2023 California Code › Vehicle Code - VEH › DIVISION 6 - DRIVERS' LICENSES › CHAPTER 1 - Issuance of Licenses, Expiration, and Renewal › ARTICLE 1 - Persons Required to Be Licensed, Exemptions, and Age Limits › Section 12505.

12505. (a) (1) For purposes of this division only and notwithstanding Section 516, residency shall be determined as a person’s state of domicile. “State of domicile” means the state where a person has their true, fixed, and permanent home and principal residence and to which the person has manifested the intention of returning whenever they are absent.
Prima facie evidence of residency for driver’s licensing purposes includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(A) Address where registered to vote.
(B) Payment of resident tuition at a public institution of higher education.
(C) Filing a homeowner’s property tax exemption.
(D) Other acts, occurrences, or events that indicate presence in the state is more than temporary or transient.
(2) California residency is required of a person in order to be issued a commercial driver’s license under this code.
(b) The presumption of residency in this state may be rebutted by satisfactory evidence that the licensee’s primary residence is in another state.
(c) A person entitled to an exemption under Section 12502, 12503, or 12504 may operate a motor vehicle in this state for not to exceed 10 days from the date the person establishes residence in this state, except that a person shall not operate a motor vehicle for employment in this state after establishing residency without first obtaining a license from the department.
(d) If the State of California is decertified by the federal government and prohibited from issuing an initial, renewal, or upgraded commercial driver’s license pursuant to Section 384.405 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the following applies:
(1) An existing commercial driver’s license issued pursuant to this code prior to the date that the state is notified of its decertification shall remain valid until its expiration date.
(2) A person who is a resident of this state may obtain a nondomiciled commercial learner’s permit or commercial driver’s license from any state that elects to issue a nondomiciled commercial learner’s permit or commercial driver’s license and that complies with the testing and licensing standards contained in subparts F, G, and H of Part 383 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) For the purposes of this subdivision, a nondomiciled commercial learner’s permit or commercial driver’s license is a commercial learner’s permit or commercial driver’s license issued by a state to an individual domiciled in a foreign country or in another state.
(e) The department may issue a nondomiciled commercial learner’s permit or nondomiciled commercial driver’s license to a person who is domiciled in a state or jurisdiction that has been decertified by the federal government or not determined to be in compliance with the testing and licensing standards contained in subparts F, G, and H of Part 383 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(f) Subject to Section 12504, a person over the age of 16 years who is a resident of a foreign jurisdiction other than a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or Canada, having a valid driver’s license issued to the person by any other foreign jurisdiction may operate a motor vehicle in this state without obtaining a license from the department, unless the department determines that the foreign jurisdiction does not meet the licensing standards imposed by this code.
(g) A person who is 18 years of age or older and in possession of a valid commercial learner’s permit or commercial driver’s license issued by a foreign jurisdiction that meets the licensing standards contained in subparts F, G, and H of Part 383 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations shall be granted reciprocity to operate vehicles of the appropriate class on the highways of this state.
(h) A person from a foreign jurisdiction that does not meet the licensing standards contained in subparts F, G, and H of Part 383 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations shall obtain a commercial learner’s permit or commercial driver’s license from the department before operating on the highways a motor vehicle for which a commercial driver’s license is required, as described in Section 12804.9. The medical examination form required for issuance of a commercial driver’s license shall be completed by a health care professional, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 12804.9, who is licensed, certified, or registered to perform physical examinations in the United States of America. This subdivision does not apply to (1) drivers of schoolbuses operated in California on a trip for educational purposes or (2) drivers of vehicles used to provide the services of a local public agency.
(i) This section does not authorize the employment of a person in violation of Section 12515.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 295, Sec. 11. (AB 2956) Effective January 1, 2023.)