S. state or territory, a federal district, or a Canadian province. It must be valid, or expired for less than 24 months. It must have been issued at least 6 months before you apply. Same exchange page.
This exchange is in person only. You pass a vision test, or you bring a completed Eye Test Report, form MV-619. You turn in the out-of-state license and pay the fee. The DMV gives you a temporary non-photo document. Allow 2 weeks for the photo license to arrive. It is valid for up to 5 years. Same exchange page.
The driver licenses chapter is stricter about an old license. It says a license expired more than one year ago means you also take the written test and the road test. It says the same if the license has been valid for less than six months. The exchange page is the current word, and it uses 24 months.
A new resident also shows proof of name and date of birth and provides a Social Security card, then passes the vision test. That line is in the driver licenses chapter.
If your license is from a country other than Canada, this exchange does not apply. You pass the vision test and finish the pre-licensing course. You also pass a written test and a road test. When you pass the road test, you give your foreign license to the examiner. Same chapter.
People under 16 cannot drive in New York, even with a license from another place. Same chapter.
Students from elsewhere who attend school in New York are normally not residents. They do not have to exchange a license. See the moving page.
From learner permit to driver license
You must finish an approved pre-licensing course before you can book a road test. The course is about 5 hours. A 48-hour driver education course at a high school or college fills the same requirement. See the pre-licensing course page.
You need a learner permit before the course starts. The classroom course and the live virtual course are for age 16 and older. The online course is only for age 18 or older. Same course page.
A classroom or virtual course gives you form MV-278. That certificate is valid for one year. A driver education Student Certificate of Completion is valid for two years. The certificate must still be valid on the day you schedule the road test. If the pre-licensing certificate expires, you take the course again. Same course page.
The online course does not give you a paper certificate. The provider reports your completion to the DMV, usually within 48 hours. The scheduling system will not ask you for a certificate. Same course page.
The Point & Insurance Reduction Program does not meet this requirement. People also call it an accident prevention course or a defensive driving course. That note is in the driver licenses chapter.
Before the road test, it is important to have at least 50 hours of practice, with at least 15 hours after sunset. The manual recommends that at least 10 of those hours be in moderate or heavy traffic. See the driver licenses chapter.
If you hold a Class DJ or MJ learner permit, those 50 hours are required. A parent or guardian certifies them on form MV-262. You bring that form to the examiner. If you are under 18, you also wait at least six months from the day you received the permit before you schedule. See pre-licensing requirements.
The Driver's Manual says a junior permit must stay valid for six months. Time while it is suspended or revoked does not count. That line is in the Driver's Manual.
At the road test you hand the examiner your photo learner permit. You also hand in MV-278, or you already have MV-285 on file from driver education. Junior drivers also hand in MV-262. See the driver licenses chapter.
When you pass, an interim license is available online. Keep it with your photo permit. Your photo driver license arrives by mail in about 2 weeks. Same chapter.
Your first New York driver license lasts no more than 5 years. It expires on your birth month and birth day. Same chapter.
A Class DJ license lets you drive a vehicle with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less. A Class D license lets you drive a vehicle with a GVWR of 26,000 pounds or less. Same chapter.
At 17, a junior license plus a state-approved driver education course makes you eligible for Class D. Your MV-285 must be on file, and you bring your junior license to an office. If you do not make that change, junior rules last until you are 18. You can also hand the junior permit to the examiner at the road test. A senior license follows when you become eligible. Same chapter.
If you are 18 or older when you pass the road test, you are on probation for six months. Speeding, reckless driving, and any two traffic violations are among the offenses that suspend the license for 60 days. The Driver's Manual lists the full set.
If you change your address, tell the DMV within 10 days. Use form MV-232 by mail, or visit an office. The driver licenses chapter also names MyDMV. Several DMV pages, including the learner permit page, say the online address change is currently unavailable.
If you are under 18
Under 18, New York uses a graduated license. The rules change by region: New York City, Long Island, and upstate. Upstate means every county north of the New York City line. Long Island means Nassau and Suffolk counties. New York City is the five boroughs. See the graduated license page.
Junior permit
On a junior permit, only your supervising driver may sit in the front seat. You may not carry more than one passenger under 21. Immediate family is the usual exception. You may also carry more young passengers if your supervisor is a parent, a guardian, or a person in loco parentis. A driver education teacher or a driving school instructor counts the same way. Everyone wears a seat belt, one person per belt. See learner permit restrictions.
- New York City, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Your supervisor must be a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, or driving school instructor. That person must be at least 21. The vehicle must have dual brakes.
- New York City, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. You must not drive.
- Long Island, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. The same supervisors are allowed. A parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis can also name another driver in writing. That driver must be at least 21 and licensed for your vehicle.
- Long Island, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. You must not drive.
- Upstate, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Any driver who is at least 21 and licensed for your vehicle may supervise.
- Upstate, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Only a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, or driving school instructor may supervise. That person must be at least 21.
These hour rules are on the learner permit restrictions page.
Junior license
A junior license is Class DJ or Class MJ. In New York City you cannot drive in the five boroughs with that license. See the graduated license page.
The DMV says junior permit holders who will drive a lot in New York City should delay the road test until their 18th birthday. That city ban does not apply to a 17-year-old with a Class D license after approved driver education. Same page.
On Long Island, a junior license still means a supervisor for most trips. From 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., alone driving is only a direct trip between home and an allowed place. Allowed places include your job, farm work, driver education, and certain school programs. Those programs are work-study, a college course, and a registered evening high school. A work trip requires form MV-58A, the Certificate of Employment, in the car. From 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., the job is not an alone trip. At those hours you may drive alone only for the school, farm, or driver education trips. Same graduated license page.
Upstate, you may drive alone from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. From 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. you may drive alone only between home and work, or home and a school course. Any other night driving needs a parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis. Same page.
The passenger cap still applies on a junior license. No more than one passenger under 21, unless they are immediate family. More passengers under 21 are allowed when a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, or instructor is supervising. A driver education teacher or driving school instructor counts too. Seat belts stay one person per belt. Same page.
A junior permit or license can be suspended for 60 days after one serious violation, or after two other violations. A serious violation normally carries three or more points. A first conviction for a cell phone or for texting suspends the permit or license for 120 days. A second conviction within six months of getting the license back can mean a revocation of at least one year. Same graduated license page.
Road-test day
Schedule the road test online, or call 1-518-402-2100. Have your learner permit with you when you schedule. If your course was in person, MV-278 must be in hand or MV-285 must be on file before you book. See the driver licenses chapter.
The DMV can cancel a road test for bad weather. Check the DMV website before you leave. Same chapter.
Bring a vehicle that is registered, inspected, and insured. It must be in good working order. That includes the doors and the seat belts. The passenger-side belt must be available and clean for the examiner. Same chapter.
If you drive to the site, bring a supervising driver who is at least 21. That person needs a license valid for the vehicle you will drive. Same chapter.
Parallel parking is part of every road test. You may be asked to make a three-point turn. Both points are in the Driver's Manual.
You may not use parking assist or cruise control on the driving test. That limit is in the Driver's Manual.
At the end, the examiner tells you how to get your result. An interim license that lets you drive is posted online. Keep it with your photo learner permit. Your photo driver license comes by mail in about 2 weeks. See the driver licenses chapter.
Practice the written test here
Free practice is real practice. Answers show where they come from. The test-like mode stays quiet on a right answer and explains every miss.