Law Enforcement Guide for Non-U.S. Driver Licenses

When presented a driver license from outside the United States, Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) may be reluctant to run the name and date of birth provided on the credential because they won’t receive a driver license status response from the country of license origin. However, LEOs should make the query for many reasons, including:
  • The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) provides hot file information on internationals such as warrants, violent persons, missing persons, and extreme risk protection orders.
  • The International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets) provides the path to other data resources, as well as Canada (CPIC) and Interpol.
  • The jurisdiction the LEO is in may have criminal justice records available.
In addition, Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) administrations maintain records of non-licensed persons whose driving privileges have been suspended or revoked, even though those individuals may not be residents of the United States.

For LEOs dealing with a Canadian driver or vehicle, it is important to submit the separate Nlets Canadian query to check CPIC, as some CPIC information is not available by checking NCIC.
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