The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) published a few years ago a roster of out-of-state driver’s license classes that are no longer recognized within the state’s borders.
The move followed the signing of Senate Bill 1718 by Governor Ron DeSantis on May 10, 2023 — a piece of legislation that restructured several aspects of how Florida handles undocumented immigration at the state level.
The licensing provision sits alongside other sections of the bill that expanded E-Verify requirements for employers, introduced criminal penalties for transporting certain migrants into the state, and mandated that hospitals receiving Medicaid funding collect data on patients’ immigration status.
Florida just closed a legal loophole on out-of-state driver’s licenses
The legal procedure behind the license invalidation is found in a newly created statute, Fla. Stat. §322.033, which targets a specific category of credential: those issued by other states to individuals who were not required to demonstrate lawful presence in the United States at the time of issuance.
Under prior Florida law, the state generally extended recognition to driver’s licenses issued by other American jurisdictions. That practice now carries an exception. If a license belongs to a class issued exclusively to individuals who could not prove legal immigration status, it does not authorize the holder to operate a motor vehicle on Florida roads.
What the list includes and how it was built
The Florida Highway Patrol and the FLHSMV were designated as the enforcement arms of the provision. Dave Kerner, Executive Director of the department, stated that “FLHSMV and its division of the Florida Highway Patrol are prepared to strictly enforce Senate Bill 1718.” He added that “this legislation supports two of our primary goals: to enhance homeland security and to interdict criminal activity.”
The FLHSMV compiled the roster by consulting resources from the National Conference of State Legislatures and individual state motor vehicle departments to determine which jurisdictions issue credentials to applicants who are unable to demonstrate lawful immigration status.
Driver’s licenses that are accepted and those who aren’t
The resulting inventory identifies specific license classes — not all licenses from a given state — that carry markings such as “Federal Limits Apply,” “Not for Federal Identification,” “Driving Privilege Only,” or similar language indicating the credential was issued without proof of legal presence.
As of the most recent update, the states with at least one invalid license class in Florida are:
The FLHSMV stated explicitly that the roster is not static
The department noted that it “is subject to change through periodic updates due to the revision of driver license issuance requirements in other states.”
That language has proven accurate: Vermont and Rhode Island were included in the original publication and subsequently removed after their respective motor vehicle authorities contacted Florida officials to clarify that the relevant credential classes are not issued exclusively to individuals without legal status.
Vermont’s deputy commissioner of motor vehicles contacted the department shortly after the list went live, advising that the state’s Driver Privilege Card is not exclusively issued to those without legal presence in the United States.
Penalties, possession, and what the law does not cover
A driver who presents one of the listed license classes during a traffic stop in Florida is subject to the penalties established under Section 322.03 of Florida Statutes, the provisions that govern operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.
Florida Highway Patrol Colonel Gary Howze II described the law’s purpose in terms of identity verification: “This bill is about safety and security. When we enforce it, we ensure that the individuals we encounter are who they say they are and that they are welcome to enjoy all that the state has to offer.”
Other things to have in consideration
The law draws a distinction, however, between possessing an out-of-state privilege card and using it while driving. Under SB 1718, it is not unlawful to carry one of the listed credentials — only to operate a vehicle relying on it as authorization. The statute also does not affect Florida-issued licenses.
Any driver’s license issued by Florida itself remains unaffected by the new provision regardless of the holder’s immigration status, since Florida simultaneously amended its own issuance rules under the same bill to require proof of lawful presence for new applicants.
There is also no provision in SB 1718 granting law enforcement new authority to stop or detain individuals based solely on immigration status. The FLHSMV addressed this directly in a published FAQ, stating that visitors from states like Connecticut and Delaware “are welcome in Florida and will not be pulled over simply for having out-of-state plates.” Standard traffic enforcement applies, and a stop would require an independent reason — a suspected traffic violation or evidence of criminal activity.
