Relates to directing the department of motor vehicles to issue New York drivers' licenses to individuals holding a valid or recently expired driver's license from certain Caribbean countries.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7196
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 21, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CHANDLER-WATERMAN -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to permitting
the exchange of drivers licenses from certain countries
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 502 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
3 1-a. License exchange for certain countries. (a) Notwithstanding any
4 provisions of this section, the commissioner shall accept as valid for
5 purposes of identification, age and examination a driver's license
6 issued from a country listed in paragraph (b) of this subdivision and
7 shall issue a license to drive in this state to an individual holding a
8 license described in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, provided howev-
9 er, the individual shall be subject to the written examination and the
10 vision test required by subdivision four of this section.
11 (b) A drivers license issued by the following countries or territories
12 shall be valid for purposes of paragraph (a) of this subdivision:
13 Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, Brit-
14 ish Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican
15 Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Mont-
16 serrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis,
17 Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eusta-
18 tius, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and
19 the Virgin Islands of the United States.
20 (c) A license issued by a country listed in paragraph (b) of this
21 subdivision shall be accepted for exchange if it: is valid or has
22 expired within the past six months; states the date upon which it was
23 issued and it was issued a minimum of six months prior to the date of
24 the application; and is not suspended, revoked, lost or stolen.
25 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06056-01-5
