WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced on May 14, 2026, that it will allow all State Driver’s Licensing Agencies to issue non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses and commercial learner’s permits to citizens of Freely Associated States who reside in the United States — a five-year exemption that partially grants a request from the Hawaii Department of Transportation.
Freely Associated States citizens include individuals from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. To qualify, applicants must hold a valid, unexpired passport issued by an FAS and a Form I-94 or I-94A.
FMCSA partially denied HDOT’s request, declining to allow FAS citizens to receive a standard CDL rather than a non-domiciled CDL. The May 14 action also supersedes a 2024 exemption granted to the Oregon Department of Transportation that had allowed Oregon to issue standard CLPs and CDLs to FAS citizens under similar document requirements.
Under the Compacts of Free Association, FAS citizens hold a unique status due to the role their nations play in supporting the United States security presence in the Pacific Islands region. FAS citizens are permitted to join the U.S. military and may live and work in the United States as lawful nonimmigrants without a visa.
“FMCSA concludes that granting the exemption is likely to achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety that would be achieved absent the exemption,” the agency said.
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