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Maryland · Permit test

How to get a Maryland driver’s license

Your route depends on whether you’ve driven before. A first Maryland driver’s license comes through the Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MVA) Rookie Driver program at any age, while a license from another state can be exchanged, and one from another country may need tests and a short course.

  • 3 hoursSafety course for a foreign license
  • 8 yearsLongest a regular license lasts
  • Up to 1 yearHow early you can renew
See the MVA’s license optionsFree practice test

Updated November 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

Which route to a Maryland driver’s license is yours?

The MVA sorts applicants like this:

  • Never licensed, at any age: the Rookie Driver program, the Maryland name for graduated licensing. You start with a learner’s permit, move to a provisional license, then to a full license
  • Licensed in another US state: you exchange your license at an MVA appointment
  • Licensed in another country: the knowledge and driving tests unless your country has a waiver or agreement, plus a roadway safety course if you’ve never held a US license
Start with a learner’s permit →The provisional and full license →

Maryland driver’s license requirements

Every route starts with the MVA’s vision standard and the same proof of identity, Social Security number and Maryland address that the permit test page lists. If you were born outside the United States, you also prove lawful status.

What to bring to the MVA →

Moving to Maryland with a license

You have 60 days after moving here to switch an out-of-state license for a Maryland one. You can exchange a valid US license, or one that expired within the past 12 months. If you’ve been licensed for less than 18 months, you get a Maryland provisional license. You give up your old card at the appointment and pass a vision screening done within the previous 24 months.

A license that expired more than 12 months ago can’t be exchanged, so you take the knowledge, skills and vision tests. A suspended license can’t be exchanged either, and neither can an out-of-state learner’s permit.

International driver’s license and foreign licenses

With a license from another country, you pass a vision screening, the knowledge test and a driving test in a car you provide. If you’ve never been licensed in the US, you also complete the MVA’s Roadway Safety Driving Education Program. If your license isn’t in English, bring an international driver’s license with it, or have it translated by an MVA-approved translator.

The MVA may waive the tests for a valid license, or one expired for no more than a year, from a US territory or Canada, or from the Panama Canal Zone if you were born there before September 30, 1979. Maryland also has reciprocity agreements with South Korea, France, Germany, Taiwan and Japan: at 18 or older, a valid license from one of them gets the knowledge and driving tests waived for a Class C license. If it has expired, you take every test, though France and Japan allow up to a year.

Renewing or replacing your license

Your renewal notice, by mail and email, says whether you can renew online, by mail or in person. At 40 or older, you need a vision exam no more than two years old, sent in by an MVA-approved provider. Mail renewals go at least 15 days before the license expires. If it has been expired for a year or more, you apply as a new driver, with the vision, knowledge and driving tests.

For a lost or stolen license, order a duplicate online, at a kiosk or in person. The MVA doesn’t need a police report. The duplicate keeps your license number and expiry date and comes by mail within 10 business days, and your receipt counts as temporary ID until then. Maryland licenses meet REAL ID standards.

MVA license fees

The MVA’s noncommercial license fees:

ItemFee
New license, under 21$11 a year
New license, 21 or older$88, or $11 a year
Renewal$64
Duplicate license$30
Corrected license$30

The MVA lists these fees as effective September 1, 2025, and says license fees may be prorated by the year; its page shows both figures for a new license at 21 or older. A limited-term license runs only as long as your permitted stay in the US, with the fee adjusted, except under 21. The permit fees are on the learner’s permit page.

See the MVA fee page ↗
Sources: Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and 7 more. Checked November 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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