Licences and certificates in both official languages

It is a very short law — two articles — ordering three Secretaries to amend their regulations so certain documents come out in Spanish and English: the driver’s licence, the marriage licence and the professional qualification certificates for principals and teachers issued by the Department of Education. We say it in full because it is all the law says: it creates no claim, no fine and no deadline.

The law sets no personal requirements: its mandate is addressed to the Secretaries of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Department of Health and the Department of Education. The documents it names are the driver’s licence, the marriage licence and the various professional qualification certificates issued by the Department of Education, “among others,” for principals and teachers. That phrase “among others” sits inside the enumeration and it is not clear from the text how far it extends the list; we reproduce it where it appears and do not resolve it on our own.

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   Step 1: The law’s full text

   It fits in one sentence, so we give it whole, without summarising: “The Secretaries of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Department of Health and the Department of Education are hereby ordered to amend their regulations so that the driver’s licence, the marriage licence, the various professional qualification certificates issued by the Department of Education, among others, for principals and teachers are issued in both official languages of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.”

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   Step 2: Which documents it names

   Three, each with its agency. The driver’s licence, issued by the Department of Transportation and Public Works. The marriage licence, tied to the Department of Health, under which Vital Records sits. And the various professional qualification certificates for principals and teachers issued by the Department of Education.

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   Step 3: Whom the law speaks to

   This is the point that decides what can be done with it. The mandate is not addressed to you or to the counter clerk: it runs to the three Secretaries, and what it orders them is “to amend their regulations.” Compliance therefore lives in those regulations, which this guide did not read.

4. 4

   Step 4: What this law does not carry

   We say it head on so nobody arrives expecting something else. The law sets no deadline to amend the regulations. It imposes no fine or sanction for non-compliance. It creates no office, form or forum in which to claim. And it does not say what happens if a document is issued in a single language. When a law gives no remedy, saying so is more useful than suggesting one that does not exist.

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   Step 5: Since when it governs

   The second and last article is just as short: “This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.” The law is from 1997 and the compilation we cite carries a revision dated April 15, 2024.

There is nothing to apply for under this law: the mandate runs to the Secretaries of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Department of Health and the Department of Education, and is fulfilled by amending regulations. If you need the procedure itself — renewing the driver’s licence, obtaining the marriage licence or requesting a certificate — those have their own guides here. And if what you want is a translated document to use outside Puerto Rico, that is a different matter and this law does not govern it.

• Expecting a claim from this law: it orders amending regulations and creates no remedy, fine or forum.
• Believing it sets a deadline: it does not, which is why we publish none.
• Thinking it covers any government document: it names the driver’s licence, the marriage licence and the professional qualification certificates for principals and teachers.
• Reading “among others” as an open and defined list: the phrase is in the text and its reach is unclear; we do not resolve it.
• Confusing it with a certified translation for use outside Puerto Rico: this law does not govern that.
• Assuming the counter clerk is breaking the law: the mandate is addressed to the Secretaries and is fulfilled by regulation.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas (DTOP)

  DTOP

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov