Non-Domiciled Commercial Driver’s License

As of August 30, 2024, Senate Bill 95 became Law in the State of Alaska.  This bill allows in certain circumstances, the state to issue a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) or a Commercial Learners Permit (CLP) to an individual who is not domiciled within its jurisdiction. The word "Non-domiciled" must be prominently displayed on the CDL or CLP.

Non-domicile CDL means a CDL issued by a State under either of the following two conditions:

• To an individual domiciled in a foreign country, other than Mexico and Canada, if the person obtained the license from a State, which complies with the testing and licensing standards required for CDL drivers.
• To an individual domiciled in another State while that State is prohibited from issuing CDLs, if the person obtained the license from any State which elected to issue non-domiciled CDLs and which complies with the testing and licensing standards required for CDL drivers.

The applicant must also satisfy the requirements of Alaska Statute 28.33.100(a)(2)(B)-(D).

As of September 29th, 2025, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released an interim final rule.  Read the rule in its entirety here:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-09-29/pdf/2025-18869.pdf

FMCSA has updated the rules for how states issue commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and learner’s permits to people who live outside the United States.  Under this change, states will have very limited ability to issue or renew these licenses for foreign-domiciled drivers.

In the past, the Alaska DMV issued non-domiciled licenses to individuals with Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cards. Under the new rule, this is no longer allowed, and the DMV cannot renew those credentials. However, the rule does permit individuals with H-2 A, H-2 B, and E-2 visas to be issued non-domiciled licenses if all other licensing criteria is met.

Additional information can be found here: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-takes-emergency-action-protect-americas