Moving to Ohio with a license

The 30-day rule

The BMV counts you as an Ohio resident once you take a job, sign a lease, buy a home or enroll children in school. From that day you have 30 days to transfer your out-of-state driver license (or ID card), your vehicle title and your registration to Ohio.

Ohio issues two kinds of card, a federally compliant one (the Real ID) and a standard one; the BMV's new Ohio residents page links the BMV's page on the two kinds of card. A compliant card needs two documents proving your Ohio address rather than one.

The same 30 days cover an ID card if that is what you hold: without a license to transfer, you can get an Ohio ID card for identification with the same documents. And if your current license will expire inside the 30 days, go before it does; an expired license puts you on the first-issuance path below.

An unexpired license from another state

If you are at least 16 and hold an unexpired, non-commercial driver license from another state, you apply for an Ohio license at any deputy registrar agency. You present the out-of-state license and your documents, pass a vision screening, and fill in the application form (BMV 5745, which you can complete at home). Under 18, a parent or legal guardian comes along to co-sign and takes on financial responsibility.

The BMV's steps for a valid out-of-state license list a vision screening and the application; they do not list a knowledge test or a driving test. If you have not driven for a while or the car is new to you, a refresher lesson before the first Ohio winter is time well spent, but it is your choice, not the state's. A commercial license (CDL) follows its own steps, starting at a driver exam station; the BMV's new residents page has them.

Documents to gather

Prove five things: your current legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, citizenship or legal presence in the United States, and your Ohio residential address. The BMV's acceptable documents page lists what counts for each and has an interactive checklist. Bring originals; make the one trip count.

An expired license, or no license yet

If your out-of-state license has expired, or you have never held one, you go through Ohio's first issuance process like any new driver: the knowledge test and vision screening, the temporary permit, then the driving test. Start with the permit guide. Under 21, the Class D course and the 50 practice hours apply as well; at 21 and older with an ordinary permit, no course is required before the first road test.

A license from another country

If you are a temporary resident (legally present but not a citizen or permanent resident), Ohio issues a limited term, non-renewable license for the length of your stay. Since June 30, 2025, a limited term applicant of any age completes the Class D course (24 hours of class, 8 behind the wheel) and 50 hours of supervised practice before the driving test; at 21 and older the permit is held for at least 14 days first. The Ohio Traffic Safety Office page shows which permits this applies to.

The permit itself tells you which rules apply: a limited term permit says "Non-Renewable/Non-Transferable" on the card, and the BMV's permit page sends its holders to the Ohio Traffic Safety Office for the training rules.

If you currently hold an unexpired license from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan, you are exempt from the course and the hours and present that license when you apply. Ohio Revised Code 4507.21 exempts a few other groups from the course and the limited term affidavit as well, each with a BMV form attesting to it:

• people with a valid visa and a valid foreign license who are attached to the U.S. military or the Department of Defense;
• people with a valid visa and a valid foreign license who are attached to a hospital or health system;
• agricultural guest workers with a valid visa and a form signed by their Ohio farm employer.

Our limited term drivers ed program is the Class D course for this route, with the online class and the 8 hours of driving. Drivers who already hold a license Ohio accepts (another state's, or one from the six exempt countries) and want to learn Ohio's roads, signs and winter habits book a few driving lessons: an hour on central Ohio's roundabouts and four-way stops, one on freeway merging, and one in the dark or the rain cover most of what is new.

Your car: title and plates

The license is one of three transfers. Before you can register the car and get Ohio plates, you transfer the out-of-state title at any County Clerk of Courts title office. Then you register it at a deputy registrar with the Ohio title, your Ohio license or ID (or proof of your Social Security number), and, in counties that require it, an E-Check certificate. The BMV's new residents page lists the rest, including what a leased or jointly owned car needs.