Alcohol Program Completion Certificates in NH DUI Cases

If you are a Massachusetts resident or driver and you are convicted of driving under the influence in the State of New Hampshire, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles will suspend your driver’s license as a result of the NH DUI conviction. Once you have served the required suspension time and you are clear with the Department of Motor Vehicles in New Hampshire, you can be considered for a Massachusetts Hardship License. However, in order to be considered for a hardship license, both the Massachusetts RMV and Board of Appeal will require proof of completion of an alcohol program.

Several hardship license clients have reported that certain New Hampshire DUI Alcohol Program providers will not release these certificates to them under any circumstances. Instead, they send the certificates to the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles and, supposedly, the Massachusetts Registry. The problem with this system is that the Suspensions Section of the Massachusetts Registry is not equipped to receive unsolicited documents in this matter. Instead, the Registry requires that customers hand deliver the documents to a Massachusetts Registry Hearings Officer as part of a hardship license hearing. This places the Massachusetts Driver who has a New Hampshire DUI in a difficult “catch-22” situation. The NH Alcohol Program refuses to provide the document that the Massachusetts Registry requires.

Fortunately, you may be able to use a NH DMV Form 505 (PDF) to obtain a copy of the alcohol program completion certificate from the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles of the NH Department of Public Safety. You can submit this form to the DMV specifically requesting that you be provided with a copy of the completion certificate which the alcohol program provider submitted to the DMV. You can then submit the certificate to a Massachusetts Registry Hearings Officer, or Board of Appeal, in support of your hardship license application.

If you are facing a DUI license suspension and you need a hardship license, contact me for a free consultation and review of your license suspension. However, please note that you cannot get any type of license in Massachusetts, including a hardship license, unless you have been cleared to drive by the NH DMV. You cannot get any license in Massachusetts while a New Hampshire suspension is in effect and New Hampshire does not issue any type of hardship, limited, or work license.