International driving license on a K1

[doggieandsam 765]

hi - i was reading through posts about needing at least needing the AOS NOA1 in order to get a temporary driving license. but receiving the NOA1 will obviously take some time and i would really like to be able to drive and get to know my new city as soon as possible after i land. anyone here have any experience driving on an international driving license?

 

i am arriving on a K1 and will be residing in virginia. the international license will be issued by the united arab emirates and is valid for a year. i know it is ok to use when driving in the us while on b1/b2, i am just not sure if using it on a k1 is ok too?

 

thanks for your advise.

[Kennycat 5]

Well i think u should be fine with it. i dont know bout Virginia.....n secondly u can try and apply for DL once u hv ur SSN n before the expiration of your I-94

 

[Boiler 43,564]

Look at the DMV site, new residents have a limited time to get a US License.

 

IDP is just a translation of your foreign license.

[doggieandsam 765]

41 minutes ago, Kennycat said:

Well i think u should be fine with it. i dont know bout Virginia.....n secondly u can try and apply for DL once u hv ur SSN n before the expiration of your I-94

 

thanks and yes - this is my plan, i am just worried because i have read some posts here saying that the virginia dmv specifically wanted an EAD. =(

5 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Look at the DMV site, new residents have a limited time to get a US License.

 

IDP is just a translation of your foreign license.

i have, numerous times. it says you need an EAD (or at the very least an AOS NOA1) which will take a while to for me to receive. i have not seen anything on there that specifically talks about using an IDP on a K1, hence my question on here.

[AshMarty 359]

We are just going through this now. We assumed my husband would be able to drive for the duration of his I-94 form but it is actually only 60 days (Maryland law) because it is required that anyone with the intention of becoming a permanent resident needs to get a Maryland license within 60 days. So his Australian license will expire in two days, We are trying to get his license on the I-94 while he still can drive to the DMV. Every state is different, some required the change in 10 days, some in 30 days and some in 60 days. I would look into what your state laws are.

[doggieandsam 765]

On 8/1/2017 at 7:06 PM, AshMarty said:

We are just going through this now. We assumed my husband would be able to drive for the duration of his I-94 form but it is actually only 60 days (Maryland law) because it is required that anyone with the intention of becoming a permanent resident needs to get a Maryland license within 60 days. So his Australian license will expire in two days, We are trying to get his license on the I-94 while he still can drive to the DMV. Every state is different, some required the change in 10 days, some in 30 days and some in 60 days. I would look into what your state laws are.

Thank you for your advise. i will definitely check what the virginia rules are when i get there. but dunno how successful i'll be but we'll see. =)

[AshMarty 359]

 

@iamdegie

Per the Virginia DMV website:

VA Driver's License/ID Card

Once you become a resident of Virginia, you have 60 days to transfer your out-of-state driver's license to the state. You will need to apply in person at your local VA DMV office. If you have a commercial driver's license (CDL), you will only have 30 days to transfer for a VA CDL. See our following pages for more information:

 

http://www.dmv.org/relocation/

 

So you will have 60 days to drive before required to get a Virginia License. This is the same issue we just ran into in Maryland. My husband took his drug and alcohol tests online two days ago and his written drivers test yesterday. He is taking the road test today in hopes they will issue him a Maryland license today. We don't know if they will because his I-94 runs out soon and we don't have our EAD card yet, just his NOA1 for adjustment of status. Fingers crossed.

 

Permanent resident seems to be defined as moving with the intention of making the state your residence.

Edited August 3, 2017 by AshMarty

[doggieandsam 765]

On 8/3/2017 at 5:38 PM, AshMarty said:

 

@iamdegie

Per the Virginia DMV website:

VA Driver's License/ID Card

Once you become a resident of Virginia, you have 60 days to transfer your out-of-state driver's license to the state. You will need to apply in person at your local VA DMV office. If you have a commercial driver's license (CDL), you will only have 30 days to transfer for a VA CDL. See our following pages for more information:

 

http://www.dmv.org/relocation/

 

So you will have 60 days to drive before required to get a Virginia License. This is the same issue we just ran into in Maryland. My husband took his drug and alcohol tests online two days ago and his written drivers test yesterday. He is taking the road test today in hopes they will issue him a Maryland license today. We don't know if they will because his I-94 runs out soon and we don't have our EAD card yet, just his NOA1 for adjustment of status. Fingers crossed.

 

Permanent resident seems to be defined as moving with the intention of making the state your residence.

thank you so much. i will definitely keep this in mind! i am just wondering though if another countries driving license would count as a out-of-state license?

 

sorry ive been out of VJ these last few days, did your husband get the license finally? hopefully they were able to issue with the AOS NOA1?

[AshMarty 359]

7 hours ago, iamdegie said:

thank you so much. i will definitely keep this in mind! i am just wondering though if another countries driving license would count as a out-of-state license?

 

sorry ive been out of VJ these last few days, did your husband get the license finally? hopefully they were able to issue with the AOS NOA1?

Although it seems to be a gray area. It appears, yes, out of state includes out of country, if you are intending on being a resident to the state and not a visitor.

 

On another forum on visa journey their lawyer said if they are driving past the state allowance they can actually be written up with "Failure to comply with State license requirements", or something like that, and it might affect there AOS application.

 

We didn't want to take a chance with this so my husband figured he would take the online drug and alcohol class/test, the written test, and driving test with his unexpired I-94 and his NOA1, and see what the DMV did (because people had very different experiences at the Maryland DMV). He was actually granted a 10 month license. We were pretty excited, it worked out but we heard it doesn't always. 

[doggieandsam 765]

16 hours ago, AshMarty said:

Although it seems to be a gray area. It appears, yes, out of state includes out of country, if you are intending on being a resident to the state and not a visitor.

 

On another forum on visa journey their lawyer said if they are driving past the state allowance they can actually be written up with "Failure to comply with State license requirements", or something like that, and it might affect there AOS application.

 

We didn't want to take a chance with this so my husband figured he would take the online drug and alcohol class/test, the written test, and driving test with his unexpired I-94 and his NOA1, and see what the DMV did (because people had very different experiences at the Maryland DMV). He was actually granted a 10 month license. We were pretty excited, it worked out but we heard it doesn't always. 

thanks for your input on what out of state means. i wasn't sure whether that definition is liberal or they are very literal about it!

 

and yeah, this was a concern of mine too ie that despite all the checks that i end up violating some rule unintentionally and then it shows up as a bad record on the AOS.

 

it's good to hear that your husband got his license and it worked out ok. 10 months should be more than enough to tide you over until his EAD comes or his green card! =)

[AshMarty 359]

6 hours ago, iamdegie said:

thanks for your input on what out of state means. i wasn't sure whether that definition is liberal or they are very literal about it!

 

and yeah, this was a concern of mine too ie that despite all the checks that i end up violating some rule unintentionally and then it shows up as a bad record on the AOS.

 

it's good to hear that your husband got his license and it worked out ok. 10 months should be more than enough to tide you over until his EAD comes or his green card! =)

When I was looking through the drivers forums, I believe fliers in Virginia may have had some similar experiences with getting a temporary license. So I would def give it a try before your I-94 expires and try bringing your NOA1 for transition too, who knows. He also did it before you Australian License expired so he could drive himself around while I was at work. 

Edited August 7, 2017 by AshMarty

[doggieandsam 765]

1 minute ago, AshMarty said:

When I was looking through the drivers forums, I believe fliers in Virginia may have had some similar experiences with getting a temporary license. So I would def give it a try before your I-94 expires and try bringing your NOA1 for transition too, who knows. 

yes i will definitely try, maybe i will get lucky. thanks so much for your advises! =)

[AshMarty 359]

Just an update because some people think things are gray with laws.

 

My husband luckily got his Maryland drivers license about two weeks ago and I formally added him to my insurance about 10 days ago. This Friday while we were driving to the airport (my Australian husband was driving) we were in a car accident (another driver ran a stop sign and hit us). We were okay luckily, but knowing we followed the laws in Maryland was a huge relief since we had to show proof of his American drivers license and he is insured now with my insurance company.

 

My advice is make sure you follow the laws carefully. This small accident could have been a headache for his immigration status if we didn't follow the Maryland laws and he was still driving on his Australian license.

Edited August 21, 2017 by AshMarty

[mallafri76 1,012]

You need to get a Virginia driver's license within 60 days of moving there.

 

Most countries have much tougher rules in getting a driver's license than the US and as such, don't allow US drivers to transfer their license and hence, the US don't allow citizens from those same countries to transfer their driver's license to the US. The exception is mostly Germany and the UK. So unless you're from e.g Germany, you're probably gonna need to take your driver's license from scratch in the US. But don't worry, the only requirement to getting a driver's license in the US is passing a written test and then basically showing that you know how to start a car, keep both hands on the wheel and drive straight down the road. 

[Boiler 43,564]

UK is not the exception, knew plenty of Yanks who had serious issues getting a UK license, and no benefits for me coming here.