Louisiana Driver’s License 2026: Steps by Age, Classes, Moving

How do you get a Louisiana driver’s license?

Get a Temporary Instructional Permit (TIP) at an OMV office.
Take driver ed: 30 hours in class and 8 behind the wheel under 18, or a 6-hour class and 8 hours of driving at 18 or older.
Pass the knowledge test with 80% and a vision test with 20/40 vision in at least one eye.
Under 17: hold a learner’s permit, then move up to an intermediate license and a full license at 17.
17 or older: log 50 hours of supervised driving, 15 at night, pass the road skills test and get your full license.

At 18 or older you can also take a learner’s permit first if you want more practice. The 50-hour statement for first-time drivers 17 and older comes from state law (R.S. 32:405.1): a parent signs it at 17, and you sign it yourself at 18 or older.

The Louisiana permit test →The Louisiana driving test →Louisiana driving age, stage by stage →The Louisiana learner’s permit →The intermediate license in Louisiana →

What is a Class E license in Louisiana?

Class E is the everyday license for a car, pickup or other single vehicle under 10,001 pounds, plus recreational vehicles and some farm vehicles. Class D, the chauffeur’s license, adds vehicles used in commerce from 10,001 to 26,000 pounds and carrying passengers for hire. Classes A, B and C are commercial driver’s licenses.

The Class D chauffeur license test →Louisiana CDL →

Moving to Louisiana with a license

You have 30 days after you move here to get a Louisiana license. Bring your out-of-state license, which the OMV keeps, plus one primary document, one secondary document, your Social Security number and proof of your Louisiana address. With a valid car license from another state you only take the vision test. A learner’s permit from another state becomes a Louisiana learner’s permit with no written test.

Louisiana driver’s license requirements →Renewing a Louisiana driver’s license →

With a license from another country

If your country has no reciprocal agreement with Louisiana, you’re treated as a first-time driver: driver ed, then the knowledge, vision and road skills tests. Licenses from Germany, Switzerland, South Korea, Taiwan and, from August 1, 2026, the Republic of Ireland, and from U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam, skip driver ed and both tests, but you still pass the vision test. Visitors to the U.S. can’t get a Louisiana license.

Adding a motorcycle

Louisiana doesn’t issue a separate motorcycle license. You add an M endorsement to your license after the vision test and either a knowledge and road skills test, or a state Motorcycle Safety, Awareness and Operators Training Program course, which waives both tests. For the road test you bring the motorcycle, with a plate and insurance (and an inspection sticker until the rules change on January 1, 2027), and wear a helmet. The OMV’s Motorcycle Operator Manual is free.

OMV: Driver manuals ↗Motorcycle endorsement fees →

Sources: Louisiana OMV · Louisiana Legislature and 6 more. Checked October 2026.