The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles plans to contact the state’s approximately 5,000 nonpermanent residents with commercial driver’s licenses, potentially downgrading some of them to standard driver’s licenses, bureau registrar Charlie Norman announced in a May 29 press release.
Ohio has issued approximately 406,000 commercial driver’s licenses [CDLs], which are specialized professional driver’s licenses required to legally drive tractor-trailers or other large commercial, heavy or hazardous motor vehicles in the U.S. The bureau’s review of nondomiciled CDLs, which noncitizens legally living in the U.S. can obtain, is due to a September rule change from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, according to the news release.
The Trump administration’s September rule change was put on hold by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in November, leading the Trump administration to issue an updated version of the rule in February that took effect March 16.
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will send out one of two letters to nondomiciled CDL holders, depending on the documents they used when they got their license. Those whose documents do not comply with the new federal rules will have their CDL downgraded to a standard Class D Passenger Vehicle Driver’s License 30 days after they receive the notice. Drivers who receive this letter can request a hearing with the BMV to dispute their downgrade or provide additional documents that comply with the new rules.
Drivers who submitted documents that meet the new federal requirements when they got their license will receive a letter saying that their license will remain valid until its expiration date, according to the Ohio BMV press release.
Under the new federal rules, asylum seekers, asylees, refugees, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients can no longer receive a nondomiciled CDL. Only temporary workers brought in by U.S. companies, foreign nationals planning to invest substantial capital in a U.S. company, or Permanent Resident Card (green card) holders can get nondomiciled CDLs.
Previously, nonpermanent residents would need an unexpired employment authorization document issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or an unexpired foreign passport with a completed arrival and departure form to apply for a nondomiciled CDL.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy have railed against noncitizen CDL holders during Trump’s second term, describing them as public safety and national security risks.
The truck driver charged in a fatal I-71 crash in April that killed a family of three, Modou Ngom, is a naturalized U.S. citizen and did not have a non-domiciled CDL. State investigators accused Ngom of fraudulently obtaining his citizenship and driver’s licenses.
Ohio has not issued any nondomiciled CDLs since the 2025 federal rule change and does not intend to resume issuing these licenses in the future or renew any valid nondomiciled CDLs when they expire, according to the Ohio BMV press release.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio begins review of 5,000 nonpermanent resident commercial driver’s licenses
Reporting by Nathan Hart, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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