Michigan Extends Driver’s License Eligibility to Nonimmigrants

In signing the legislation that restores the ability of all legal residents to obtain drivers’ licenses, Governor Jennifer Granholm (herself an immigrant from Candada and previous Immigrant of the Day) applauded lawmakers for their bipartisan cooperation in passing the legislation. There are approximately 400,000 foreign business people, students, and their families in Michigan on nonimmigrant (temporary) visas, including many employed in the auto industry and other important sectors as well as visiting foreign students and scholars.  For more on this story, click here.

We previously blogged on the issue.  The new law was prompted by an opinion by the Michigan Attorney General that caused the secretary of state to stop issuing new driver’s licenses to temporary residents as well as undocumented immigrants. The former group includes people on student visas. Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land’s interpretation of the opinion prompted an immediate outcry from businesses and universities concerned that the law had snagged international students and workers residing on temporary but legal visas. The result is that thousands of Michigan’s students from foreign countries had been left without the right to obtain a license, disproportionately affecting graduate students who live off-campus and rely on cars to travel to and from class.

KJ