Idaho has become the latest state to eliminate its non-domiciled commercial driver’s license program, ending the issuance of Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) and Commercial Learner’s Permits (CLPs) to non-residents effective on Wednesday.
Under House Bill 667, commercial driver applicants must now be official Idaho residents and complete the state’s standard licensing process. The law ends Idaho’s longstanding practice of issuing non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs to qualified drivers who were not legal residents of the state.
The change means out-of-state and foreign-domiciled commercial drivers can no longer use Idaho as a licensing jurisdiction unless they first establish residency.
The legislation places Idaho among a growing number of states tightening commercial driver licensing requirements following recent federal actions aimed at strengthening oversight of non-domiciled CDL holders.
Related: Ohio reviews 5,000 nonresident CDLs amid federal compliance crackdown
The move comes several months after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration amended its regulations governing non-domiciled CDL issuance, significantly narrowing eligibility for foreign-domiciled commercial drivers.
Under the revised federal rule, states may issue non-domiciled CDLs only to applicants presenting limited immigration classifications, including H-2A, H-2B and E-2 visa holders.
Idaho has issued relatively few non-domiciled CDLs compared with larger licensing states, but the program has grown steadily in recent years.
According to data previously provided by the Idaho Transportation Department, the state issued or renewed 778 non-domiciled CDLs in 2024, up from 482 in 2023 and 328 in 2022. During the first five months of 2025, Idaho had already issued or renewed 609 non-domiciled CDLs, suggesting another strong year before the residency requirement took effect.
The legislation also ends a pathway some drivers from outside Idaho had used to obtain commercial credentials in the state, requiring all future applicants to demonstrate Idaho residency before beginning the CDL process.
Idaho’s action follows a broader wave of policy changes across the U.S. as states reevaluate their commercial licensing programs.
Since federal regulators began increasing scrutiny of non-domiciled CDL issuance in late 2025, several states have paused, restricted or ended their programs.
Texas suspended issuance to many categories of non-domiciled applicants, while Ohio announced it does not intend to resume issuing new non-domiciled CDLs after completing a review of approximately 5,000 existing credential holders.
Related: Trucking group asks federal court to strip New York, California of CDL authority
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