TN Visa & U.S. Driver's License

Question: Now that I have a TN visa, do I need to obtain a new driver’s license in order to drive in the U.S.?

Reply: Whether you may continue to use your Canadian or Mexican issued license depends on the applicable driver license laws and regulations of the state where you currently reside.

Some U.S. states will honor valid foreign driver licenses from certain countries. However, the authorization to drive in a particular state based on a foreign driver license may be limited, e.g. to a one-year period. For extended periods of stay, TN visa holders may be required to obtain a driver’s license issued from the state’s motor vehicle department. In many cases, a foreign driver license from Canada or Mexico may be converted to a state license without taking a road test. See, e.g. Massachusetts.

Other states such as New York recognize foreign driver licenses, but require that individuals obtain a NY license upon meeting NY state resident requirements. New York law defines a resident as a person who lives in NYS with “the intention of making it a fixed and permanent abode.” The law presumes that an individual is a resident of NYS if he/she lives in NY for a period of at least ninety days. Although a TN visa worker may not possess immigrant intent for purposes of U.S. immigration law, under NY law a TN visa worker may be considered a resident of NYS for purposes of NY’s driver’s licensing requirement.

As each state has its own driver’s license rules, TN visa workers should contact the state’s motor vehicle department to determine if they are required to obtain a state driver’s license. Much of this information will be available on the state’s motor vehicle department website.

Update on Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:59AM by Brian D. Zuccaro, Esq.

See also ICE Driver License Fact Sheet (07-2009) (although discussing driver licenses within the F-1 student context, some content still useful to TN visa workers).

Comments

[Patrick Taruc]

I obtained TN status for an RN job in Texas for one year. My wife and kids joined me after 1 week. Under Texas law, applicants for a Texas driver's license concerning TN's or TD's requires an I-94 that is valid for at least one year from date of issue with at least six months remaining. My TN status started on August 9, 2010 and will end August 8, 2011. I was able to exchange my Canadian driver's license for a Texas DL. My wife however could not qualify because her date of issue (coniciding with her date of entry?) for the TD was August 16 . When is a TD really issued? Doesn't the length of her dependent status depend on my TD status?

[Brian D. Zuccaro, Esq.]

Patrick,

Unfortunately, your wife is subject to a technicality, which often occurs due to the frequent disconnect between U.S. immigration regulations and state driver licensing laws.

If you obtained your TN visa status at the border, and your wife entered the U.S. after you obtained your TN, then her I-94 would have only been issued with her entry date, and with an expiration date coinciding with your TN. Her length of TD visa status is dependent on your TN's expiration date. But at the border, CBP will issue an I-94 only with her entry date to the U.S. as the starting point for her I-94.

If you have the opportunity to file for your next TN by mail, your wife then would receive an I-94 (attached to an I-797 approval notice) that would coincide with both your TN start and end dates. This I-94 may be used to meet the state's driver's license requirement.

Generally, unless you both go back to the border with a new TN application, or if you file for a new TN/TD by mail, your wife will not receive an I-94 that matches yours with respect to both start and end dates.

You can try going to a CBP deferred inspection office to see if they will issue your wife an I-94 that coincides with your start date, but I think it is unlikely that they will do so.