New Jersey drivers license?!

[MrsH23 37]

Hello everyone. I didn’t know what forum to put this in but wondering if anyone can help. I just got my ead and hopefully soon I’ll have my SSN .. wondering if anyone from New Jersey can give me their DMV experiences?!

i called and the girl on the phone said I might not have to sit the road test but it’ll depend on my license. What does this mean? Why wouldn’t I have to sit the road test... do you have to have your foreign license for a certain amount of time and this is how they decide if you have to sit a road test or not?

 

[yuna628 9,682]

13 minutes ago, MrsH23 said:

Hello everyone. I didn’t know what forum to put this in but wondering if anyone can help. I just got my ead and hopefully soon I’ll have my SSN .. wondering if anyone from New Jersey can give me their DMV experiences?!

i called and the girl on the phone said I might not have to sit the road test but it’ll depend on my license. What does this mean? Why wouldn’t I have to sit the road test... do you have to have your foreign license for a certain amount of time and this is how they decide if you have to sit a road test or not?

 

Can't say for certain, at least in NJ. In my experience in MD, as long as you have the required paperwork and a valid foreign license (thusly you know how to drive pretty much already), instead of taking many months of classes and training you can skip to the road test (which is all of ten minutes). You'll certainly find out when you arrive at the DMV.

 

[arken 4,197]

Some states allow transferring DL from selected countries to the state DL, similar to swapping out of state licenses, that won’t require taking any tests. You will know about the specifics once you visit the office.

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, MrsH23 said:

do you have to have your foreign license for a certain amount of time and this is how they decide if you have to sit a road test or not?

"You may use your country's driver license as proof of driving experience if you have an International Driver Permit issued by your country or if your country is a member of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic and your license is translated into English by a consulate or an MVC approved translator" https://www.state.nj.us/mvc/drivertopics/noncitizens.htm

[Ontarkie 14,282]

~~Moved to Moving Here and YOur New Life, from AOS from W, S & T Visas - as the topic of DL is discussed here often.~~

[Highmystic 234]

1 hour ago, MrsH23 said:

Hello everyone. I didn’t know what forum to put this in but wondering if anyone can help. I just got my ead and hopefully soon I’ll have my SSN .. wondering if anyone from New Jersey can give me their DMV experiences?!

i called and the girl on the phone said I might not have to sit the road test but it’ll depend on my license. What does this mean? Why wouldn’t I have to sit the road test... do you have to have your foreign license for a certain amount of time and this is how they decide if you have to sit a road test or not?

 

How comfortable are you to drive on the right, sitting in the left hand seat?  I would think for me, it would be weird for awhile driving in the UK or other places. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, Highmystic said:

How comfortable are you to drive on the right, sitting in the left hand seat?  I would think for me, it would be weird for awhile driving in the UK or other places. 

Believe it or not, your brain just flips and it’s easier than you think to adjust. 

[MrsH23 37]

2 hours ago, Highmystic said:

How comfortable are you to drive on the right, sitting in the left hand seat?  I would think for me, it would be weird for awhile driving in the UK or other places. 

Yeah I must admit I am really nervous about it. But in America you need a vehicle for everything! Back home you could walk to get bread and milk. Now I can’t even walk to get that lol 

[yuna628 9,682]

2 minutes ago, MrsH23 said:

Yeah I must admit I am really nervous about it. But in America you need a vehicle for everything! Back home you could walk to get bread and milk. Now I can’t even walk to get that lol 

Hubby had a state trooper sit with him for his driving test. LOL! No pressure right?  If you're not as confident you can always practice for a while. He's not even sure how he'd feel/remember driving back in the UK now.

[Lil bear 4,252]

16 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Hubby had a state trooper sit with him for his driving test. LOL! No pressure right?  If you're not as confident you can always practice for a while. He's not even sure how he'd feel/remember driving back in the UK now.

Brain switches quite amazingly. There is usually one “uh oh” moment each time I switch .. usually associated with the other country’s curb to curb turn .. or turning from a one way street. 
Note to self ... if I can see the gutter / curb out my drivers window I’m usually in trouble !!! I’ve spent the past 40 years driving on both sides of the road .. thankfully not often at the same time ! 

[Marimar04 22]

I live in NJ and I only took the written test not the road test. It was many years ago but I think I showed my Spanish drivers licence and my international drivers licence that was valid for a year.

[K-Kwette 114]

I live in NJ too, I don't have a driving licence in my country so I have to do the whole thing, but I have a friend from the Netherlands and she only had to do the written test. 

[MrsH23 37]

Thanks everyone!! I still haven’t plucked up the courage to go. I want to study a little bit for the written, anyone know any good sites to look at?

[Fr8dog 312]

On 2/17/2020 at 10:02 AM, MrsH23 said:

Thanks everyone!! I still haven’t plucked up the courage to go. I want to study a little bit for the written, anyone know any good sites to look at?

https://www.state.nj.us/mvc/

It's kind of the authority on the thing 😎

 

If you can drive a car and passed your test in the UK, you can drive a car in the US. Just remember the school bus stuff and the right turn on red and that is about it.

Show up in a manual for your exam and you will have even more fun. I did that back in 1992 in Delaware. I had both an examiner and her supervisor with me (examiner was being evaluated). Neither one of them knew how to drive a stick.

 

Also here is your practice test

https://www.state.nj.us/mvc/license/sample_knowledge_test.htm

And they may even have an app (Virginia does).

[K-Kwette 114]

I did my written test in December, and I also used that website to train : https://driving-tests.org/new-jersey/

 

I also borrowed the driving manual from my local library, which was very helpful.

Don't skip studying the chapter about graduate driving licence, I had a lot of questions about it! Lot of questions about distances (school bus, fire hoses, railroad, etc) and amount of $ for fines and how many points... 

 

Also know that you can skip the questions during the test if you are unsure, they will come back at some point but at least it gives you more time to think about it, and with luck, you will answer correctly to the 40 questions before they can come back ahah.

Edited February 20, 2020 by K-Kwette