What you need for your first Texas driver license, by age

What does every first-time adult need?

1. Proof of identity, citizenship or lawful presence, and your Social Security number. DPS checks all three at your first visit. Its REAL ID Document Check tool builds the exact list for your situation.
2. 2 printed Texas residency documents. One of the two documents must show the applicant has lived in Texas for at least 30 days. Documents must be printed. Printed electronic statements are acceptable; a phone screen is not.
3. The $33 license fee. For a new Class C license at 18 to 84, valid 8 years.
4. The vision test and the knowledge test. At your first DPS visit. DPS then issues a restricted license (B restriction): you may drive only with a licensed driver 21 or older in the front seat until you pass the road test.
5. The Impact Texas Adult Drivers (ITAD) video. Free, 1 hour, on the DPS site. The certificate is valid 90 days, and you must print it and bring it to your road test.
6. The road test. At a DPS office, or at a DPS-authorized driving school. Bring your restricted license.

Ages 18 to 24: add the six-hour course

Texas will not issue a first license under 25 without a driver education certificate (Transp. Code §521.1601). At 18 through 24, that is the six-hour adult course and its ADE-1317 certificate. Take it before your first DPS visit. Passing its final exam satisfies the highway sign and traffic law portions of the DPS knowledge exam. If you are under 25, this counts only while your ADE-1317 is less than 2 years old.

Then watch Impact Texas Adult Drivers (ITAD) within 90 days of your road test, as on the list above.

Start the 6-hour course · $29.95

25 and over: the course is optional

Everything on the first list still applies, ITAD included. The six-hour course is not required. DPS calls it “highly recommended” for first-time applicants, and if you take it, its exam can count for the DPS road rules and road signs tests. Bring your ADE-1317 to DPS.

You can also take the 6-hour course anyway (optional at 25+), or skip it and take the knowledge test at DPS.

Moving here with a license from another state

Most of the list falls away. DPS puts it this way:

“Age 18 and Older: If you hold a valid out-of-state driver license or license not expired over two years you are exempt from the knowledge and skills exams, as well as the ITD and adult driver education requirements.”

You still bring the identity, lawful presence, Social Security and residency proofs, and pay the fee. The 30-day requirement is waived for applicants surrendering a valid, unexpired driver license or ID from another state, and for commercial applicants. A license from another country is treated differently; see a license from another country.

Common questions