46,200 immigrants apply for California driver’s license

AP Photo/Nick Ut

Immigrants line up at a California Department of Motor Vehicles office to register for drivers licenses in Stanton, Calif., Friday, Jan. 2, 2015. Hundreds of people packed into state offices and waited on hours-long lines Friday as California began issuing driver’s licenses to the nation’s largest population of immigrants in the country illegally.

Associated Press

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015 | 5:15 p.m.

SACRAMENTO, — California officials say 46,200 immigrants started applying for a driver's license in the first three days that the state began issuing licenses to immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez said Tuesday that 970 licenses were issued Friday to immigrants who weren't required to take a road test because they previously had a license in California or another state.

Most applicants are given permits after passing a required written test and must return for a road test before getting a license.

The DMV says 54 percent of all new driver's license applicants who took the written test in English on Friday passed it, while 36 percent passed it in Spanish.

California expects 1.4 million people to apply for the licenses in the next three years.