By Bob Katzen

Last week marked the 1-year anniversary of a bill signed into law in 2023 that allows undocumented/illegal immigrants to apply for a learner’s permit and Massachusetts standard driver’s license.

The law requires an applicant “without legal presence” in the United States to provide the Registry of Motor Vehicles with a foreign passport and at least one of five other documents: a driver’s license from another state, a foreign driver’s license, a birth certificate, a foreign national identification card or a marriage certificate or divorce decree from any U.S. state.
Here are the numbers:

183,825
—Number of new learner’s permits issued from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024 — an increase of 113,441 over the 70,384 issued in the same time period from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023.

128,075
—Number of new driver’s licenses issued from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024 — an increase of $72,926 over the 55,149 issued in the same time period from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023

35
—Number of languages in which people are tested to obtain learner’s permits.

100
—Number of languages in which in-person and phone assistance is available.

250
—Number of new employees hired to handle the thousands of additional applications for learner’s permits and driver’s licenses.