From a First DUI Arrest to a Full License: Where the SR-22 Lands

A first DUI produces two separate license actions, and people lose months by treating them as one. The DMV's administrative action, called Administrative Per Se (APS), starts at the arrest. The conviction suspension starts when the court reports the case. The SR-22 is the thread that runs through both. Below is the order things happen in, taken from the DMV's DUI page and its first-offender sheet (DL 1046 A).

Day 0: the arrest and the temporary license

The officer takes the license and issues an Order of Suspension and Temporary License. The DMV says you may drive for 30 days from the date that order was issued, as long as your California license is not expired and not suspended for some other reason. The officer forwards the paperwork, and the DMV runs an automatic administrative review.

No insurance is due on day 0. What is due soon is a decision about the hearing.

By day 10: request the hearing, or let it go

You have the right to request a DMV hearing within 10 days of receiving the order. The hearing is about your driving privilege and the circumstances of the arrest, not guilt or innocence, and you are not required to ask for one. A restricted license cannot be decided at the hearing; that is a separate application at a DMV office.

Day 30: the four-month APS suspension starts

For a first offense at 0.08% or more, the APS suspension is four months and takes effect when the 30-day temporary license runs out. This is where the first SR-22 decision arrives, because both restricted-license routes on the DMV sheet list proof of insurance (SR 22):

If you choose a restriction, the policy has to be bought and the SR-22 transmitted before the DMV visit. A filing still sitting in a carrier's queue is not one the DMV can see.

The conviction: a second suspension on its own clock

If the court convicts under Vehicle Code 23152, the DMV sheet says the conviction suspension is six or ten months and may run concurrently with the APS suspension. Ten months applies where the court requires it for a blood alcohol level above 0.20%, along with a nine-month DUI program. Where the court did not order an interlock, the sheet again offers two restrictions, an IID restriction until all reinstatement requirements are met or a work-and-program restriction for 12 months, and both again list the SR 22.

The interlock rules after a conviction were amended effective January 1, 2026 (Vehicle Code 23575.3; see our interlock page), so confirm the current options with the DMV rather than relying on a sheet printed earlier.

Full reinstatement, then three more years

To clear the restriction completely, the DMV sheet lists three things: serve the full suspension or restriction, prove completion of the DUI program, and provide proof of insurance (SR 22). It then says the SR 22 must be maintained for three years, and that every other suspension on your record has to be cleared as well.

1. Program completion certificate in hand.
2. SR-22 on file and confirmed by the carrier.
3. Reinstatement processed, and your driver record checked to show it.
4. The three-year end date and every renewal in between written on a calendar you actually look at.

Where this timeline usually breaks

• Buying the policy the morning of the DMV visit. The filing goes electronically, but give it time to land and confirm that it did.
• Letting the restricted-license policy lapse. The restriction rides on the proof. When the policy ends, the carrier tells the DMV.
• Assuming a reduced charge ends the APS suspension. The DMV says a reduction to reckless driving in criminal court does not affect the administrative suspension.
• Forgetting the commercial-license step. A CDL has to be downgraded to a noncommercial license before any of these restrictions.

When the SR-22 is the next item on your list, start the quote here and tell us which suspension you are working through, because it changes which date matters.