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Correspondence

Date

Need to Establish a Legal Presence Requirement for Obtaining a Commercial Driver's License

Project ID
CC2004054
File Attachment

We issued a management advisory to the Deputy Secretary recommending that additional measures be considered to strengthen controls over the process for obtaining a commercial driver’s license (CDL). We are concerned that vulnerabilities exist within the current CDL program which allow persons to obtain a license without being legally present in the United States. In a 2002 audit, we recommended that FMCSA require that all CDL applicants demonstrate U.S. citizenship or legal presence. While FMSCA agreed with our recommendation, the issuance of this proposed rule is not scheduled until May 2005. We recommend that FMCSA, at a minimum, require all CDL applications to demonstrate that they are either a U.S. citizen, a permanent legal resident, or otherwise legally present in the United States.