WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced an emergency interim final rule Thursday that immediately restricts eligibility for non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), citing recent fatal crashes and widespread state compliance failures as justification for bypassing the normal rulemaking process.

Effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register on September 29, 2025 , the new rule limits non-domiciled CDL eligibility to foreign nationals holding H-2A agricultural worker visas, H-2B temporary non-agricultural worker visas, or E-2 treaty investor visas . Employment Authorization Documents alone will no longer suffice for license eligibility.

FMCSA said the emergency action is necessary due to what it describes as a “tw

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