Massachusetts makes major changes to liquor license citizenship requirements

Massachusetts liquor license applicants must appoint a “manager of record” as the person responsible for ensuring that an establishment and employees follow rules such as checking IDs. Until recently, that manager of record must be a United States citizen.

On November 20, 2024, Governor Healey signed (in part) “An Act Relative to Strengthening Massachusetts’ Economic Leadership” that made changes to the citizenship requirements for managers of record. Per the bill, managers of record can now be either a citizen -or- a “qualified alien under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101.” If the manager is not a U.S. citizen, the application must provide documentation of status, including but not limited to a Green Card.

The big citizenship hurdle - that a majority of the directors of a corporation must be citizens, did not change.

The law also allows qualified alien sole owners and partnerships consisting of qualified aliens to own § 12 on-premises, § 15 off-premises, or farmer series (breweries) licenses as well.

The press release can be found here.