Non-domiciled CDL exemption approved for citizens of Freely Associated States » Land Line Media
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration approved an exemption request that enables all State Driver’s Licensing Agencies to challenge non-domiciled CDLs to citizens of Freely Associated States who meet sure requirements.
The Freely Associated States are the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. Those eligible for the exemption should reside within the US, have a legitimate, unexpired passport issued by an FAS and a Form I-94 or I-94A.
In 2024, Hawaii utilized for a restricted exemption from CDL guidelines regarding acceptable proof of citizenship or lawful everlasting residency for citizens of FAS who now reside in Hawaii and want to get hold of a CDL.
FMCSA partially granted Hawaii’s request.
The five-year exemption permits states to challenge non-domiciled CDLs to citizens of FAS. However, the company denied Hawaii’s request to challenge commonplace CDLs and industrial learner’s permits to FAS citizens.
“FMCSA believes that granting this exemption is consistent with Congressional intent to allow FAS citizens to live and work in the United States as lawful non-immigrants,” the agency wrote in the notice that is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, May 14. “The agency has no data indicating that granting the exemption would negatively impact safety. FMCSA also believes that it would be inconsistent with the agency’s non-domiciled CDL rule to allow State Driver’s Licensing Agencies to issue standard commercial learner’s permits and CDLs to individuals who are not domiciled in the United States.”
This previous March, FMCSA implemented a final rule to clean up the non-domiciled CDL system and be sure that solely authorized, protected and vetted people had been issued licenses to function industrial motor automobiles. FAS citizens weren’t included within the rule’s eligible classes, however their standing could possibly be addressed by way of FMCSA’s exemption course of.
FMCSA’s current exemption supersedes an exemption beforehand granted to the Oregon Department of Transportation that allowed the state to challenge commonplace, quite than non-domiciled CDLs, to FAS citizens. L.L.
