My US (Massachusetts) driver’s licence will expire in half a year. I have no plans for going back to MA during that time but I don’t want to lose a US licence - they are so useful when travelling to the US. Can I just go to any state and get a new licence there? Or will I get in trouble (or not be able to get a licence at all) if I don’t have a valid, functional mailing address in that state? I’ve looked at various DMV web pages but the requirements are not very clear.
Drivers licenses are strictly state authority, so I doubt you can get one elsewhere.
I’m not sure what the requirements are for renewing a license in MA, but it’s typically simply filling out a small renewal form and getting one printed out.
I believe that most states want you to establish residence there order to be licensed there.
Also, most states frown upon you possessing driver’s licenses issued in different states. That is, they want you to relinquish your old Massachusetts license when you apply for a new one in another state.
Yes, I realize I can’t get a MA licence in another state. But I thought it wasn’t hard to go to another state and transfer the licence there from MA - of course I’d give up the MA licence. How permanent a residence do I need to make in the new state?
When I moved to Virginia from Colorado (in 1986), VA had just passed a law that said all I had to do was take an eye test, give them my CO licence, and I had a new VA licence. It was good until the month of my 25[sup]th[/sup] birthday, just like everyone else in VA.
I gave them my parents address on the applications, but I supplied no proof that I actually lived there.
I’d be really easy in these circumstances to [sub]wink wink nudge nudge[/sub] make up an address and assume they’d never actually check.
Hell, if George HW Bush can us a motel room as a basis for Texas residency (which meant he paid no state income taxes), why can’t you use wherever you’re sleeping at night (hotel, campground?)?
On the news, they said that all it takes to get a Florida license is an immigration form, which they will provide and can filled out on the spot.
I used the same method as AWB, the last time I was in Texas I renewed using a friend’s address. They wanted to see proof of insurance but since my UK insurance document would have confused the hell out of them, I just said that I don’t have any since I drive a company car.
When I was in Washington State, they accepted my expired New Hampshire license for application purposes, because it was expired less than 2 years. I got to skip the driving and written test, too. (Still had to take the eye test, though). Check with the States DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), they might accept an expired license, but this policy could vary from state to state.
In the state of MD if your out of country you can apply to have your license renwed withougt coming in if you write them a letter. It will not have a picture on it though and you’re supposed to come in a soon as you come back for a “normal” one. maybe Mass does the same thing. I can’t imagine them not doing something like that because you are abroad.
I couldn’t say what other states are doing on this, but here in TX they don’t give you your license at the license facility. They mail it to the address you had them put on it. So it wouldn’t be wise to make up an address-but you don’t have to have it sent to where you live. 
When I moved from MD to DC about 12 years ago, they took my MD license and required me to show them a piece of mail (specifically a utility bill) addressed to me at my new DC residence. This obviously won’t work for everybody; suppose I had a wife- she lives with me & would need the same address on her license but since the utilities are in my name the utility bill thing wouldn’t work for her.
It seems like they make this stuff up as they go along.
scr4, I’m confused and need more information. Your profile says you are a grad student in Japan. You say you have a Massachussettes driver’s license, but don’t plan to go back to Mass anytime soon.
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Are you a U.S. citizen?
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Why were you living in the U.S. when you got the license?
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Do your parents live in the U.S.?
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You imply you will be visiting other states rather than Mass. Why? Parents live there? Work? Because the U.S. is cool?
Many states have laws about residency for the licenses. Texas, for instance, wants you to get a Texas DL if you move here, sometime within the first 2 weeks. They also want you to have your correct address on your license. You can get a ticket for not having a TX license and living in TX, and you can get a ticket for having the wrong address on your license. As a college student on work study in Texas, I would visit for 3 or 4 month stretches, but my home state was elsewhere. My work office gave me a letter to carry around that explained that I wasn’t really a resident of TX even though I was staying here, in case I was pulled over. That was sort of a gesture of good faith, hoping they would understand. Don’t know of any instance of anyone ever getting fined or hassled over it, but it was established practice to give us that letter. I did get a ticket for not having the correct address on my license. However, I got a new license within the time window before court, and so it was waived. (Actually I got a ticket for speeding and incorrect address.)
If we know more about your situation, we might can give more specific help. Otherwise, all I can tell you is call and ask them.
If you are staying in some other state in the future, you should be able to exchange your Mass license and pay the fee and get a picture, no test required. This is a typical quid-pro-quo between states.
Thanks for the replies, everyone.
I’m not a US citizen, I got my licence while I was in the US for college. I’ll be spending a week in Hawaii soon for a conference, but I have no mailing address I could “borrow” there. I have relatives and friends in some states, so it looks like the best bet is to visit one of those states and get a licence there.
If you remain a legal resident of the state where you got your license, my experience in NY and Ohio is that you can get a replacement and/or renewal license mailed to you in another state. By legal resident, I mean that you declare yourself to be such and send them the dough for the new card. From NY, they sent me a replacement card with the photo that was stored in their computer. From Ohio, I got a renewal card which said “Valid Without Photo” in the photo box. I’m not sure if they’d be happy about paying extra postage for overseas delivery.
I believe Virginia is going to change that law real soon. If I remember my Washington Post articles correctly (unfortunately they are doing maintenance on their site as I type this, so their search functions are down), the crash-happy Sept. 11 gang of Pentagon renovators had obtained Virginia documentations in such a manner.
States like Florida and Hawaii are real antsy about drivers’ licenses since local proprietors have a lot of “local” discounts - i.e. screw the visitors add ons. If you have their license, you get the discount like the “real” locals.
Those states usually want some kind of “real” proof that you are resident.
Maybe for GQ, how many states screw outsiders at restaurants, hotels, car rentals and parks besides FL and HI? How do they do it?
Wow, man, this is GQ!!!
From this page:
The requirements for the instruction permit were simply my state ID and birth certificate.
It sounds to me like someone with an out-of-state license, their birth certificate, and maybe a second piece of ID could waltz into one of the licensing offices here fresh from the airport and waltz out the same day with a valid Hawai’i state driver’s license. Far from antsy, I’d say.
About the locals’ discounts thing:
Define “a lot”. It’s only been in recent years, what with the economy doing so poorly here, that local proprietors have pushed their “kama’aina” (resident) discount programs.
Hawai’i has a tourism-based economy. During the years the Japanese blanketed the streets of O’ahu with their money, some companies catered exclusively to Japanese tourists. To a lot of businesses, local consumers simply didn’t exist.
But things are different now. Tourists aren’t coming here by the planeloads anymore. They aren’t filling the hotels like they used to. They aren’t coming here to shop like before. As a result, businesses are suffering. Many decades-old companies have closed down for good in the last few years.
And suddenly and unsurprisingly, everyone loves the locals. Hey, have a discount! Have another! True, last year, we didn’t care if you drew your next breath, but here’s a discount!
So it’s not entirely about “screwing the visitor”. There’s a little “kiss the local’s butts” in there, too. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.
It is nice to know, though, that I can still get ignored at Neiman Marcus.
Apologies for the hijack.
Another possibility - if you’re not planning on driving in the USA, consider getting a state identification card instead of a driver’s license. I live in California and decided to get a state identification card (in addition to my driver’s license.) I went to the DMV, showed them my driver’s license, took another picture for the ID, and received it in the mail for a small fee (less than $10.00) The state ID looks identical to the driver’s license except that it says “identification card” instead of “driver’s license” at the top. I keep the ID in my checkbook and use it when asked for ID while writing a check, or to show at the airport to get on a plane.