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Minnesota driver's license

Get your first license in Minnesota after moving to the US.

How it goes

  1. 1
    You arriveYou have moved to Minnesota and you want to drive here.
  2. 2
    Your permitYou practice on the road with a learner permit.
  3. 3
    The written testYou take the written test.
  4. 4
    Behind the wheelYou take the drive test behind the wheel.
  5. Your licenseYou pass the tests, and the license is yours.

What it costs

A first license

$27.75 for class D, $31.75 for class C, $38.75 for class B, and $46.75 for class A, whether REAL ID-compliant or noncompliant.

  • A filing fee is added on top, set at the same amount a driver's license agent charges.

  • A $2.25 surcharge is added to each fee.

  • $46

You pay this when you apply.

If you just arrived in the US

Your immigration status

Minnesota issues a standard driver's license without proof of immigration status.

Foreign documents with no expiry date

The dates printed on the card decide nothing here: unless you hold a German or Taiwanese license that is valid or expired less than one year, you take both the written and road tests, with a translation if your license is not in English. A Taiwanese license, which prints no expiry date, is shown to be current with an original Verification Certificate of Driver's License from Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications, or an English certificate of validity issued by TECO Chicago within the three months before you apply.

If your license from another state has expired

The remote route applies only if the license expired within the past five years, it expired because another state issued you a license, and you surrender or invalidate that other state's valid license.

Documents you need

  • Documents that are still validA Minnesota license, ID card, or permit issued to you earlier must not have been expired longer than a set limit when you present it with your application.

Your Social Security Number

Giving your number, and who may see it

Collecting it adds security: it cuts identity-theft and fraud risk and protects the integrity of license issuance.

  • Your number stays private, is open only to lawfully authorized users, and is not printed on the card, embedded in it, or stored in its barcode. The state checks your number, name, and date of birth through the SSA's Social Security Online Verification service; applicants not eligible for a number state that on the standard-license application.

  • The application states your Social Security number. If you do not have one, you can choose not to give one when applying for a Minnesota ID card, instruction permit, or a class D provisional or driver's license.

Tests you take

Eye test

For remote processing, the state needs a record of an eyesight exam from the last two years, or a vision certificate on the prescribed form completed within that period and signed by a licensed physician or optometrist — including one who holds a similar license outside the United States.

  • It is a check against minimum vision standards, not a medical exam. You can bring a vision report from your own eye doctor instead of taking the check at the office.

Drive test

Applicants approved through the state's remote process do not take the road exam.

  • The exam includes a real driving demonstration: you show ordinary and reasonable control of a motor vehicle.

  • Yes

Tries you get on the written test

Two consecutive failures on a subject means the third and every later department-administered test on it costs $10.

Practice questions for the written test

The English Class D driver's manual is at assets.dps.mn.gov/files/dvs/dvs-class-d-drivers-manual-english.pdf.

  • DVS names the Class D driver's manual as the study material for the Class D knowledge test.

Using an interpreter

For everything outside the written test, the DVS website's virtual assistant answers questions in English, Hmong, Somali, and Spanish, day and night.

What to bring to the drive test

Who comes with you

A valid, licensed driver comes with you to the road test. During the test itself, only you and the examiner are in the car.

  • During the test, only you and the driver examiner are in the car.

The car and its insurance

You bring the vehicle, with current registration or a valid temporary plate or permit, and proof of insurance — an electronic copy from the insurer counts, and your test date must fall between the proof's issue and expiration dates. Its doors open from inside and outside, the seatbelts work, and the headlights, taillights, brake lights, and turn signals all work.

Where to go

Who gives the tests

A Minnesota driver examiner; no one else is allowed in the car with you during the test.

Booking an appointment

The department's website shows, in real time, which exam appointments are open and where.

  • You can schedule a written or road test at onlineservices.dps.mn.gov/EServices.

Office locations

You can find an office or exam station at onlineservices.dps.mn.gov/EServices.

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Every source, quoted26 sources

Every fact on this page is quoted from the page that publishes it, in the words it uses.

Applying for a driver's license in Minnesota?

Answer a few questions and see the steps that apply to you.

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