Permanent Resident Card CR1 finally approved! Is it necessary to get a USA driving license if I hold a UK driving license?

[SoniaKaur 0]

Hi, I recently got approved for my permanent resident card!! I am just wondering whether it is necessary for me to apply for a USA driving license? Or could I still just use my UK driving license? I am moving to California. 

[Boiler 45,657]

I seem to remember you can drive for 10 days as a new resident

 

Even if you do not plan to drive a DL is good to have as it is effectively a national ID

 

And you never know if you will need to drive

[Chancy 6,241]

6 minutes ago, SoniaKaur said:

could I still just use my UK driving license? I am moving to California.

 

Because you will be a resident of California, you will need to apply for a CA DL.  From the CA DMV -- "All California residents need to have a valid California DL to operate a motor vehicle."  https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/driver-licenses-identification-cards/driver-licenses-dl/

 

[African Zealot 1,455]

It’s not necessary if you don’t plan to drive. What would be your reason for not getting a driver’s license in the USA though? I’m asking because to me it’s so obvious and expected to get one that I might be missing something.

Edited July 8, 2022 by African Zealot

[Verrou 1,962]

15 minutes ago, SoniaKaur said:

Hi, I recently got approved for my permanent resident card!! I am just wondering whether it is necessary for me to apply for a USA driving license? Or could I still just use my UK driving license? I am moving to California. 

yes, get California state ID if you plan to drive in California, and even if u dont drive right now, it always a great idea to have driving license anyway

Edited July 8, 2022 by Misscloud

[.yana 597]

21 minutes ago, Misscloud said:

yes, get California state ID if you plan to drive in California

Rather CA DL, not CA ID. 

And make sure to get the REAL ID as it will be required for air travel starting in summer of 2023.

[Verrou 1,962]

1 minute ago, .yana said:

Rather CA DL, not CA ID. 

And make sure to get the REAL ID as it will be required for air travel starting in summer of 2023.

yeah i mean DL. something wrong with my eyes today

[JeanneAdil 6,543]

TSA and real ID

You’ll need your passport for international travel, and you can use your passport to verify your identity at the TSA checkpoint instead of a REAL ID-compliant state-issued driver’s license. If you plan to present your state driver’s license to verify your identity at the TSA checkpoint, that card must be REAL ID compliant.

[kris&me 572]

You will need a state driving license  given your state rules

very important in the USA to have a license as we have huge areas with no train , bus or taxi service

first thing an officer will ask for is your driving license and insurance card and then your green card

green card shows your date of permanent residence and you don't want to be over the time limit of updating DL to your state 

 

[SalishSea 17,921]

7 hours ago, SoniaKaur said:

Hi, I recently got approved for my permanent resident card!! I am just wondering whether it is necessary for me to apply for a USA driving license? Or could I still just use my UK driving license? I am moving to California. 

Do you mean that you think foreign DLs are valid in US states?

 

If so, then no:  they are not.

 

Some states allow new residents to drive for up to 30 days on their unexpired foreign license.   Check state law.

[Mike E 11,740]

7 hours ago, SoniaKaur said:

Hi, I recently got approved for my permanent resident card!! I am just wondering whether it is necessary for me to apply for a USA driving license? Or could I still just use my UK driving license? I am moving to California. 

Bad news: California has the most draconian rules for requiring new residents who drive to get a California drivers license. As noted else where, you must apply within 10 days. Monetary penalties are severe. 
 

Worse news: California does not recognize drivers licenses from outside the USA for purposes of avoiding a road test.  That  would be no big deal except for …

 

Worst news: Road tests are by appointment only and in most zip codes there are no available appointments, even 6 months out (the maximum the system allows). If you are willing to travel to the hinterlands of the state, you might get one sooner but plan to be gone for 3 days.  
 

  

Edited July 9, 2022 by Mike E

[SalishSea 17,921]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

Bad news: California has the most draconian rules for requiring new residents who drive to get a California drivers license. As noted else where, you must apply within 10 days. Monetary penalties are severe. 
 

Worse news: California does not recognize drivers licenses from outside the USA for purposes of avoiding a road test.  That  would be no big deal except for …

 

Worst news: Road tests are by appointment only and in most zip codes there are no available appointments, even 6 months out (the maximum the system allows). If you are willing to travel to the hinterlands of the state, you might get one sooner but plan to be gone for 3 days.  
 

  

Similar here in Washington State.  My husband had to do the road test, grumbling all the while that he'd been driving  for maybe 25 years longer than the test examiner 😅.

[.yana 597]

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

Worst news: Road tests are by appointment only and in most zip codes there are no available appointments, even 6 months out (the maximum the system allows). If you are willing to travel to the hinterlands of the state, you might get one sooner but plan to be gone for 3 days.   

Advice would be to check early am (~7:00a) when they release appointments for the farthest date out, and you should be able to schedule one.

Print appointment confirmation and drive with your UK license + that confirmation, and you will avoid getting a ticket.

[laylalex 7,293]

Chiming in from experience (actual double experience -- both my ex and my husband are British). We're in California and the law is that after you've been here for 10 days as a new resident -- and coming in as a permanent resident you absolutely will be -- you need to get a CA DL. And yes, it takes forever to get an appointment, but it really depends on where you are in CA and being tactical about looking at DMVs that might be further afield than where you're located. You can get away with driving on a UK DL for a while, as @.yana said, if you have a confirmation ticket printed. You're doing your best to comply! And as long as you keep your nose clean you're unlikely to get stopped, especially if you're in a big city. 

 

Also as pointed out, no reciprocity with the DVLA so you have to do the theory and the practical. On the plus side: the practical will be stupidly easy. My husband wasn't asked to parallel park, just to drive around for a bit, use signal indicators properly (which gives him a leg up on most native drivers), stop at stop signs, change lanes smoothly, etc. At the time he took it, he was up in SF and I was down here in SoCal, and he called me to ask if the examiner had missed something because he hadn't been asked to reverse around a corner!  

 

Good luck, you got this!

[STO Overland 137]

6 hours ago, laylalex said:

Chiming in from experience (actual double experience -- both my ex and my husband are British). We're in California and the law is that after you've been here for 10 days as a new resident -- and coming in as a permanent resident you absolutely will be -- you need to get a CA DL. And yes, it takes forever to get an appointment, but it really depends on where you are in CA and being tactical about looking at DMVs that might be further afield than where you're located. You can get away with driving on a UK DL for a while, as @.yana said, if you have a confirmation ticket printed. You're doing your best to comply! And as long as you keep your nose clean you're unlikely to get stopped, especially if you're in a big city. 

 

Also as pointed out, no reciprocity with the DVLA so you have to do the theory and the practical. On the plus side: the practical will be stupidly easy. My husband wasn't asked to parallel park, just to drive around for a bit, use signal indicators properly (which gives him a leg up on most native drivers), stop at stop signs, change lanes smoothly, etc. At the time he took it, he was up in SF and I was down here in SoCal, and he called me to ask if the examiner had missed something because he hadn't been asked to reverse around a corner!  

 

Good luck, you got this!

The first time I had to take a US driver's test was in a small town in SE Louisiana (oilfield), freshly arrived on a H1B...if Selma Bouvier was based on anyone, then she was based on my examiner. "You wont mind if I smoke in your car!" It was statement rather than a question. The test consisted of 4 right turn stop signs in 1 mile . The second time was in Houston after being out of the country for 7 years.. I had to parallel park in my wife's Suburban. "You do know it is okay to use your rear view camera?"

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by DeezNuts