Wisconsin Driver Licenses

Good afternoon,

We have received your request for information for:
1) A list of driver license applications submitted in the state of Wisconsin between 1/1/2014 to 7/3/2019 by individuals who present a Puerto Rican birth certificate and if they were issued a driver license or not. Including application date, residence at the time of application and/or current address, and birth place.
2) A description of the process and/or policies used to verify the eligibility of people born in Puerto Rico, who have moved to Wisconsin and apply for a Wisconsin driver license
3) Copies of all materials and/or instructions used to verify the citizenship of people born in Puerto Rico.

We are required to comply with the Federal Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) (Title 18 USC Section 2721-2725) and Wisconsin Statutes (Wis §19.36(1)). This limits us in releasing personal identifying information and the content of driver records except for specific purposes. Under your number 1 request, this would fall under DPPA, since you are asking for driver license application information and address information.

To confirm that the use of the information you have requested falls within acceptable use, you will need to complete and sign a Vehicle/Driver Record Information Request form (MV2896<http://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/formdocs/mv2896.pdf>) and provide a letter of intent, under your organization's letterhead, stating what you will be using the information for.

I don't believe we capture the origin of the birth certificates. But I will confirm that with the area responsible for the license issuance process. We may be able to generate a report of any Puerto Rican driver licenses that were surrendered when they moved to Wisconsin. You are not allowed to have driver licenses from two different jurisdiction. Surrendering the driver license would be part of that process.

I will also work with that area to get their process for issuing a Wisconsin driver license to someone moving from Puerto Rico and the verification process of the individual's birth certificate.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Todd Erstad
Qualifications & Issuance Section - MVPS
Wisconsin DOT
4822 Madison Yards Way
Madison, WI 53707-7999
DOTDMVBDSOpenRecords@dot.wi.gov<mailto:DOTDMVBDSOpenRecords@dot.wi.gov>

Good morning,

I have worked with our IT staff on request number 1. We do not record where a birth certificate is from when we issue a driver license. But we do record if a person has surrendered a Puerto Rican driver license when they apply for a Wisconsin driver license.

Two items to be aware of. If a person is denied a Wisconsin driver license for any reason, we do not create a record for them and wouldn’t store any information that indicates why they were denied. Second, we are only recording what the latest license was surrendered. If a person of Puerto Rican birth applied for a license from another state first (for example Ohio) and then came to Wisconsin, they would be surrendering an Ohio driver license and Wisconsin wouldn’t have any information that Puerto Rican driver license was ever used.

With that information, we did an initial evaluation and there over 5,000 Wisconsin driver licenses that were issued during the time period you gave (1/1/2014 to now) where a Puerto Rican driver license was surrendered to get a Wisconsin license. We do have the ability to create a spread sheet with the information you are looking for (name, address and issuance date).

As I stated in my July 3rd email, we will need to review your Vehicle/Driver Record Information Request form (MV2896<http://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/formdocs/mv2896.pdf>) and letter of intent to make sure you will be using the data under the Federal DPPA and Wisconsin statutes.

As for requests number 2 and 3, here is the information that was provided by the driver license processing area:
2) Puerto Rico is treated as another jurisdiction as far as transferring a non-commercial Puerto Rican driver license/ID card is concerned. The applicant provides all the documentation we require for every person obtaining an original Wisconsin driver license or ID (Proof of Identity, Proof of Residency, Proof of Legal Presence, and Proof of Name and Date of Birth- Trans 102.15(2)(a)<https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/Trans%20102.15(2)(a)>, Trans 102.15(4m)<https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/Trans%20102.15(4m)>). Like all drivers, the customer’s information is run through the Problem Driver Pointer System (PDPS) and State Pointer Exchange Service (SPEXS) systems to verify their driving status for issuance (Trans 102.07(1)<https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/Trans%20102.07(1)>). Additionally, the applicant would need to provide their social security number, which is verified through Social Security Administration (Trans 102.15(5)(a)<https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/Trans%20102.15(5)(a)>).

3) For people that are born in Puerto Rico and want to use birth certificate issued by Puerto Rico, our website shows the following:
U.S. State or local government issued Certificate of Birth. (Wisconsin will not accept Puerto Rican birth certificates issued before July 1, 2010, in line with Puerto Rico’s law as of October 30, 2010. More information available at pr.gov​<http://www2.pr.gov/Pages/default.aspx>)

This is found: https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/license-drvs/how-to-apply/citizen-leg-pres.aspx, https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/license-drvs/how-to-apply/proof-name-dob.aspx, and https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/dmv/shared/bds316-english.pdf.

Otherwise, people born in Puerto Rico can use a valid, unexpired US Passport if they do not have a Puerto Rican birth certificate issued after 7/1/2010.

Once I have your MV2896 and your letter of intent, we will review it and let you know if we can provide the information for your #1 request.

Todd Erstad
Qualifications & Issuance Section - MVPS
Wisconsin DOT
4822 Madison Yards Way
Madison, WI 53707-7999
DOTDMVBDSOpenRecords@dot.wi.gov<mailto:DOTDMVBDSOpenRecords@dot.wi.gov>

Good morning,

To help keep it on topic, could you list it as “Puerto Rican Surrendered DLs” If we have that list in Section B and a brief description in the Comments section at that bottom of page 2, that should be enough of a description for our records.

Please include the letter of intent on your organization’s letterhead stating what the information will be used for. Please note that the Federal Driver Privacy and Protection Act, does not allow you to obtain this information to contact the individuals.

If you have any additional questions, please let me know.
Todd Erstad
Qualifications & Issuance Section - MVPS
Wisconsin DOT
4822 Madison Yards Way
Madison, WI 53707-7999
DOTDMVBDSOpenRecords@dot.wi.gov<mailto:DOTDMVBDSOpenRecords@dot.wi.gov>