United States | Interim final rule substantially limits who can obtain commercial driver’s license, effective Sept. 29

Effective Sept. 29, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published an interim final rule (IFR) in the Federal Register that significantly limits the ability of non-U.S. citizens or temporary residents to obtain commercial driver’s licenses.

Key Points:

• The IFR explicitly states it is “significantly limiting the authority for SDLAs [State Driver’s Licensing Agencies] to issue and renew non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) and CDLs [commercial driver’s licenses] to individuals domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction.”
• The IFR limits those eligible to obtain a non-domiciled CLP or CDL to individuals in lawful status who hold an H-2A, H-2B or E-2 employment-based nonimmigrant visa, and among other conditions requires:
  • Non-citizen applicants, except for lawful permanent residents, must provide an unexpired Form I-94/94A and an unexpired passport “indicating a specified type of employment-based nonimmigrant status at every issuance, transfer, renewal, and upgrade action defined in the regulation.”
  • “The expiration date for any non-domiciled CLP or CDL to match the expiration date of the Form I-94/I-94A or 1 year, whichever is sooner.”
  • Applicants must be present in person at each renewal.
• The IFR “will not impact drivers domiciled in Canada or Mexico.”
• The 60-day public comment period on the IFR is open until Nov. 28, 2025.

Additional Information: In the IFR, the agency cited a “crisis that constitutes an imminent hazard to public safety and a direct threat to national security” as the impetus for the rule and its immediate implementation. BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide essential updates.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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