Authorities in Ireland and New York are holding talks with the aim of reaching an agreement whereby Irish residents in the United States and New York residents who are not from Ireland would not have to retake their driving licenses if they want to return to their home country. For this purpose, Irish Transport Minister Darragh O’Ryan and New York Governor Kathy Hochul have met. This initiative aims to launch the US-Irish Drivers’ Licence Exchange Campaign, facilitating travel for European and North American emigrants. The main challenge to this agreement is that road safety is regulated at the state level in the United States, which could make standardization difficult.
Leaving New York never easy
There are many immigrants and emigrants who, after spending some time outside their country of origin, decide to return. However, sometimes this return brings with it certain difficulties that can even dissuade them from making that decision. This is what happens with European emigrants living in the United States, who cannot automatically exchange their driving license for one from their home country, but would instead have to undergo the exams again. These cases cause delays in the traffic departments and result in setbacks for the return of those affected. This has been the motivation behind the talks between Ireland and the United States.
Driver’s license: international reciprocity
Currently, both for Irish emigrants in the United States and for Americans who wish to emigrate to Ireland, it is mandatory to take the driving tests from scratch to obtain a license. This happens even if the person already has a driver’s license, as there is no process for transferring a driving permit between countries. In this scenario, Ireland’s road safety department has initiated talks with New York, which has been chosen due to the large number of Irish emigrants and Irish-born residents in New York.
Agreements for New York-Ireland Licenses
It was Daragh O’Brien, the Irish Minister of Transport, who got in touch with Katie Hochul, the Governor of New York. His proposal consists of a reciprocal agreement on driver’s licenses to streamline the relocation process for those Irish citizens who want to move to New York. According to O’Brien: ‘The process is an independent technical procedure that is only carried out once the granting authorities of both jurisdictions have studied and compared each other’s licensing systems and are convinced that they are compatible”.
With this approach, it aims to launch the US-Irish Driver’s License Exchange campaign, “We have worked very hard on this and other matters for Irish citizens who wish to return to Ireland. The issue of the driving license is a significant obstacle for people returning to Ireland, especially those with young families or living in rural areas. Many of these people have been driving in the United States for many years.”
What is the main obstacle?
The main issue that makes this agreement difficult is that driving licenses in the United States are regulated at the state level, so each state is responsible for enforcing its own rules, regulations, and procedures when it comes to obtaining a driver’s license, including the requirements for tests. The campaign spokesperson stated, “The issuance of driving licenses in the United States is carried out at the state rather than the federal level, which means there are 50 licensing systems with very different rules and road safety standards.An agreement with any one State would mean considering the license exchange agreements between that State and the other 49”.
This means that the development of an exchange plan would require a technical review, legal drafting, and of course bilateral approval, which will take a long period of time. However, the fact that talks have begun on the matter already represents progress, and it is expected that other states will opt for a similar exchange.