Applicant documents — Idaho Permit Test

Idaho counts you as a new applicant if you have never been licensed anywhere, are returning to Idaho after being licensed elsewhere, are surrendering another jurisdiction's license, or have an Idaho license expired 25 months or more.

New applicant is a status, not a first time. A driver of thirty years can be one after a long enough gap.

Have an Idaho driver's license that has been expired for 25 months or more

The county office is required by law to verify your age and identity before it issues a driver's license or ID card.

The card becomes proof of who you are for everyone who later reads it, so the checking happens once, at the counter.

The county driver's license offices are required by law to verify your age and identity before issuing you a driver's license or ID card

Surrendering a state-issued photo license or ID card together with a U.S. birth certificate showing your full legal name and date of birth is enough to prove age and identity.

One document gives the face and the other gives the name and the birth date. Together they leave nothing to take on trust.

Surrendering a state-issued driver's license or ID card (with photo) along with a US birth certificate that contains your full legal name and date of birth, is sufficient to prove age and identity

Photocopies and faxes of identity documents are not accepted.

A copy can be made from anything. The office needs the document itself, which is harder to invent.

Photocopies or faxes of these documents will not be accepted

A birth certificate must be accompanied by an acceptable photo identity document from Table 1.

A birth certificate carries no face, so on its own it belongs to whoever is holding it.

When providing a birth certificate, it must be accompanied by an acceptable photo identity document listed in Table 1 below

Where the birth certificate does not match your current name, a secondary document such as a certified marriage certificate from Table 2 must also be provided.

A change of name breaks the chain between the two documents, and the certificate is what joins it back up.

a secondary document, such as a certified marriage certificate from Table 2, must be provided

Driver privilege cards are not acceptable as proof of age and identity.

A privilege card is issued on a different check, so it cannot stand in for the one the counter is making.

driver privilege cards, which differ from standard driver's licenses and Real ID cards, are not acceptable for proof of age and identity

Another state's driver's license or ID card is not an acceptable form of identity in Idaho unless a U.S. birth certificate or equivalent comes with it.

Idaho does not take another state's checking on trust. It wants the document that state started from.

Driver's licenses and ID cards issued from other states are not acceptable forms of identity in Idaho unless they are accompanied by a US birth certificate or equivalent

A child under 18 does not need a photo ID. A parent or legal guardian can provide their own photo ID with the child's certified original birth certificate.

Children do not carry identity documents, so the adult with them supplies the face and the certificate supplies the name.

Parents or legal guardians can provide their own photo ID along with the child’s certified original birth certificate and, if needed, documentation to support guardianship.

A foreign national provides a foreign passport in place of a U.S. certified birth certificate, and it is the only acceptable document for proving legal name and date of birth.

Under the national agreement the passport is the single document that settles those two facts, so nothing else will do.

the foreign passport is the only acceptable document to provide proof of legal name and date of birth

Secondary documents are not sufficient on their own; they support what a primary document from Table 1 already shows.

A marriage certificate proves a change of name, not who you are. Something has to establish the name it changed from.

Secondary documents alone are not sufficient

An Idaho or out-of-state driver's license or ID card expired less than 5 years is an acceptable photo identity document.

A card that lapsed recently still shows the face it was issued for, which is all it is being asked to do.

Idaho issued driver's license or identification card expired less than 5 years

How long must an Idaho license have been expired before its holder counts as a new applicant?

25 months or more. New applicant is a status, not a first time. A driver of thirty years can be one after a long enough gap. July 2026 Idaho Driver's Handbook, p.21: “Have an Idaho driver's license that has been expired for 25 months or more”