20 May Federal CDL Regulation Affecting Temporary Residents and Employers
The state of Kansas will no longer issue commercial driver licenses (CDLs) to non-domicile, temporary residents working in the United States. Instead, those workers coming from Mexico and Canada must obtain a CDL in their home country. That license will then be honored in Kansas and across the U.S. Please see further details from the Kansas Department of Revenue below.
“The Kansas CDL program is subject to audit annually by the FMCSA. It was during one of these federal audits a few years back that KDOR was informed that due to the reciprocity agreement in effect since 1988, we were not allowed to transfer CDL’s from those jurisdictions and those that were transferred were not valid. At that time, we ceased transfer of CDL from Mexico and Canada.
We continued allowing testing of temporary residents, however, until the FMCSA provided clarification that not only could we not transfer non-domicile CDLs from Mexico or Canada, but that temporary residents from those countries were NOT ELIGIBLE to obtain non-domicile CDL’s in the United States. Because of the reciprocity agreement, the United States recognizes CDL licenses issued by their governing bodies and the fact that each driver is only allowed to hold one valid license, all temporary residents from those countries are required to obtain CDL certification in their home countries. They can then operate legally in this country.” KDOR further clarified this is not the Kansas CDL program or the Department changing its interpretation. Instead, it is federal regulation prohibiting temporary residents from obtaining these credentials. KDOR has been instructed by the FMCSA to be compliant with the regulation by rescinding any invalid credentials effective immediately and cease further issuance.