AB 723: Foreign driver’s licenses.

Existing law prohibits a person from having in the persons possession or otherwise under the persons control more than one drivers license. Existing law prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles from issuing a drivers license, or renewing a drivers license, of a person who holds a valid drivers license issued by a foreign jurisdiction unless the license has been surrendered to the department, or is lost or destroyed. Except as specified, existing law requires the department to require an applicant for an original drivers license to submit satisfactory proof of California residency and that the applicants presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.

Existing law requires the department, upon application for an original drivers license, except a student license, to require an examination of the applicant. Existing law requires the examination to test, among other things, the applicants knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the Vehicle Code governing the operation of vehicles upon the highways, an actual demonstration of the applicants ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in operating a motor vehicle by driving it under the supervision of an examining officer, and a test of the hearing and eyesight of the applicant, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to waive the driving test part of the examination for an applicant who submits a license issued by another state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico if the department verifies through any acknowledged national driver record data source that there are no stops, holds, or other impediments to its issuance.

This bill bill, commencing on July 1, 2025, would authorize the department, for purposes of the issuance of a noncommercial class C drivers license, to the extent not prohibited by federal law or treaty, to waive the driving test part of the examination for an applicant who submits a drivers license issued by a foreign nation, as defined, under specified conditions, including a requirement that the foreign nation, in a memorandum of understanding, extends the same reciprocal privilege relating to the issuance of a drivers license to a person who holds a valid California drivers license. The bill would require an applicant to be 18 years of age or older, to submit satisfactory proof of California residency and specified documents issued by the foreign nation, and to have no stops, holds, or other impediments to issuance in the persons driving record. The bill would specify that an applicant may submit a drivers license issued by a foreign nation that is equivalent to a noncommercial or a commercial class A, class B, or class C California drivers license, but would require the California drivers license issued by the department to the applicant to be a noncommercial class C drivers license only.