When does the manual require an applicant's vision to be checked at NCDMV?

Limits vision testing to the initial visit; the manual requires it for in-person applications for a learner permit, original license, or renewal. Drivers who passed a vision screen once assume it carries forward and treat later renewals as paperwork-only. This answer assumes the vision check is a one-time gate rather than a step repeated at each in-person application.

Treats vision testing as reactive; the manual makes it a standard step for in-person applications for a learner permit, original license, or renewal. A reader skimming the Vision and Knowledge Test paragraphs grabs the audio-test accommodation offered to those who have difficulty reading and reattaches it to the vision rule next door. This answer confuses the audio knowledge-test accommodation for readers who struggle with a trigger for the vision check.

Adds an age trigger the manual does not use for vision testing. Drivers who learned the rules in a state that imposes a senior vision retest at renewal import that age cutoff and apply it to North Carolina. This answer borrows an age-based vision-check rule from another state's licensing regime.