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New Hampshire driver's license

Get your first license in New Hampshire after moving to the US.

How it goes

  1. 1
    You arriveYou have moved to New Hampshire 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

Your original license and examination cost $60 for a Real ID compliant license or $50 for any other license; these amounts do not cover commercial vehicle or motorcycle licenses.

  • $50 Operator (not federally compliant), $60 REAL ID Operator (federally compliant), $10 a year Youth Operator, $10 a year Non-US Citizen

You pay this when you apply.

If you just arrived in the US

Foreign documents with no expiry date

New Hampshire checks only that your home-country license is genuine, was issued to you, and is not under suspension or revocation — the date on it is not one of the checks. You take the full vision, knowledge, and road tests either way.

If your license from another state has expired

You apply for a new license and pass the state's required tests: a vision test, a written knowledge test, and a driving road test.

Your Social Security Number

Giving your number, and who may see it

The state shares your Social Security number only with other states for driver-record purposes, with the national driver information repository, and — case by case — with law enforcement for an investigation or with health and human services for child support enforcement.

  • You cannot be required to give your Social Security number for Selective Service registration.

Tests you take

Eye test

To pass, you must be able to read the 20/40 vision line with both eyes.

  • You look into an eye machine and read a series of letters or numbers. If you wear glasses or contact lenses to pass, you must wear them at all times while driving; if you fail, an eye doctor must certify that you are visually capable of operating a motor vehicle.

Drive test

The DMV gives three licensing tests: a vision test, a knowledge test, and a road test.

  • A road test is part of getting your first license, and it is scheduled when you successfully complete the knowledge test.

Tries you get on the written test

If you run out of time or miss too many questions, the knowledge test ends automatically, and you can book a retest no sooner than ten days from that date.

  • The knowledge exam questions are completely random, so you will not see the same exam if you retake the test.

  • The knowledge test ends automatically if you go over the time limit or miss too many questions, and you can ask for a retest appointment no sooner than ten days from that date.

  • If you fail an exam, you wait ten calendar days to retest as an Operator or Motorcycle applicant, and five calendar days as a CDL applicant.

  • If you are caught cheating on the knowledge test, or talking with anyone other than authorized licensing staff during it, you are disqualified at once and rescheduled no sooner than 30 days later. The same penalty applies to you if your interpreter is caught, and you cannot come back with that same interpreter.

Practice questions for the written test

Alongside the driver's manual, you can review New Hampshire's motor vehicle laws themselves: Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA) sections 259 through 269 under Title 21.

  • The driver's manual (DSMV 360) ends with a self test — Section 12, "Test Your Knowledge" — of 100 fill-in-the-blank items drawn from the manual, with no answer key published.

  • The New Hampshire Driver's Manual is published at https://www.dmv.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt416/files/inline-documents/nhdm.pdf.

  • The state's Driver's Manual is written to help you learn to drive, and each section is meant to be studied together with training and practice out on the road.

Using an interpreter

You can take the knowledge test in eight languages, including audio, but during the road test only you and the DMV Licensing Examiner may be in the vehicle, so no interpreter can ride with you.

  • The rules allow an interpreter for the knowledge test, including an oral exam given through an interpreter, but during the road skills test only you, the examiner and, if applicable, an examiner in training may ride in the vehicle.

What to bring to the drive test

Who comes with you

A properly licensed driver must drive the test vehicle for you to and from the testing site, and that person should stay there until your road test is done.

  • You need a properly licensed driver to bring the test vehicle to and from the testing site, and they should stay at the site until your road test is complete.

The car and its insurance

Only you and the authorized Division of Motor Vehicles employee may ride in the vehicle during the road test.

  • The vehicle must be of the proper class for the type of license you are being tested for.

  • The vehicle must be fully registered and in safe operating condition.

  • The vehicle must be fully registered, in safe operating condition, and of the proper class for the license you are testing for; if it needs an inspection sticker, the sticker must be up to date.

Where to go

Who gives the tests

You call the DMV at 603-227-4000 to make an appointment for the road skills test.

  • An authorized Division of Motor Vehicles employee rides in the vehicle with you and gives the road test.

  • Department of Safety personnel conduct all license examinations, including the road skills exam.

Booking an appointment

You can book online at https://wb-nhdmv.qmatic.cloud/qmaticwebbooking/index.html#/.

  • The DMV's appointments and services page is at https://www.dmv.nh.gov/appointments-and-services.

  • You make an appointment online at https://wb-nhdmv.qmatic.cloud/qmaticwebbooking/index.html#/.

  • You can look up an appointment you already have at https://wb-nhdmv.qmatic.cloud/qmaticwebbooking/index.html#/search.

Office locations

The DMV lists all its offices at https://www.dmv.nh.gov/hours-and-locations/dmv-locations.

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Every source, quoted33 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 New Hampshire?

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

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