MAY 1, 2026
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah law will allow foreign driver licenses that include a photo and date of birth to be accepted as identification for alcohol purchases. Passports and other previously accepted forms of ID also remain an acceptable form of identification. Foreign identification cards that are not driver licenses may not be accepted.
Checking Foreign Driver Licenses
Visually inspect foreign driver licenses, as current systems may not be able to scan them.
A key point to note is the variation in date formats. While the U.S. uses the Month/Date/Year format, foreign licenses may use Date/Month/Year or Year/Month/Date.
See date format examples:
- USA: MM/DD/YYYY → Example: 04/15/2003 (April 15, 2003)
- Non USA: DD/MM/YYYY → Example: 15/04/2003 (April 15, 2003)
- Non USA: YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY-MM-DD → Example: 2003/15/04 (April 15, 2003)
Most East Asian countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, and Mongolia write the date starting with year.
Common Foreign Driver Licenses
According to the Utah Office of Tourism, travelers from the following frequently visit Utah:
- Canada
- France
- Belgium & Netherlands
- United Kingdom
- China
- Korea, Republic of
- Germany
- Australia
- Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden)
- Italy
- Mexico
###
