Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
#17
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
I was able to register my vehicle in July in Mississippi without having a Mississippi driver's license. In fact was able to get the insurance for Mississippi without the license.
#18
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2015
Location: New Jersey, USA
Posts: 565
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
That's not the Florida DMV website, it's one of the many third party sites that exist to advertise various services.
The official site is here: https://www.flhsmv.gov
The official site is here: https://www.flhsmv.gov
#19
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 14,577
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
Hi
I have had a property in melbourne florida for 8 years now which I have used for short holidays.
I am hoping to retire next year and get a B2 visa so my wife and I can stay up to 6 months.
My question is how hard is it to buy and insure a car when I am not a US resident, looking on google some say after 9-11 you cant insure a car without a US drivers licence.
And that I cant get a licence without living in the state for more than 180 days. Is this true?
hope someone can give me some guidance on this.
many thanks
Dave
I have had a property in melbourne florida for 8 years now which I have used for short holidays.
I am hoping to retire next year and get a B2 visa so my wife and I can stay up to 6 months.
My question is how hard is it to buy and insure a car when I am not a US resident, looking on google some say after 9-11 you cant insure a car without a US drivers licence.
And that I cant get a licence without living in the state for more than 180 days. Is this true?
hope someone can give me some guidance on this.
many thanks
Dave
I am sure you can get a license faster than 180 days. I know someone who got it in less than 14 just last week.
#20
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
Someone asked a similar question here years ago, I just called a local dealer to check. The answer was you could buy and register a vehicle, but things could have changed.
I am sure you can get a license faster than 180 days. I know someone who got it in less than 14 just last week.
I am sure you can get a license faster than 180 days. I know someone who got it in less than 14 just last week.
I had to impart my DL details when I registered my truck just recently - I didn't query the requirement but got the impression that the DMV wouldn't process my title and registration without it.
What the poster meant about 180 days is not the amount of time taken to obtain a licence but the maximum amount of time they'd let a licence run for a temporary visa visitor - it will be valid until the date on your I-94 and then you have to renew it when you return.
As for storage it seems to be a common thing for snowbirds, who leave a vehicle here for the summer, to jack their vehicle off the ground and stand it on concrete blocks, presumably to relieve weight from the tyres and slow deterioration of rubber.
#22
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
Nah, we're all Wednesday aren't we?
I live in PSL! Small World
I live in PSL! Small World
#23
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
My question is how hard is it to buy and insure a car when I am not a US resident, looking on google some say after 9-11 you cant insure a car without a US drivers licence.
And that I cant get a licence without living in the state for more than 180 days. Is this true?
hope someone can give me some guidance on this.
many thanks
Dave
And that I cant get a licence without living in the state for more than 180 days. Is this true?
hope someone can give me some guidance on this.
many thanks
Dave
You can't get an SSN so you have to get a letter from the SSA saying you're not eligible. I think they will issue a DL to someone who is B-2 in Florida but only to the date on your I-94, so it will only be valid for six months maximum. Canadian visitors can get one, that's for sure, those are valid for one year because Canadians don't get I-94s. And you can use a Canadian passport on it's own as proof, but that's not the case for other nationalities.
So basically, before you go to the DMV, you need your current licence, you need to swot up for the test (it's only the multiple-choice bit I think nowadays which is super easy and frankly the whole test is frighteningly easy), you need to print off your I-94 and you need the letter from the SSA as well as two things to prove your residential address in Florida - bear in mind only residents can get DLs, so you are in essence saying you reside in Florida.
This can cause lots of weird problems as you will see from reading IRS Form 8840 and the fact is you don't live in Florida so why bother? Anyone can register a car there and insure it, you don't need a Florida DL. Loads of Canadians buy cars down there.
#24
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
Note that the multiple choice, apparently, USED to be super easy it has been rejigged fairly recently. When I took mine a year ago the examiner (who sat in the car with me whilst I steered the car in circles round their joke off road circuit for the 'practical' part of the test, which was frighteningly easy) was bemoaning the fact that the test was now too hard - I disagree, it's still think it's too easy but you would definitely be foolhardy taking the theory part without doing some fairly serious swotting of the handbook, the questions were very 'wordy' and many required some thought to interpret their meaning.
#26
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
NJ will, I hear, swap a British licence for an NJ one as if it was a license from another US state. AFAIK it is the only state that will do so.
#27
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2015
Location: New Jersey, USA
Posts: 565
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
You do need to learn the Jersey rules of the road though - add at least 10mph to each speed limit, aggressively tailgate at all times, beep your horn if the person in front doesn't move the nanosecond the light turns green, totally ignore hatched junctions, don't look when changing lanes. I could go on
#30
Re: Purchasing Vehicle in florida with a B2 visa
Been there and done it.
All very easy, 7 years ago I had a B2. Purchased a house and a car in Florida. Dealer did all the car registration stuff. I shopped around for insurance. No problem at all. I am presently with Amica. While I was away I just left minimal insurance cover on the car.
The pain side was the DMV only granting me a D/L for the duration of my visa- 6 months. Every time I returned normally after an absence of 6 months I renewed my D/L without any problems but I had to pay a delinquent fee because I was late renewing. How stupid is that? No amount of arguing could change that rule.
Never took a FL. Driving test, just used my old paper UK license.
All very easy, 7 years ago I had a B2. Purchased a house and a car in Florida. Dealer did all the car registration stuff. I shopped around for insurance. No problem at all. I am presently with Amica. While I was away I just left minimal insurance cover on the car.
The pain side was the DMV only granting me a D/L for the duration of my visa- 6 months. Every time I returned normally after an absence of 6 months I renewed my D/L without any problems but I had to pay a delinquent fee because I was late renewing. How stupid is that? No amount of arguing could change that rule.
Never took a FL. Driving test, just used my old paper UK license.