Arizona Driver's License

[Trenz 52]

1 hour ago, Lovewithoutborder said:

Thank you so much for your response! I am just in the tail end waiting for my interview so I actually haven’t moved yet, I’m just trying to get all my ducks in a row before I do! One more question I have, and I’m not sure if you’ll know the answer given that you had a clean record when you moved. But do you remember if you had to show a drivers abstract from Canada when purchasing your car insurance? I can imagine that would be the best way to figure out if your record follows you or not. I remember a few years back I moved from BC to Alberta and I had a ticket on my record in BC that didn’t affect my insurance rates at all so I assumed it wouldn’t affect my Alberta rates either. But then when I went to get insurance in Alberta I gave them my abstract and my insurance went up due to the incident that BC didn’t care about. Of course at this point it doesn’t really matter I’m just curious about how the process is going to go more than anything! 

No problem, my pleasure to help. I had so much help on here during my journey, it is only right to pay it forward to someone else in the same spot as me.

 

As far as needing the abstract for insurance goes - no, I didn't need an abstract or any prior proof of driving for insurance purposes. This I can say 100% definitively, I did not need it in my case. My wife had an active policy already and I was merely added onto that policy. The only thing that was required on that front was a valid Arizona driver's license.

 

My only other pointer on this one might be to potentially expect a bit higher of an insurance rate than what you normally would get. Kind of a double edged sword situation; while your record is now wiped clean and you are once again a "perfect" driver without any speeding citations, you also are starting over again at square one with a driver history. This didn't significantly increase our rates per say, but our agent did tell us that this might be a big higher than normal as my driving history in the US was effectively 0. Luckily, I was above that dreaded 18-25 year old age bracket that jacks your rates up, no matter what country you're in! Definitely nothing to lose sleep over, but just something to be aware of.

 

Side note as well too - It has been a while since I made the post you were initially replying to, but I did receive conflicting information from two different MVD locations regarding eye exams. Whereas I had always visited one location in particular that told me an eye test was mandatory each time a renewal happened for a non-citizen, another MVD location, just 15 kilometers away told me that was not the case at all. Sorry to throw a conflicting tidbit your way, but just wanted you to have the full picture. You may only have to do this once initially. Fingers crossed!

 

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions about this. All the best!

[Dkw 41]

On 1/18/2021 at 7:05 PM, Trenz said:

No problem, my pleasure to help. I had so much help on here during my journey, it is only right to pay it forward to someone else in the same spot as me.

 

As far as needing the abstract for insurance goes - no, I didn't need an abstract or any prior proof of driving for insurance purposes. This I can say 100% definitively, I did not need it in my case. My wife had an active policy already and I was merely added onto that policy. The only thing that was required on that front was a valid Arizona driver's license.

 

My only other pointer on this one might be to potentially expect a bit higher of an insurance rate than what you normally would get. Kind of a double edged sword situation; while your record is now wiped clean and you are once again a "perfect" driver without any speeding citations, you also are starting over again at square one with a driver history. This didn't significantly increase our rates per say, but our agent did tell us that this might be a big higher than normal as my driving history in the US was effectively 0. Luckily, I was above that dreaded 18-25 year old age bracket that jacks your rates up, no matter what country you're in! Definitely nothing to lose sleep over, but just something to be aware of.

 

Side note as well too - It has been a while since I made the post you were initially replying to, but I did receive conflicting information from two different MVD locations regarding eye exams. Whereas I had always visited one location in particular that told me an eye test was mandatory each time a renewal happened for a non-citizen, another MVD location, just 15 kilometers away told me that was not the case at all. Sorry to throw a conflicting tidbit your way, but just wanted you to have the full picture. You may only have to do this once initially. Fingers crossed!

 

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions about this. All the best!

I am just seeing this post now as well! Thanks for the info. Im in Ontario moving to AZ (hopefully sooner than later...this waiting sucks). I may have a few questions for you in the coming months!