NYC TLC License Requirements: The Full Checklist

Before you apply: eligibility

Check these before spending anything, because failing one of them stops the process entirely.

• You must be at least 19 years old.
• You need a valid New York State Chauffeur's licence — Class E, or a commercial Class A, B or C.
• You need a valid Social Security number.
• Your DMV record must show no more than 5 points in the preceding 15 months. At 6 or more in that window, the application is denied.
• All outstanding parking tickets, traffic tickets and DMV or TLC fines must be paid first.

The 90-day clock starts at application

Once you apply through LARS, everything else must be finished within 90 days or the application is denied and you begin again — including the fee.

This is the single most important scheduling fact in the process. The 24-hour driver education course must be completed before you can sit the exam, so it needs to be booked early. Leaving it to the second month compresses the exam, drug test, fingerprinting and medical certification into whatever time remains.

What you have to complete

The full sequence, in the order most applicants work through it:

• Apply online through LARS.
• TLC Driver Education Course — 24 hours of classroom instruction, usually three eight-hour days.
• Passenger Assistance / Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle training, including a hands-on assessment.
• Pass the TLC Driver License Exam — 80 questions, 70% to pass, two hours.
• Drug test at the designated laboratory.
• Fingerprint-based background check.
• Medical certification completed by an MD or DO.
• NYS DMV-approved 6-hour Defensive Driving Course, plus a short sex-trafficking awareness video.

Drug testing never stops

This catches licensed drivers out more than applicants. Drug testing is annual for as long as you hold the licence, whether or not you are actively driving.

In a non-renewal year you test within the 90 days before your licence anniversary; in a renewal year, within the 90 days before expiry. A test taken more than 90 days early is rejected. Missing the deadline means immediate suspension, and testing well past it adds a fine on top — the suspension stays until you pass a test and clear the fines.

Renewal, and what happens if you let it lapse

A TLC driver licence runs for three years. The renewal window opens 90 days before expiry — you cannot start earlier — and requires a current drug test, a defensive driving certificate less than three years old, the renewal course, the awareness video, and all tickets paid. Everything is submitted online; TLC does not accept in-person applications, payments or documents.

If the licence actually expires there is a limited grace period of around six months to complete renewal, with a late fee billed once you renew. Let that lapse and you are back to applying as a new driver, including the exam.

Budget for the whole thing, not just the fee

The TLC application fee covers the three-year licence, and the exam carries its own per-attempt fee. Beyond those, the costs that surprise people are set by third parties rather than TLC: the 24-hour course, the passenger assistance training, fingerprinting, the medical exam and the defensive driving course are all priced by the schools and vendors providing them, and vary.

Because vendor pricing moves, treat any figure you read online — including here — as indicative and confirm current amounts with TLC and the school before you commit.

Where the exam fits

The exam sits in the middle of the sequence, not at the end, and you cannot sit it until the education course is done. That is useful: it means you will have had 24 hours of instruction before you test, and a NYC TLC practice test is best used in the days immediately after that course while the material is fresh.