Pro tip: Whether you're navigating Connecticut's coastal routes or the countryside, driving skillfully is key. Delve into our guides for manual transmission techniques and perfecting parallel parking. Familiarize yourself with methods for backing into spots and three-point turns. Ensure your mirrors are set properly for safety. Our Online Driving Simulator is an excellent tool for practice, and international drivers should acquaint themselves with Connecticut's international driver's license protocol.
Choose documents from this list for a regular learner's permit or this list for a Drive Only permit. Your documents must verify the following:
A teen or intermediate driver license is the second stage of Connecticut Graduated Driver's License Program. A teen driver license allows you to drive unsupervised but with significant restrictions at first (they will be lifted when you turn 18):
Complete your driver training
Hold your instructon permit for 120 or 180 days
You can apply for the license after 120 days if you get at least 30 hours classroom and 8 hours behind-the-wheel practice with a CT licensed commercial or high school.
If you are home trained, you must wait for 180 days before applying for the license.
Schedule the road test
Choose a DMV HUB office and make an appointment online in advance. Alternatively, you can take the road test at a commercial or high school. If you pass the road test at your school, wait for 48 hours before providing the DMV with your passed Road Test Evaluation Report.
Bring the following for the road test
Pass the road test
If you fail the road test, wait at least 14 days before taking it again and pay the $40 retesting fee.Pay the license fee
$72.00 by card, check or cash when you pass the road test.
Get your teen driver’s license
You will receive a temporary card in the office. DMV will mail you the permanent driver's license within 20 days. You can track the delivery of your card here. When you turn 18, the restrictions on your unsupervised driving will expire, and your teen driver license will be effectively a full adult driver license. When your license expires in six years, renew it and you will be issued a new adult driver license.
Before you get the license, you must apply for a learner’s permit regardless of your age. In most cases you will have to hold the permit for 90 days prior to taking a road test.
First timer? Start with Step 1.
Teen license holder? When you turn 18, the restrictions on your unsupervised driving expire, and your teen driver license is effectively a full adult driver license, so there is no need to exchange it.
Learner's permit holder? Start with Step 8.
Choose documents from this list for a regular learner's permit or this list for a Drive Only permit. Your documents must verify the following:
If you have changed your name, you must also have Social Security update your name, fill out and provide a Change of Name or Name Correction Request (Form E-78) to the DMV and certified documentation that verifies your change of name (such as a marriage certificate or divorce decree).
No walk-ins are accepted at DMV HUB offices, you are required to schedule your test appointment online and pay the testing fee of $40.00 (It covers knowledge, vision and road tests). Note that you have to pay this fee each time you retake the test.
Bring completed Application for Non-Commercial Learner's Permit and/or Driver's License (form R-229) with the supporting documents mentioned above and a copy of your appointment verification.
Your minimum vision acuity should be 20/40 or better, with or without corrective lenses.
It's a 25-question multiple-choice test. If you fail it, reschedule online, but your new date must be no earlier than 7 days from your failed knowledge test date.
However, you are not required to hold it for 90 days if any of the following apply to you:
You must take an eight-hour Safe Driving Practices course offered by a commercial or secondary driving school and receive a certificate of course completion (Form CS-1). You do not have to do it if you held a Connecticut driver's license once before and it expired more than two years ago.
This exam will test your ability to drive safely and accurately. The test will last 15-20 minutes.
You are required to make an appointment online in advance. Road tests are offered at Bridgeport, Danbury, Enfield, Hamden, Old Saybrook, Waterbury, Wethersfield and Willimantic DMV offices. If you are unable to keep your driver's license road test appointment, you must reschedule online, otherwise you will lose your prepaid testing fee.
Bring the vehicle that satisfies the following requirements:
The examiner may also ask you to perform any of the following maneuvers:
These errors mean you fail your test on the spot
Good news! If either of the following applies to you, you do not require a Connecticut license:
You must transfer your out-of-state license in person at a DMV Hub (full-service) office on a walk-in basis (no appointment necessary). To locate a nearby DMV Hub office, you can use this map of DMV offices.
If you have changed your name, you must also have Social Security update your name, fill out and provide a Change of Name or Name Correction Request (Form E-78) to the DMV and certified documentation that verifies your change of name (such as a marriage certificate or divorce decree).
You will receive a temporary card in the office. DMV will mail you the permanent driver's license within 20 days. You can track the delivery of your card here. A regular adult driver license is valid for six years and will expire on your birthday.
Transferring from US territories?
If you are transferring a license from Puerto Rico, the DMV will first have to verify your license. Wait to receive a letter from the DMV, stating that the verification of your license has been completed. Then return to the DMV office to continue transferring your license.
To transfer a license from American Samoa, Guam, or the US Virgin Islands, obtain an abstract of your driving record from there and provide it to the DMV.
If you hold a valid driver's license from Canada, France, or Germany, your transfer procedure is similar to transferring an out-of-state driver's license. Follow our guide for transferring out-of- state licenses but note that you must also obtain an abstract of your driving record from your home country and provide it to the DMV.
If you hold a driver's license from another country, your procedure is similar to applying for a driver's license for the first time, which means that you are required to pass a knowledge test, purchase a learner's permit and pass a road test. The only difference is that you don't have to wait 90 days after getting your permit to pass the road test. You can do it straight away. Follow this guide to applying for your CT driver's license.
