Visa Lawyer Blog
On September 19, 2014 the California Department of Motor Vehicles released a statement detailing the progress it has made to date in order to implement Assembly Bill 60, operative January 01, 2015. Assembly Bill 60 was signed into law by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr on October 2013 for the benefit of all California residents. The bill promises to improve public safety, for all Californians, by requiring undocumented persons to go through the same licensure requirements as legal permanent residents and U.S. Citizens, residing in the state of California. In addition, applicants will be required to provide satisfactory proof of identity and California residency, though exact documentation requirements are still being deliberated and have not officially been made public. To view the proposals on documentation required please click here. The fee for the AB 60 driver’s license will remain the same as the fee for original driver’s licenses at $33.00. Before AB 60, applicants could not apply for a California driver’s license because of their inability to submit the required proof of legal presence in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security recently notified the DMV that the state’s most recent AB 60 driver’s license design had met the standard required to move forward to the production stage.
Since its adoption, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has held over 80 public outreach events throughout California, educating local communities on the implementation of the new law. Additionally the DMV has hired new staff, organized department-wide training, and opened temporary offices, with the purpose of facilitating extra appointments for the nearly 1.4 million anticipated new driver’s that will apply during just the first three years of AB 60’s implementation.
The DMV has launched such outreach events with the support of foreign consulate offices, community and church organizations, law enforcement, and other local officials. At these events the DMV has explained the licensing requirements under the new law, encouraged the undocumented community to study for the written driver’s license examination early on, and provided tips to the undocumented community on how to study for the exam.
In an effort to increase efficiency to meet the anticipated demand, the California DMV has hired 405 new employees to date and hopes to hire 500 more by the end of 2014.
In addition to an increase in personnel, four temporary field offices are scheduled to open by January 01, 2015 in Lompoc, Stanton, Granada Hills, and San Jose.
The Department of Motor Vehicles has held four public hearings across the state of California with the purpose of reviewing and responding to complaints, comments, and all other input related to the introduction of the new law. The DMV plans on preparing final revisions in response to these hearings and will offer 15 days of additional public commentary forums before receiving final approval from the Office of Administrative Law.
The DMV is currently working jointly with the California Highway Patrol to educate law enforcement in regards to the new law as well as the prohibition of profiling and discrimination.
Various Spanish speaking networks have invited the DMV to participate in programs scheduled to take place in November to answer questions regarding AB 60. The DMV also regularly conducts weekly segments for morning newscasts on KMEX 34 Univision Los Angeles and KUVS 19 Univision Sacramento. DMV public education messages are also being aired on many Spanish speaking radio stations in the state of California. The DMV is also publishing fact sheets in Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Tagalog, Russian, and Vietnamese and disseminating news releases to media that provides information in these languages, in an effort to reach out to these communities;
For more information on further AB 60 press releases, sample tests, study material, proposals, and public hearings and workshops please visit the California DMV’s AB 60 web page by clicking here.
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