The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration approved an exemption request that allows all State Driver’s Licensing Agencies to issue non-domiciled CDLs to citizens of Freely Associated States who meet certain standards.
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 must reside in the U.S., have a valid, unexpired passport issued by an FAS and a Form I-94 or I-94A.
In 2024, Hawaii applied for a limited exemption from CDL rules concerning acceptable proof of citizenship or lawful permanent residency for citizens of FAS who now reside in Hawaii and wish to obtain a CDL.
FMCSA partially granted Hawaii’s request.
The five-year exemption permits states to issue non-domiciled CDLs to citizens of FAS. However, the agency denied Hawaii’s request to issue standard CDLs and commercial 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 past March, FMCSA implemented a final rule to clean up the non-domiciled CDL system and ensure that only legal, safe and vetted individuals were issued licenses to operate commercial motor vehicles. FAS citizens were not included in the rule’s eligible categories, but their status could be addressed through FMCSA’s exemption process.
FMCSA’s recent exemption supersedes an exemption previously granted to the Oregon Department of Transportation that allowed the state to issue standard, rather than non-domiciled CDLs, to FAS citizens. LL
Credit: Source link
