I am a UK citizen. If I move to the US temporarily, how long can I use my full UK driving licence for, and can I exchange it for a US one?
About 17 years ago I moved from New South Wales (Australia) to Ohio on a temporary (3 years) employment visa. I didn’t exchange my NSW license for an OH one (as you would moving between states in the US) – I just took the OH driving test and got a new license without giving up the old one. After more than 30 years of driving, the test was pretty easy to pass – though I think the examiner had to make some allowances for me being used to driving on the other side of the road.
Licensing drivers is up to the states, so there will be different answers. In my state of Ohio, I think you would have to obtain an Ohio license within 30 days of becoming a resident. The state website is very unhelpful about foreign licenses, but these two university websites for foreign students make it sound like you’d have to take the written and driving tests like a person getting a totally new license.
So, as a visitor, I can drive for 30 days… Is that general for all states?
If I started in, say, NYC, and then moved to CA, would I be able to use my NYC licence?
All states will require you to obtain a license from them within a short period of establishing residency there. You can use a driver’s license from any US state in any other if you are visiting. You should be able to exchange any US or Canadian license for a new one in your new state of residence without having to take a test.
You can drive with a foreign driver’s license in any state if you are visiting. If you establish residence in New York, you must obtain a New York driver’s license within 30 days. That means taking the written and practical tests. Other states have similar requirements.
What do you mean by “visitor”? Someone on a visitor visa or visa waiver would not be expected or allowed to get a drivers license in any state, AFAIK.
The requirement that you get a local license kicks in when you become a resident. E.g., you get a job, sign a lease for an apartment, something like that. For practical reasons, there would be a grace period, but how long that is will be up to each state.
For a little bit while you got settled (looks like 10 days in California). Then you’d be expected to get a California license. States license their own residents to drive.
“Should” in theory, but mileage and rules vary. Pennsylvania refused to honor my Florida license (still valid at that time); the rules said that any foreigners from anywhere other than Germany or France had to undertake 40h of training and pass the test. I could say that my Spanish license was French and get a license, but the Florida license might as well have been a brick. OTOH, Florida had been happy to let me use my Spanish license so long as I was a student: I only needed or was allowed to get a local license once I left school.
If you’re a visitor you’ll be able to use your UK license (it counts as an international license), and if you’re becoming a resident you need to check the rules for the specific state.
A driver’s license from one state in the US is valid in all states of the US. The requirement to change to a new state license only applies to people changing their permanent state of residence.
A big point for international driver’s is that they need for their home license to either be in English or translated into English, which probably won’t be an issue for you, being from the UK. (Note that in a state like Texas or Florida the cops might not worry about a license in Spanish like Nava experienced given the high number of Spanish speakers in those areas, but in a lot of other states, like mine, you really need English documentation.)
If you’re just visiting then your license and an international driving permit should cover you just fine, and IDP’s last up to a year. If you’re actually planning to live here for an extended period of time contact the state where you will be living for how to apply for a license like Giles did.
I know this is an anecdote, but here goes anyway.
I had a friend who moved from Alaska to Texas. When she went to get a Texas license the DMV clerk told her about all the driving rests, the paper tests, insurance requirements, and so on she would need. Surprised it seemed so difficult my friend asked about it and the clerk told her “We don’t accept driver’s licenses from foreign countries.” The woman simply would not believe Alaska was a US state. My friend had to go over her head to the office manager.
In the Australian state of Queensland, you can drive on an interstate or overseas licence for up to three months, then you have to get a Queensland one.
In New South Wales you can drive on an overseas licence forever, as long as you remain an overseas visitor (maybe on a reeeeeeeaaaallllly long holiday or something?). I’m not a qualified law-talking guy but I suspect after more than six months or so you’d probably start getting questions from the police about why you’re still using a foreign licence, though.
My Spanish license at the time was the “Pink Booklet”, which had field descriptors in Spanish, English and French. The cover was in all the languages that were official in the EU at the time it was printed.
The current one has in Spanish… the sign at the top which reads “permiso de conducción reino de españa”… and there is a place where it says “españa” (corresponds to the nationality, a requirement added so it would be valid as voter ID; foreigners from some countries can vote in local elections only). There’s no field labels.
The Geneva Convention on Road Traffic has a provision requiring contracting states to permit a licensed foreigner “to drive on its roads without further examination motor vehicles of the category or categories defined … for which the permit has been issued.”
So generally the individual states in the United States (which is a contracting party to the Convention) must permit a licensed driver over the age of 18 to drive on a foreign license up to one year. One year limit is per Article I of the Convention. A US state could require you to also have an International Driving Permit, though I’ve never seen that when the presented driving credential is in English.
A states might allow you to simply exchange your foreign license for a US license, or simply issue a US license without surrendering your foreign one. Each individual US state can determine which foreign licenses it is willing to accept for these purposes and that varies from state to state.
Notwithstanding the lack of geographic knowledge encountered by Baker’s friend, once you have a driver’s license from one US state you can surrender that and obtain a new license in another US state when you move without taking an exam or a road test. Payment of a fee is usually required.
When I moved from Montana to Ohio, I had to take the written test, fill out some paperwork, and surrender the Montana license, but did not have to redo the driving test. This is roughly typical for moving from one US state to another, though the exact details will vary a bit.
The question arose because someone moved to the UK from the US and was surprised to find that, unlike someone with a S. Korean licence, they had to take a test over here to get a licence. I posited that this would be because there is no reciprocal agreement on your side of the Atlantic. After reading the replies here, It seems to be correct - maybe because it is a state rather than a federal thing.
I think some places won’t even sell you alcohol unless you have some sort of US ID
Laws vary by state, of course, but in Arizona an unexpired passport or resident alien card is acceptable ID as long as it has the owner’s photo and date of birth.
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Whenever you have to ask about some detail of US law, the answer is always that there are at least 50 different answers,
There’s a NEW Mexico!?
Sorry, we only take US and Canada IDs. It says here you’re from British Columbia.
Yes, even for adjacent states where the law is 99% identical, the written (or computerized more often these days) test is needed, but a road test is not required unless the state requests it due to age or black marks on your driving record.
I am not aware of any laws requiring this, but some individual businesses may balk. For a time BevMo gave me crap because my ID is from one state over…
There’s a difference though between what’s legally acceptable and what merchants will accept. I know that in California, there is at least one bar that accepts only a driver license or state ID, and the foreign people with only passports and the like are simply denied entry.
Yes, this is true. Businesses aren’t required to accept all forms of ID, as the consequences of accepting a phony ID can lead up to the loss of their license. Often it’s better to play it safe and only accept the most common and familiar forms of ID.