To get a Utah driver’s license, you can take the written test in more than a dozen languages. The same is true for the limited-term license, which is available to non-citizens with lawful presence, like refugees.
But those who want a driving privilege card have just one option: English, even though all three tests use the same questions.
Here’s a mini history lesson. In 1999, Utah lawmakers made it possible for people without Social Security numbers to get a driver’s license using their taxpayer identification number. In 2005, the Legislature replaced that option with the distinct driving privilege card. The card allows residents to drive legally and have their information logged in databases, but it’s not valid for identification.
The reason sounds familiar today: There were concerns over non-citizens voting, said former state Sen. Curt Bramble. A legislative audit at the time found about a dozen undocumented immigrants were registered to vote, and up to three had voted.
“The only way I could pass the driving privilege card was to require that it be a driving test in English,” Bramble said.
The rationale, he said, was that people in the U.S. illegally had already broken the law, and lawmakers wanted to make sure they knew enough English to understand road signs. Over the years, there have been some attempts to add more languages to the test.
“And when those pop up, there's also been stronger movements to repeal the driving privilege card completely,” Bramble said.
Opponents like soon-to-leave-office Republican Rep. Trevor Lee, who tried and failed to repeal the privilege card in the 2026 legislative session, argue it attracts immigrants without legal status to Utah. But Bramble said it’s better for citizens when more drivers have insurance.
“If we don't have the authority to deport them, what's the objection to saying let's enforce the laws we can?”
Enter Carolina Gaitan, a Utah County resident who in 2023 began teaching classes to Spanish speakers to help them pass the English test. She holds two-day workshops in Ogden, Taylorsville, West Valley City and Orem. At a recent Ogden class, she went through possible test questions in English, translating key terms like flooding and night driving, while students followed along with the driving manual in their laps.
She said getting a privilege card is more urgent since the Legislature passed HB136, which requires law enforcement to impound a vehicle if the driver doesn’t have a license or privilege card, with some exceptions. That also comes with $660 in fees, plus storage and towing costs.
Officials statewide have impounded more than 2,900 vehicles so far for drivers’ lack of credentials, according to the Utah State Tax Commission.
Some of Gaitan’s students have lived in the United States for 20 years or more, and they’re scared to take the test because they don’t speak much English, she said. But she shows them they know more than they think.
And there’s a lot of misinformation, she said. Some people are afraid that immigration enforcement agents will arrest them when they go to be fingerprinted.
But when they decide to try, Gaitan said nine out of 10 of her students pass the exam. One man in his seventies was dragged to the course by his wife. He eventually called to thank Gaitan after passing the test on his fourth or fifth attempt.
“Si una persona de 75 años, que aprender es más complicado y lo pudo hacer, todos lo podemos hacer,” she said in Spanish.
“If someone who’s 75 years old, and learning is harder and he could do it, we can all do it,” she said.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
