One person, two drivers licenses from two different states.

Here’s an interesting question: I have two driver’s licenses from two different states. I bounce around the country a lot. Some procedural glitch, and bam! Two of 'em.

One of them is from my home state (we’ll call it State “X”), has no picture on it, but I use it as a link back to my home state. I vote in State X, and claim State X as my legal home of residence.

The other one is from my collegiate state (State “Y”), whence I lived for five years, paid taxes when I worked there, and held a residence at my uncles place. I never claimed the ‘in-state student’ tuition rate (they didn’t have it anyway), but more or less got the new license when I switched my car’s insurance over from State X to State Y. This ID does have a picture on it so I use it as my primary photo ID, but get this . . . it doesn’t expire until 2042.

Being that I have two licenses, people scream “Oh, but that’s illegal! You can’t do that!!” to wit I reply, “Um, hey, I . . . did.” Now, I only claim State X as my legitimate ‘home state’. I’m not saying you should go out and get multiple licenses. I’m just curious as to where anything in writing says that it’s illegal to have two licenses. I mean, this little piece of paper simply acknowledges that one state or the other recognizes my privilege of driving.

So. . . Should I plan on some time in solitary confinement? :dubious:

Tripler
Neither license is my “License to Kill”. That’s a third other story.

It’s not illegal unless you checked off on some application form that you had none previous.

Also, it would become illegal if you lost one, through DUI say, and tried to continue driving with the other.

How did you get a license that doesn’t expire until 2042?

Robin

Most (maybe all) states require you to surrender a driver’s license from another state when you get one in the new state. As Maria said, if you denied you already had a license when you applied for one in state Y, then you broke the law. I am not very familiar with the laws in State Y, however. :wink: Because all states recognize one another’s driver licenses you don’t need more than one.

You can make an anonymous “hypothetical” inquiry to the DMV at state Y to ask what the law is regarding applying for a license there if you have one from another state.

Most states also require you to get a driver’s license and register your car there if you live there for more than 30 days. You don’t say where you actually live at the moment, so it’s hard to tell where your legal residence should be. Is there some advantage to you in keeping your legal residence in State X?

Yeah, I do all my political and economic functions through State X (which has the perk of not making me pay state income tax if I’m serving out of the state). I vote, I claim legal residence, and I write all my legal documentation under State “X”. But, with State “Y”, I can buy guns a hell of a lot quicker, and I use that liscence as my primary ID.

MsRobyn, I don’t know how the hell I got it. I just know I’ll be 65 when it expires (and will probably be living there anyway).

How did I get two? When I went to the DMV at State Y, I gave them X’s license. The nice lady took it, wrote something down, and punched a hole in it. Then she gave me a Y license. Four months later, State X sent me a renewal form. I claimed I had another license on the back of the letter. They sent me another X license anyway. So, now I have a license from X and Y, with my truck being titled and insured under a third state, State “Z”.

Weird, huh?

Tripler
Now where’s “Q” when you need him?

I think when I moved from IL to MO, the procedure sounded similar to yours: went to MO DMV for a new license, they took the information off of my old one, punched a hole in it, and gave it back to me. The part that’s different is that I think I did get a renewal notice from IL (I had just turned 21, so my IL license was up for renewal anyway), but didn’t send anything back to them at all. I don’t remember if there was any “No Thanks” checkbox, and I probably didn’t look. I figured I’d just let it lapse–I’ve been through enough paperwork screwups to know that if you submit any paperwork, it’s bound to get screwed up :smiley: