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Initial Licence Fee Waived for Veterans, Temporary Licence for Spouses

Michigan waives both the initial licence or registration fee and the application processing fee for a veteran separated under honorable conditions — on the strength of a DD214, with no rating and no residency test. A servicemember’s spouse gets a six-month temporary licence instead.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

Michigan waives both the initial licence or registration fee and the application processing fee for a veteran separated under honorable conditions — on the strength of a DD214, with no rating and no residency test. A servicemember’s spouse gets a six-month temporary licence instead.

What it's worth: The initial licence fee and the application processing fee, both waived

  • Shown as a range and kept out of your annual total, because Michigan licence fees are set profession by profession under the State License Fee Act — a barber and a builder do not pay the same.
  • Two fees are waived, not one: the initial licence or registration fee, and the department’s application processing fee.
  • It is an INITIAL fee waiver. Renewal fees are unaffected, so the saving lands once.

Who is entitled to it

  • Michigan has a licensing provision for you — a fee waiver for the veteran, a temporary licence for the spouse.
  • You served in the U.S. armed forces.
  • The discharge was honorable, or general under honorable conditions.
  • You are the spouse of a servicemember.
  • Your home is in Michigan.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Claim it with the initial application — it is not applied retroactively
  1. 1Attach a DD214, DD215 or another form LARA accepts showing an honorable or general-under-honorable character of service, and claim the waiver in the application itself.
  2. 2A spouse of an active duty member takes a different route: a temporary licence under MCL 339.213(2), valid six months and renewable once for a further six, on proof of marriage, a current out-of-state licence in good standing, and permanent-change-of-station orders to Michigan.
  3. 3If you are mobilised while holding a Michigan licence, write to the department: MCL 339.411(11) suspends the renewal fee and the continuing education requirement until 90 days after release, up to 36 months.
File with
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, with your licence application
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
A one-time waiver on the initial licence; renewals are charged as normal.
Worth knowingThe waiver is not means-tested, not rating-tested and carries no deadline after discharge. A veteran who separated decades ago and is now retraining still gets the initial fee waived.
CorrectionThe spouse provision is a TEMPORARY licence, not a permanent one: six months, renewable once, and it exists to buy time while you finish Michigan’s own requirements. Treating it as a full transfer of your out-of-state licence will strand you at month twelve.
Known gapMCL 338.2204 and MCL 339.213(2) sit in the Occupational Code and the State License Fee Act. Health professions are licensed under the Public Health Code instead, and we have not read how the waiver is applied there — a nurse or therapist should ask LARA directly.

Sources

Why only one source type: LARA sets out the text of all three provisions on its own page. The Michigan Legislature’s site turned our requests away, so we cite the department that administers them rather than the compiled law.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.