Georgia Code
Article 2 - Issuance, Expiration, and Renewal of Licenses
§ 40-5-21. Exemptions Generally

History. Ga. L. 1937, p. 322, art. 4, § 1; Ga. L. 1939, p. 135, § 9; Code 1933, § 68B-202, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 307, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 931, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 2189, § 1; Code 1981, § 40-5-21.1 , enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 638, § 2; Ga. L. 1989, p. 519, § 5; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2785, § 4; Ga. L. 1994, p. 478, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1624, § 6; Ga. L. 1997, p. 760, § 9; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, § 5-4; Ga. L. 2001, p. 184, §§ 2-1, 3-1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 67, § 2; Ga. L. 2005, p. 334, § 17-3/HB 501; Ga. L. 2008, p. 589, § .1/HB 969; Ga. L. 2008, p. 1154, § 2/SB 488; Ga. L. 2014, p. 745, § 8/HB 877; Ga. L. 2016, p. 767, § 3/SB 320; Ga. L. 2017, p. 549, § 2/SB 219; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 40/HB 323; Ga. L. 2020, p. 199, § 2-3/HB 463.
The 2016 amendment, effective January 1, 2017, substituted the present provisions of paragraph (a)(2) for the former provisions, which read: “A nonresident who has in his or her immediate possession a valid driver’s license issued to him or her in his or her home state or country; provided, however, that such person would otherwise satisfy all requirements to receive a Georgia driver’s license and, if such nonresident driver’s license is in a language other than English, the nonresident also has in his or her immediate possession a valid international driving permit which conforms to and has been issued in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on Road Traffic, 3 U.S.T. 3008, TIAS 2487, or any similar such treaty, international agreement, or reciprocal agreement between the United States and a foreign nation concerning driving privileges of nonresidents.”
The 2017 amendments. —
The first 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, deleted “and” at the end of paragraph (a)(11); substituted “; and” for a period at the end of subparagraph (a)(12)(B); and added paragraph (a)(13). The second 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation at the end of paragraph (a)(2); and substituted “ ‘The Driver Training School and Commercial Driver Training School License Act.’ ” for “ ‘The Driver Training School License Act.’ ” in the first sentence of paragraph (a)(11).
The 2020 amendment, effective June 30, 2020, in paragraph (a)(2), substituted “, country,” for “or country” and inserted “or political subdivision of a foreign country” twice; and inserted “or political subdivision of a foreign country” in paragraph (a)(4).
Cross references.
Convention on International Road Traffic, 3 U.S.T. 3008, T.I.A.S. No. 2487.
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2001, “Georgia” was deleted preceding “Uniform Commercial Driver’s License Act” in subsection (a).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 1997, p. 760, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Teen-age and Adult Driver Responsibility Act’.”
Ga. L. 1997, p. 760, § 27, provides that the amendment made by the Act to this Code section shall apply to offenses committed on or after July 1, 1997, and shall not apply to offenses committed prior to that date.
Law reviews.
For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 203 (1997).
For note on the 2001 amendment to this Code section, see 18 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 205 (2001).
For article on the 2017 amendment of this Code section, see 34 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2017).
For annual survey on commercial transportation, see 73 Mercer L. Rev. 47 (2021).