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The Veteran Designation on a Washington Licence — Four Named Documents, Retiree Card Included

RCW 46.20.161 puts a veteran designation on a Washington driver’s licence on request. The statute names four acceptable proofs — a VA identification card or proof of service letter, a DD Form 214 or 215, an NGB Form 22, or a DD Form 2 retiree card — and lets the department accept alternates besides.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

RCW 46.20.161 puts a veteran designation on a Washington driver’s licence on request. The statute names four acceptable proofs — a VA identification card or proof of service letter, a DD Form 214 or 215, an NGB Form 22, or a DD Form 2 retiree card — and lets the department accept alternates besides.

What it's worth: A veteran designation on the licence — the licence fee itself is $10 for each year the licence is issued

  • RCW 46.20.161(2)(h): the licence must include, if applicable, "the person's status as a veteran as provided in subsection (4) of this section".
  • RCW 46.20.161(4)(a) lets a veteran as defined in RCW 41.04.007 apply for the designation by providing any of: (i) a United States department of veterans affairs identification card or proof of service letter; (ii) a United States department of defense discharge document, DD Form 214 or DD Form 215, or equivalent or successor discharge paperwork establishing service in the armed forces and a qualifying discharge as defined in RCW 73.04.005; (iii) a national guard state-issued report of separation and military service, NGB Form 22, or equivalent or successor paperwork establishing active duty or reserve service in the national guard and a qualifying discharge as defined in RCW 73.04.005; or (iv) a United States uniformed services identification card, DD Form 2, that displays on its face that it has been issued to a retired member of any of the armed forces, including the national guard and armed forces reserves.
  • RCW 46.20.161(4)(b): "The department may permit a veteran, as defined in RCW 41.04.007, to submit alternate forms of documentation to apply to obtain a veteran designation on a driver's license."
  • RCW 46.20.161(1)(b)(i): the driver’s licence fee is $10 for each year the licence is issued, which includes the fee for the required photograph. Subsection (1)(b)(ii) provides that beginning 1 July 2028, and every three years after, that fee increases by $1 for each year the licence is issued.
  • The section carries no separate charge for the designation itself.
  • Amended by 2025 c 417 s 305 and 2025 c 217 s 3; the 2025 c 417 amendments to this section took effect 1 October 2025.

Who is entitled to it

  • The designation goes on the veteran’s own licence.
  • A qualifying discharge is what the documents have to establish.
  • Your home is in Washington.

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

  1. 1Bring whichever of the four named documents you actually have. The statute treats a VA identification card and a proof of service letter as sufficient on their own — you do not have to find a DD 214 first.
  2. 2Guard members should bring the NGB Form 22. It is named in the statute in its own right, alongside the federal discharge documents.
  3. 3Retirees can use the DD Form 2 uniformed services card, provided it shows on its face that it was issued to a retired member.
  4. 4If none of the four is available, ask anyway. Subsection (4)(b) expressly permits the department to accept alternate forms of documentation.
  5. 5Check that you meet the RCW 41.04.007 definition of veteran that the section cross-references, because that is the gate the documents are proving.
  6. 6Time it with a renewal. The section attaches no charge to the designation, but a new card carries the ordinary licence fee.
Form
Request at a Department of Licensing office with one of the four documents named in the statute
File with
Washington State Department of Licensing
Documents you will need
dd214
At each renewal
Claimed again whenever the underlying licence or registration renews.
Worth knowingFour named documents is unusually generous drafting. Most states in this corpus name one and leave everything else to the counter clerk. Here the statute itself puts the VA identification card, the proof of service letter and the retiree card on the same footing as a DD 214.
Worth knowingThe designation is worth more in Washington than it looks, because the ferry system will not take a Veterans Administration card as proof of anything — see the ferry record in this corpus. A state credential that says veteran on its face is the one people actually accept.

Sources

Why only one source type: The section itself enumerates the acceptable documents exhaustively and sets the licence fee in the same breath; the Department of Licensing publishes no additional condition that was reachable this session.

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