Virginia CDL Medical Certification Categories
The category you certify decides whether Virginia requires a medical examiner’s certificate and whether the credential is limited to intrastate driving.
This guide is for study and planning. Virginia DMV’s official pages and the Virginia Driver’s Manual control when a requirement, procedure, or rule applies.
The four categories
Anyone holding or applying for a CDL or commercial learner’s permit must certify to one category: Excepted Interstate (EI), Excepted Intrastate (EA), Non-excepted Interstate (NI), or Non-excepted Intrastate (NA). That includes a person who still has a CDL and no longer drives a commercial vehicle. Certifying excepted intrastate or non-excepted intrastate places an Intrastate Only restriction of K on the CDL or CLP.
Excepted categories do not require a medical examiner’s certificate. Non-excepted interstate and non-excepted intrastate require a valid medical examiner’s certificate, also called a DOT card, from an examiner on FMCSA’s National Registry. DMV verifies it electronically. If you drive in both an excepted and a non-excepted status, the FAQ says you must choose non-excepted.
| Category | Medical examiner’s certificate | Intrastate-only K |
|---|---|---|
| Excepted Interstate (EI) | Not required | No |
| Excepted Intrastate (EA) | Not required | Yes |
| Non-excepted Interstate (NI) | Required | No |
| Non-excepted Intrastate (NA) | Required | Yes |
How the FAQ defines excepted driving
The medical FAQ says you are excepted only when the commercial driving you do is limited to the activities it lists. If none of those are your operations, you are non-excepted and must provide a valid medical examiner’s certificate or have a Virginia state approval letter. The medical examination report is not the certificate, and DMV cannot accept it.
- Transporting school children or school staff between home and school.
- Driving as a federal, state, or local government employee.
- Transporting human corpses or sick or injured persons.
- Fire truck or rescue vehicle drivers during emergencies and related activities.
- Primarily transporting propane winter heating fuel in response to an emergency such as storm or flood damage to a propane system.
- Responding to a pipeline emergency such as a leak or rupture.
- Custom harvesting, including farm machinery and supplies to and from the farm, or harvested crops to storage or market.
- A beekeeper in the seasonal transportation of bees.
- A farmer-controlled vehicle that is not a combination, used to transport agricultural products, machinery, or supplies with no placardable hazardous materials, to and from a farm and within 150 air-miles of the farm.
- A private motor carrier of passengers for non-business purposes.
- Transporting migrant workers.
Filing after May 5, 2025
Effective May 5, 2025, Virginia no longer accepts medical examiner’s certificates directly from drivers. The examiner submits the certificate electronically through FMCSA’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners portal. Allow 48 business hours after the examination before you check a new or updated certificate in your DMV account.
You certify on the commercial application, or you submit a CDL self-certification online, by mail to the CDL/NDR Work Center, Room 420, PO Box 27412, Richmond, VA 23269, or in person by appointment. If the record is not certified, DMV marks it “not certified” and starts a downgrade of the CDL privilege after 30 days of expiration. A downgrade of more than one year means a new application requires the relevant CDL knowledge and skills exams. A variance, waiver, or skills-performance evaluation adds a V restriction.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I still self-certify if I no longer drive a commercial vehicle?
Yes. DMV’s medical FAQ says every existing CDL holder, and every CDL or commercial learner’s permit applicant, must self-certify. The category you choose decides whether more medical documents are required.
Can I hand DMV my medical examiner’s certificate?
Not since May 5, 2025. DMV says the medical examiner submits it electronically through the National Registry portal. The multipage medical examination report is not the certificate.
Sources
Review the current Virginia DMV information before taking action.