An occupational limited license (OLL) authorizes driving a designated motor vehicle, under certain conditions, only when it is necessary for the driver’s occupation, work, trade, medical treatment or study. If this is your first DUI conviction, and your license has been suspended for 1-year, you are eligible for an OLL after 60 days. Eligibility is at PennDOT’s discretion.
If your conviction results in an 18-month DUI-related suspension and you have satisfied all restoration requirements and installed an ignition interlock device (IID) on your car, you are eligible. You will be required to have the IID for the remaining 6 months of your suspension and one year following your reinstatement. Again, it is up to PennDOT whether or not they grant you an OLL.
If you refused a chemical test resulting in 18-month license suspension and you have no more than one prior DUI offense within 10 years, you are eligible for an OLL after serving 12 of the 18-month license suspension. You must have satisfied all of your restoration requirements and install an IID on your vehicle for the remaining 6 months of your suspension.
It takes about 20 days to process, so PennDOT recommends applying after serving 40 days of your one-year DUI-related suspension. The form and instructions may be found here. If you are granted an OLL and are unfortunately convicted of an offense for which the penalty is a cancellation, disqualification, recall, suspension, or revocation of
your driving privilege, PennDOT will recall your OLL. Lastly, you may be issued only one OLL every five years.
There is currently proposed legislation that refers to an Ignition Interlock Limited License (IILL). If enacted, it would allow a person serving a 1-year DUI-related suspension, who has no prior offenses in 10 years, to get an IILL after serving 3 months of their suspension. If your DUI-related license loss is 12 months (meaning your DUI was graded as an “ungraded misdemeanor” or a “second degree” misdemeanor), you would need to serve 6 months of your 12-month suspension before being eligible. If your DUI-related conviction is graded as a “first degree” misdemeanor resulting in an 18-month license suspension, the proposed legislation would allow you to be eligible after serving 9 months.
