Sponsors (79)
Allows States to issue time‑limited CDLs to foreign‑domiciled people with lawful immigration status or to territory residents with citizenship/LPR, and requires verification and recordkeeping.
Official title: To amend title 49, United States Code, with respect to requirements for States issuing commercial driver's licenses to non-domiciled individuals, and for other purposes.
Introduced October 3, 2025 by David Rouzer · Last progress October 3, 2025
The bill opens a pathway to expand the trucking labor force and standardizes verification to improve oversight, but does so with short-term license limits, tighter eligibility rules, added DMV costs, and privacy risks that may reduce long-term workforce stability and shift burdens to state agencies.
Drivers on employment-based visas and other foreign-domiciled workers can be licensed to operate commercial vehicles in the U.S., increasing the available trucking/logistics labor pool and easing driver shortages.
Establishes a uniform verification and recordkeeping process (immigration confirmation, two-year retention, 48-hour production) that can improve oversight, consistency across states, and enforcement of safety and eligibility rules.
Most foreign-domiciled commercial driver licenses are limited to one year or the applicant's authorized stay, creating instability for drivers and employers who need longer-term staffing.
Tightened eligibility (requiring specific visa types or U.S. citizenship/LPR for territory residents) may exclude otherwise available workers and complicate hiring, reducing the practical pool of drivers.
Requires state DMVs to perform immigration checks and rapidly produce records, increasing administrative burden and costs for state agencies and potentially shifting costs to taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows States, under Department of Transportation regulations, to issue commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to people who are domiciled in foreign jurisdictions or U.S. territories under specified conditions. For foreign‑domiciled applicants the bill requires lawful immigration status and a Secretary‑approved employment‑related visa, limits license duration to one year or the length of authorized stay, and requires State verification and recordkeeping; for applicants domiciled in U.S. territories the bill requires proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency and similar verification and recordkeeping requirements.