Minnesota graduated driver licence stages

By the end of this topic you can

• You can name the three Minnesota licensing stages for teens and the earliest age for each.
• You can explain how long you must hold an instruction permit before the road test, by age.
• You can describe the conditions for moving from a provisional license to a full license.
• You can explain how a violation can delay your next stage.

What you need to know and understand

• The instruction permit is available from age 15 and is valid for two years.
• If you are 18 or younger you must hold the permit for at least six months before the road test; at 19 or older it is three months.
• The provisional license is available from age 16 and is valid for two years from the application date.
• Driver education is required for applicants under 18, but not for those 18 and older.
• A full license comes at 18, or after 12 months in a row on a provisional license with a qualifying record.
• A license issued to someone under 21 is marked Under 21 and expires on the 21st birthday.

Stage by stage: permit, provisional, full

Each stage has its own entry rules. The table in your head should look like this:

• Instruction permit (15 and up): finish the classroom part of driver education (or the first 15 classroom hours of a combined course), pass a vision screening and the written test, and practice only with a qualified supervisor beside you.
• Provisional license (16 and up): hold the permit for six months with no moving, alcohol or drug convictions, finish driver education, hand in a supervised driving log and pass the road test.
• Full Class D license: turn 18, or hold the provisional license for 12 straight months with no alcohol, drug or crash-related convictions and no more than one other moving violation.

What a ticket can cost you

Minnesota ties progress to a clean record. A moving violation or an alcohol offense on your permit means you cannot qualify for the provisional license until you have six clean months. On a provisional license, a crash-related moving violation, an alcohol or drug offense, or more than one other moving violation keeps you from a full license until 12 months after the conviction or until you turn 18, whichever comes first.

Under Vanessa's Law, a teen convicted of a crash-related moving violation or an alcohol or drug driving offense while driving without a license cannot get a permit or license until age 18, and then must meet the reinstatement requirements and start again with the written test, a permit held for six months (three if 19 or older) and a road test. A provisional driver who loses the license for one of these offenses waits until 18 or the end of the withdrawal period, whichever is later, and usually pays a $680 reinstatement fee.

If you start at 18 or older

Adults skip driver education and the provisional stage. At 18 you still need a permit for six months before the road test. From 19 the minimum permit time drops to three months. A permit holder aged 18 or over must drive with a licensed adult in the seat beside them.

Our guide to learning to drive in Minnesota walks through the whole journey in more detail.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the provisional license turns into a full license automatically. You must apply and pay the fee once you qualify.
• Treating one speeding ticket as harmless. A second non-crash moving violation on a provisional license delays the full license.
• Forgetting that the six-month permit clock needs a clean record. A conviction can push your road test back.
• Practicing without a valid permit. It is illegal, and an offense while unlicensed can trigger Vanessa's Law.

Test yourself: Minnesota graduated driver licence stages

Answer each question, then read the explanation. Questions come in a random order each time.

Go deeper

• Learning to Drive in Minnesota
• Minnesota Permit Test
• Minnesota Permit Practice Test