Veh. Code, § 12801 · Article 3. Issuance and Renewal of Licenses
Veh. Code, § 12801
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) and Section 12801.9, the department shall require an application for a driver’s license to contain the applicant’s social security account number and any other number or identifier determined to be appropriate by the department.
(b) An applicant who provides satisfactory proof that his or her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law, but who is not eligible for a social security account number, is eligible to receive an original driver’s license if he or she meets all other qualifications for licensure.
(c) (1) An applicant applying for a driver’s license under Section 12801.9, who has never been issued a social security account number and is not presently eligible for a social security account number, shall satisfy the requirements of this section if he or she indicates in the application described in Section 12800, in the manner prescribed by the department, that he or she has never been issued a social security account number and is not presently eligible for a social security account number.
(2) This subdivision does not apply to applications for a commercial driver’s license. The department shall require all applications for a commercial driver’s license to include the applicant’s social security account number.
(3) This section shall not be used to consider an individual’s citizenship or immigration status as a basis for a criminal investigation, arrest, or detention.
(d) The department shall not complete an application for a driver’s license unless the applicant is in compliance with the requirements of subdivision (a), (b), or (c).
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, the social security account number collected on a driver’s license application shall not be displayed on the driver’s license, including, but not limited to, inclusion on a magnetic tape or strip used to store data on the license.
(f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2015, or on the date that the director executes a declaration pursuant to Section 12801.11, whichever is sooner.
(g) This section shall become inoperative on the effective date of a final judicial determination made by any court of appellate jurisdiction that any provision of the act that added this section, or its application, either in whole or in part, is enjoined, found unconstitutional, or held invalid for any reason. The department shall post this information on its Internet Web site.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended (as amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 27, Sec. 6) by Stats. 2015, Ch. 303, Sec. 537. (AB 731) Effective January 1, 2016. Conditionally inoperative as provided in subd. (g). See later operative version, as amended by Sec. 171 of Stats. 2014, Ch. 71.
Another version listed by the Legislative Counsel
Section conditionally operative as prescribed by its own provisions.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall require an application for a driver’s license to contain the applicant’s social security account number and any other number or identifier determined to be appropriate by the department.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an applicant who provides satisfactory proof that his or her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law, but who is not eligible for a social security account number, is eligible to receive an original driver’s license if he or she meets all other qualifications for licensure.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the social security account number collected on a driver’s license application shall not be displayed on the driver’s license, including, but not limited to, inclusion on a magnetic tape or strip used to store data on the license.
(d) This section shall become operative on the effective date of a final judicial determination made by any court of appellate jurisdiction that any provision of the act that added this section, or its application, either in whole or in part, is enjoined, found unconstitutional, or held invalid for any reason. The department shall post this information on its Internet Web site.
History (another version listed by the Legislative Counsel)
Amended (as added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 524, Sec. 11) by Stats. 2014, Ch. 71, Sec. 171. (SB 1304) Effective January 1, 2015. Section conditionally operative as prescribed by its own provisions.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH§ionNum=12801.
- Text hash
- sha256 36c5d6a23bb805a9843b9d02e1c8a65244902e3d9467821b36e1606eab688182
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
- the Legislative Counsel lists 2 versions of this section; the version shown is the one in force by its history, the other is under "Another version listed by the Legislative Counsel" (conditional)
- the version shown operates conditionally by its own provisions (its history says so)
This section cites
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Cited by 6 provisions
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