Before beginning the process of applying for a new For-Hire Driver’s License, please review the King County application process here.
Prior to applying for a license, applicants will need to pass the For-Hire Exam by scoring 80% or higher.
Certain documents will need to be uploaded during the application process. Have these documents ready in electronic format prior to beginning the application process:
- For-Hire Exam results
- Defensive Driving Course completion certificate (if you have not already completed this course, you must complete it within 60 days of submitting your application)
- If applicable, Wheelchair Accessible Taxi (WAT) certification
Application Process
- Login to the Seattle Services Portal. If you are already logged in, click Home in the upper left of the page.
- Under the Create New heading, select Licenses – Taxi & For-Hire
- Under the Renew or Apply for a License select For-Hire Driver License Application.
- Click the Your Contact Information button and confirm your Contact information is listed, then click Continue.
- Answer the questions on the For-Hire Information page. Some fields will show a Ø symbol when you hover over them – you do not need to enter anything in these fields because they will either auto-populate or will be completed by the County after you submit the application. Here are descriptions for some of the questions we are regularly asked to explain:
- Company Driving For: Select the taxi or for-hire company you are affiliating with. If you have not yet affiliated with one, select Unaffiliated.
- Customer Number: If you will pick up passengers in the City of Seattle, you are required to have City of Seattle business license. Your Customer Number is printed at the top of your business license tax certificate or you can look it up online.
- For-Hire Training and Written Test fields: These fields will usually auto-populate based on the contact information you previously entered. If they do not auto-populate, you will need to upload copies of your completion certifications in the next step of the application.
- Have you completed the National Safety Council's 4-hour Defensive Driving Course (DDC 4)?: If you have not already completed this course, you are required to complete it within 60 days of submitting your application.
- If you have used any other names in the past, enter them in the Alias Name section by clicking the “Add a Row” button to add as many entries as necessary.
- If you have had any traffic violations or accidents within the past five (5) years, enter the details of them in the Traffic Violations section by clicking the “Add a Row” button to add as many entries as necessary.
- If you have had any driver’s license violations, enter the details of the violations in the License Violations section by clicking the “Add a Row” button to add as many entries as necessary.
- Once all of the questions have been answered on the For-Hire Information page, click the Continue button at the bottom of the page.
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Attach any requested documents. The types of documents requested will depend on the renewal application and related certifications. If there are not any documents required, click Continue. If documents are listed as required
- Click Select
- Click Select again in the next pop up screen
- Select the file from your device
- Click Done
- Select the Type of document and enter a description
- Click Save
- Click Continue
- Review your application. Click Edit to update any information that is not correct.
- If everything is correct, check the box at the bottom to certify the information is correct
- Click Continue
- Pay for your application fees by clicking Checkout
- Click Checkout again
- Enter your credit or debit card information
- Click Submit Payment
- Our office will review and process the application. You will receive an email confirmation when the application is complete, or we will contact you if additional information is required.