How do you translate a Mexican driver’s license for the DMV or USCIS?

Who issues a license in Mexico

Ordinary Mexican driver’s licenses are issued by each state. In Mexico City it’s the Secretaría de Movilidad (SEMOVI). Its new permanent license (licencia permanente), issued in a program that began on November 16, 2024, covers cars only. For a motorcycle you need the older permanent license, an A1 or A2 license, or another state’s license that allows it (SEMOVI (opens in a new tab)).

The federal license (licencia federal de conductor) is for drivers in federal motor transport. The Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes issues it by category: A for passenger transport, B and C for cargo, D for tourist driver-⁠guides, F for service to federal airports and seaports (gob.mx (opens in a new tab)).

What the translation includes

We translate both sides of the card as printed:

• the state or federal authority that issued it, the license type or category and its number;
• the holder’s name and every personal detail printed on the card;
• the date of issue and, if the card has one, the expiry date;
• notes, signatures and seals on the back; a barcode, a QR code or a photo is marked in brackets.

Send a clear photo of each side. If the card is worn and a line can’t be read, the translation says so instead of filling it in.

At the California DMV

The DMV mentions translations of a foreign license on its secondary review page (opens in a new tab). A secondary review happens when an office needs to look more closely at the identity documents you brought with an AB 60 driver’s license application. A foreign driver’s license is one of the documents you can bring, and if it isn’t in English it needs a certified translation or an affidavit of translation into English.

The DMV AB 60 guide (opens in a new tab) has the same rule. Its list of Mexican documents that prove identity on their own (the voter card, the passport, the matrícula consular) doesn’t include a driver’s license: a foreign driver’s license is on the secondary review list. What the DMV accepts

Where else the translation goes

• USCIS: the Form I-⁠485 instructions name a driver’s license as one example of a government-⁠issued photo ID to file with the application (I-⁠485 instructions (opens in a new tab)). A document in Spanish goes with a full English translation and the translator’s certification (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) (opens in a new tab)). What USCIS accepts
• Names: we spell your name as in your passport, so the license, the birth certificate and the rest of your order match.

Our Spanish documents are translated and certified by a native Spanish speaker. What to file in your case is for you or your attorney to decide.