You wanted to know the criteria for issuing driver's licenses to non-United States citizens in New York, South Carolina, and Utah.

SUMMARY

Any applicant for a New York driver's license must present proof of name and date of birth. The Department of Motor Vehicles assigns points, ranging from one through six, to various documents that can be used to establish proof. As proof of name, an applicant must submit documents with a six-point value. He must submit (1) a Social Security Number (SSN), which has a two-point value, and (2) another document or documents with a four-point value. If he does not have a SSN, he must submit a letter to that effect from the U. S. Social Security Administration and a document or combination of documents with a six-point value. As proof of date of birth, an applicant must submit any of 12 documents.

South Carolina is considering legislation that would prohibit issuing a license to, or renewing the license of, anyone from another country in the United States on a student or work visa (H. B. 4670). Current law requires an applicant to have one of the following: a (1) resident alien card, (2) permanent resident card, (3) passport showing work visa, (4) passport showing student visa, or (5) passport showing that the applicant is a dependent of a person on a work or student visa. The applicant must also provide a social security card or a letter from the Social Security Administration stating that he is "an alien not allowed to work in the United States. " Finally, the applicant must show proof of residency. This can be done with a utility bill, employment record, school record, or a welfare/social services card, among other things.

Utah requires either a social security number or a temporary tax identification number issued by the Internal Revenue Service. The applicant must also provide two forms of identification, which could include a birth certificate, driver's license from another state or country, or a marriage certificate.

NEW YORK

In New York, the motor vehicles commissioner recently changed the criteria for issuing licenses to any applicant, including non-United States citizens. The criteria are at the commissioner's discretion and he may change them at any time. Under the current system, an applicant must present proof of name and date of birth. The documents that the agency will accept are grouped into categories and assigned a point value ranging from one to six. As proof of name, an applicant must submit documents with a six-point value; as proof of date of birth, he must submit documents with a one-point value.

Examples of acceptable proof of name documents and their point values are as follows:

1. New York State (NYS) photo driver's license-six points;

2. U. S. passport, valid or expired, within the last two years-four points;

3. U. S. military photo identification card issued to military personnel only, NYS Medicaid/benefit/food stamp card with photo, refugee travel document, citizenship certificate, and a naturalization certificate-three points;

4. photo driver's license issued by another U. S. state, jurisdiction, territory or possession, or Canadian province or territory; U. S. marriage or divorce record, or court-issued name change decree; and a NYS professional license-two points;

5. U. S. veterans universal access identification card with photo, supermarket check cashing card with signature, U. S. health insurance/prescription card, employee identification card, and a computerized pay stub-one point.

Examples of acceptable proof of date of birth documents are:

1. U. S. or U. S. territory birth certificates;

2. Canadian birth certificate with Canadian driver's license or identification card with the date of birth issued by a Canadian motor vehicle agency;

3. NYS photo driver license, permit, or non-driver identification card;

4. U. S. passport; or

5. naturalization certificate.

All documents must be originals. Restrictions and conditions apply to

some of the documents. The complete list is available at www. nysdmv. com/id. htm.

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