An Illinois hardship license is a restricted driving permit (RDP): a permit from the Secretary of State that lets you drive on set days, at set hours, in a set area, for the purposes printed on it, while your license is still revoked or suspended. The word "hardship" comes from the standard you must meet to get one before you are eligible for full reinstatement, and not everyone has to meet it.
What a hardship permit lets you do
The statute lists the purposes a restricted driving permit can cover: driving between home and work or within your job duties; necessary medical care for you or a household family member; alcohol or drug treatment recommended by a licensed provider; classes at an accredited school for you or a household member; and taking children, elderly people or people with disabilities who live with you to and from day care (625 ILCS 5/6-205(c)(1)). The Secretary's rules add support and recovery meetings and court-ordered activities such as community service (92 Ill. Adm. Code 1001.420(b)).
The permit is written to the need you prove, not to a standard schedule: employment and school permits are capped at 12 hours a day and 6 days a week (an employer's verification of a longer schedule can raise the employment cap), and a support-group permit covers up to five meetings a week (1001.420(d)). You may stop for gas, charge an electric vehicle or deal with an emergency repair on the way; errands, groceries and children's games are not (1001.420(e)).
Who has to prove hardship, and who does not
If you are not yet eligible for reinstatement, or your license is suspended, you must prove three things by clear and convincing evidence: that you will not endanger public safety, that no reasonable alternative transportation is available, and that you are suffering an undue hardship (1001.420(a)(1)). The rule says what hardship is not: "mere inconvenience to the petitioner or family and friends is not undue hardship." You are expected to show why walking, public transportation, a car pool or being driven does not work, how you get there now, how far it is and whether driving is part of the job (1001.420(d)). The Secretary does not weigh hardship against risk: you clear the public-safety bar first, and only then does hardship come into it.
If you are eligible for reinstatement, hardship is not required (1001.430(c)). What usually happens instead is that the Secretary issues a probationary permit before full reinstatement: an RDP for any lawful purpose, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, within 200 miles of home, for up to a year (1001.420(j)(1); 1001.430(i)). On a probationary permit you can drive to the grocery store, to your kids' games or to church, and none of it has to be justified.
If you have two or more DUI convictions, you are a BAIID multiple offender and your permit is a BMO permit, issued "without regard to hardship, for any legitimate purpose" on the same 12-hour, 6-day, 200-mile terms, in two-year increments, on the condition that every vehicle you own and drive has an ignition interlock device for 1,826 consecutive days (1001.420(j)(2); 625 ILCS 5/6-205(h)). The details, including what restarts the five years, are on our BMO and probationary permits page.
Eligibility dates come from the Vehicle Code: one year from the revocation for a first DUI conviction, five years for a second within 20 years, ten years for a third, and a lifetime revocation for a fourth or later (625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)). Even after a lifetime revocation, five years after the last revocation (or release from prison, if later) you can apply for an interlock-conditioned RDP by proving three years of uninterrupted abstinence and completed treatment; hardship applies for as long as you drive on it (625 ILCS 5/6-205(c)(1.5); 1001.420(q)).
What you have to prove at the hearing
Every petition starts with the same question, hardship or not: will this person endanger the public? For a DUI revocation that means a current alcohol and drug evaluation, proof that you completed the risk education or treatment it recommended and, for the higher-risk classifications, documented abstinence and a support program. Our page on the alcohol and drug evaluation walks through it.
The hardship part is documentation, and each purpose has its own: the employer's verification on the Secretary's form (tax returns and business records if you are self-employed); a medical provider's letter that you or a household member is seen on a regular schedule; the school's enrollment verification; written confirmation from your support group; the day-care provider's verification with the child's or elderly person's identification; certified court documents for community service (1001.420(b)). The rule says the paperwork need not be in hand at the hearing and that its absence is not by itself a reason to deny relief (1001.420(b)(8)). In practice the officer writes the permit from what is in front of them, so bring it, and ask for the days and hours your documents support.
A hardship letter from your employer still helps, because it turns testimony into something verifiable: late arrivals, missed overtime, warnings tied to transportation, a promotion you could not take or a job offer that depends on driving. As a former Will County prosecutor, I have sat through enough hearings to know that specific, dated facts carry a case and general statements about how hard life is without a car do not.
Formal or informal hearing, and what it costs
A restricted driving permit does not always take a formal hearing. A first offender, with no injury or death involved, can apply for one at an informal hearing: a walk-in meeting with a hearing officer at a Driver Services facility, with no filing fee. Two or more DUI dispositions in your lifetime (one of them behind the current revocation), a case involving a death or a lifetime revocation require a formal hearing, requested in writing with a $50 filing fee (1001.300(b); 625 ILCS 5/2-118(a)), and so does any permit that comes with an interlock requirement, apart from some renewals (1001.441(c)). How each kind of hearing runs, and how long the process takes, is in our Illinois license reinstatement process guide.
The permit costs $8. If an interlock device is required, the Secretary's monitoring fee is $30 a month, paid a year in advance ($360) before the permit is issued, plus the provider's installation and monthly rental (1001.441(a)), and SR-22 insurance stays on file for three years. The interlock is required when your license has been revoked or suspended two or more times for separate DUI occurrences, counting a statutory summary suspension from a different arrest, and after one DUI conviction that caused death or great bodily harm (625 ILCS 5/6-205(c)(2), (c)(3)); a first-offense revocation, where the suspension and the revocation came out of the same arrest, does not trigger it under the statute. An employer-owned vehicle used only for work is exempt (6-205(c)(5)). After a denial at an informal hearing you can file for a formal one or return after 30 days; after a formal hearing, 90 days.
Driving on the permit: the 75% rule
A permit is a probationary period as much as it is relief. You will not be considered for full reinstatement until you have driven on your first permit for at least 75% of its length, nine months of a twelve-month permit, unless the Director waives it for something that makes the rule impossible to meet, such as moving out of state (1001.430(i)). A permit can run up to two years (625 ILCS 5/6-205(c)(6)), and how you drove on it counts: a conviction for a moving violation is enough to cancel it, as is driving without the required interlock, a missed monitor report or a breath reading that suggests drinking (1001.441(i), (j)), and a cancelled interlock permit means no hearing of any kind for 90 days (1001.441(l)). How the monitoring works is on our BAIID violations page.
Where to start
Work out which of the three positions you are in: not yet eligible and needing to prove hardship, eligible and headed for a probationary permit, or a multiple offender on the five-year interlock track. To find out where your case stands, contact the Law Office of Jack L. Zaremba for a free consultation, or call 815-740-4025.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is it to get a hardship license in Illinois?
The hardship itself is usually the easier half. Most petitions turn on the public-safety side: the evaluation, the treatment it recommended, and whether your account of your drinking or drug use matches your record and documents.
Can I get a hardship license after a DUI in Illinois?
Yes, once your license is revoked and you have what the hearing requires. During the statutory summary suspension after a first DUI arrest the relief is a Monitoring Device Driving Permit, not an RDP, and anyone eligible for an MDDP cannot be considered for an RDP (1001.420(c)); our MDDP vs. RDP article explains which applies to you.
Is a restricted driving permit the same as a hardship license?
Yes. The Secretary of State's term is restricted driving permit, or RDP; "hardship license," "hardship permit" and "work permit" all mean the same document.
Can you drive to the grocery store with a hardship license?
Not on a hardship RDP, which covers only the purposes printed on it. You can on a probationary permit or a BMO permit, both issued for any lawful purpose within their hours and 200-mile radius.
How long does an Illinois hardship license last?
Up to two years; probationary permits run up to one year and BMO permits come in two-year increments. Reinstatement has its own fee, listed on our fees and general process page.
Can I get a work permit if my license was revoked for something other than DUI?
Often, yes. RDPs are available after suspensions and revocations under several sections of the Vehicle Code, not only DUI, and the hardship standard is the same (1001.420(c)). An evaluation is still required if your record shows an alcohol- or drug-related offense within the last five years (1001.420(o)).
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Results vary by case.