On August 21, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced that the State Division is briefly pausing the issuance of labor visas for overseas nationals looking for employment as industrial truck drivers within the U.S.
“Rising numbers of overseas drivers behind the wheels of huge tractor-trailers on America’s roads are placing lives in danger and threatening the roles of American truckers,” Rubio said in a submit on X.
The seemingly motive behind this drastic transfer is a lethal freeway crash that occurred within the state of Florida, involving a industrial truck driver who made an unlawful U-turn killing at the very least three folks.
Federal authorities declare that the driving force entered the USA illegally, didn’t communicate English, and held a limited-term industrial driver’s license from the state of California. Based on the California Division of Motor Autos (DMV), the federal authorities confirmed the driving force’s authorized presence in the USA when it accepted his industrial driver’s license in 2024.
Earlier this yr, President Trump signed an govt order directing the enforcement of a rule requiring industrial drivers within the U.S. to satisfy English proficiency requirements, with violators topic to being taken out of service. Primarily based on an inner investigation performed by the U.S. Division of Transportation, the driving force failed to ascertain English proficiency “offering right responses to only two of 12 verbal questions and solely precisely figuring out one among 4 freeway site visitors indicators.”
The American Trucking Associations has since spoken out in help of the non permanent pause, calling for stricter regulation within the issuance of economic driver’s licenses to non-US residents stating that the method mandates “critical scrutiny, together with the enforcement of entry-level driver coaching requirements.”
The group urged the implementation of stronger entry-level driver coaching requirements and expressed ongoing concern that fraudulent and non-compliant entities proceed to push industrial driver license candidates by way of the system with little to no coaching.
What visa candidates are affected by the pause?
The pause in visa processing applies to candidates looking for to function industrial vehicles within the H-2B, E-2, and EB-3 visa classifications.
Whereas there is no such thing as a direct pathway to acquire a piece visa as a industrial truck driver, the vast majority of overseas trucker drivers within the U.S. sometimes undergo the H-2B visa course of, requiring employment sponsorship.
The pause does not have an effect on the issuance of B1/B2 visas, which most third-country-national drivers in Canada use to enter the USA.
When will the pause be lifted?
A spokesperson for the State Division stated the pause is being performed so as to enable the administration to hold out a “complete and thorough assessment” of the federal authorities’s system for screening and vetting foreigners looking for work visas to function industrial vehicles.
No particular timeline on when the pause can be lifted was given, however the spokesperson stated the halt in processing would final till the State Division — together with the Labor Division and Homeland Safety Division — completes the assessment of its course of for issuing work visas to truckers and implements any obligatory adjustments.
The purpose of the assessment, the State Division spokesperson stated, is to make sure each driver working a industrial truck within the U.S. is “correctly certified,” which incorporates with the ability to communicate English proficiently.
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