Driving With a Suspended License in Virginia

Virginia doubles the time you lose: on top of the criminal penalty, the court must suspend your license again for the same period you were already suspended.

The offense

Under Va. Code § 46.2-301, you can't drive on a Virginia highway while your license or privilege to drive is suspended or revoked, or after a court or the DMV has directed you not to drive, until the period ends, your privilege is reinstated, or you're issued a restricted license. Mopeds are excluded.

Penalties

• It's a Class 1 misdemeanor: up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500 (§ 18.2-11).
• The court must suspend your license again for the same period as the original suspension. If the original suspension had no fixed end date, the court adds up to 90 days.
• If your license was suspended or revoked for DUI, maiming while under the influence, or an administrative DUI suspension, the court may keep your vehicle impounded or immobilized for up to 90 more days, at your expense. That only applies to a vehicle you own.

A restricted license needs the court's sign-off, not just DMV's

Only the court that imposed the suspension can authorize DMV to issue a restricted license here — DMV can't grant one on its own for this specific suspension. It's discretionary ("for good cause shown"), and if more than one court suspended your license, every one of them has to agree before DMV will issue it. Where it's granted, it can cover work, school, medical care, ASAP/alcohol-program attendance, child visitation, court or probation appearances, child-support appointments, religious worship, and interlock-conditioned driving — but never a commercial vehicle.

Why people end up suspended in Virginia

Demerit points

18 points in 12 months, or 24 in 24 months, triggers a 90-day suspension, a mandatory Driver Improvement Clinic, and 6 months of probation afterward. Reckless driving is the single largest point hit at 6 points — and driving on a suspended or revoked license is itself also a 6-point violation, which means this conviction can push you toward a second, separate points-based suspension down the road.

Fines and costs no longer suspend a license

As of July 1, 2019, Virginia stopped suspending licenses for unpaid court fines and costs, and lifted every suspension that existed for that reason alone at the time. You still owe the money — the law only removed the license consequence. If you're relying on older information about Virginia suspensions, this is worth double-checking.

Failure to appear and unpaid child support

A no-show on a traffic summons still triggers a suspension the court "shall forthwith" impose until you appear (§ 46.2-938). Child support suspensions kick in once you're 90 days or $5,000 behind, after 30 days' written notice and a court finding that the nonpayment was willful (§ 46.2-320.1).

Reinstatement fees are tiered — and this conviction has its own

Virginia's reinstatement fees fall into three tiers: $145 for things like a lapsed-insurance or child-support suspension, $175 for driving while suspended or revoked itself — whether or not the original cause was DUI-related — and $220 for DUI and similarly serious convictions. If you owe reinstatement on more than one order at once, you pay the single highest fee that applies, plus a flat $5 for each additional order — not every fee stacked on top of each other.

Suspended vs. revoked

Virginia defines them differently: a suspension is temporary and "may be reinstated following the period," while a revocation "is not subject to renewal or restoration except through reapplication" once its period ends. A second DUI within 10 years, for example, is a 3-year revocation; a third within 10 years is indefinite, and getting the privilege back requires a VASAP evaluation and a court finding you're no longer alcohol- or drug-dependent (§ 46.2-391).

If your license was declared "habitual offender" (a status Virginia stopped creating new in 1999, though people designated before then remain under it) or you're facing a revocation-based charge rather than an ordinary suspension, you may be looking at a felony under § 46.2-357 rather than the Class 1 misdemeanor this page covers — that's a meaningfully more serious situation, and worth confirming with the court handling your case.

What it does to your insurance rates

We didn't find comparable published rate data for this conviction in Virginia. What drives your premium is the combination of this conviction and the reason you were suspended. If it followed a DUI, you'll also be dealing with an FR-44 (see FR-44 and SR-22 in Virginia); if it followed reckless driving, see reckless driving in Virginia.

Related: FR-44 and SR-22 in Virginia · Car insurance after a DUI in Virginia