Dave2726

I know this has been asked before for other states incl TX, but stuff might have changed...

I am an IR-1 holder. My USC wife and I are moving back to TX (Fort Worth) late September. We have a 'visit' in Aug that was actually a 2 week trip postponed for 2 years during the pandemic. It will now be the first time I enter using my IR-1 and therefore as a LPR.

Alas, I saw this:


From TX DPS handbook Jan22
I read that, considering my 'visit' is actually the start of my LPR in the US and TX in general (POE will be IAH), I can drive on my UK license for 90 days before I either (a) obtain a TX license or (b) get to 90 days and stop driving until I have a TX license. I can't expect the fact that it's actually a temporary trip in August, ahead of the move in September, to mean it doesn't count towards the 90 days. Does anybody read differently or that I shouldn't be driving on a UK license in August? The manual isn't that helpful in that regard otherwise!

Thanks!

Pulaski

Your visit in August and you later arriving to live are two separate events, and even if you activate your visa in August, which triggers things in respect of immigration, such as being assigned an SSN, your visit in August does not meet the criteria for becoming a resident under Texas state law, which is entirely separate from federal matters of visas and immigration, and may be (probably is) inconsistent in some areas, such as what "resident" means.

Typically what triggers residency in a state e.g. Texas, are things such as starting work, buying/ renting a home, registering a car, boat or plane, putting your children in school, etc. and even those alone aren't necessarily definitive, so if you bought a home in August, but didn't start work and left (the US, or even just Texas) again and didn't come back until September that is unlikely to trigger becoming a resident of Texas.

Dave2726

Thank you! That also makes perfect sense. Key seems to be intent and I will definitely be able to demonstrate intent to return to the UK at the end of the August trip.

petitefrancaise

In Texas you can't apply for your license until you have been a resident for at least 30 days unless you have moved from another US State.
Residency is based on having a home that you can prove you live in with 2 documents - a lease/renter's insurance/bank statement.

Dave2726

Thanks! So really my 90 days of UKL driving starts when I move and I should get a TX license in that time.

petitefrancaise

book your DL application appointment now. In Austin available appointments are now december.
Use 1234 for your ssn.

Dave2726

Thanks. So I am thinking of using one of the driving schools just to get a proper familiarisation and to do a third party test. I've driven here for years and years, very experienced. Also driven in the US in a lot of different states while visiting over the years. I figure it would be better to get the rules explained properly and my bad habits corrected first. Happy to pay a extra if it achieves that and a quicker turn around.

petitefrancaise

The DL application is 2 stages: application appointment and road test. You can't take lessons until you have your "permit" which is given to you after your application appointment. You can't take the 3rd party road test until you have your done your application. It is this first appointment which has the long wait time.

Dave2726

Ah, I kind of started thinking maybe that was the case after I replied earlier! A bit like having a provisional here. Ok, I'll get started on booking an appointment. Thanks for the heads up and for clarifying me out of my confusion!

Steerpike

Be sure to read the 'handbook' with some care. Everyone here jokes about how easy the US driving test is, but there are some tricky written questions that you are unlikely to know the answer to just from experience. I just had to take my test again in CA, and I barely scraped by - I got 5 questions wrong, which is the limit for passing. All the questions I got wrong were pretty obscure. Some sample q's from the CA test (they post sample questions online; I didn't bother going through them before my test; it would have been a good idea!).

You are approaching a railroad crossing with no warning devices and are unable to see 400 feet down the tracks in one direction. The speed limit is:

• 15 mph.
• 20 mph.
• 25 mph.

You just sold your vehicle. You must notify the DMV within ___ days.

• 5
• 10
• 15

To avoid last minute moves, you should be looking down the road to where your vehicle will be in about ______________.

• 5 to 10 seconds
• 10 to 15 seconds
• 15 to 20 seconds

You are about to make a left turn. You must signal continuously during the last ____ feet before the turn.

• 50
• 75
• 100

Roadways are the most slippery:

• During a heavy downpour.
• After it has been raining for awhile.
• The first rain after a dry spell.

Dave2726

Yeah, I think I'd have got some of those wrong too! This is where I think some study of the handbook and a couple of local lessons with a driving school will really help. I am glad you passed and thanks for the heads-up!

petitefrancaise

it's really, really, really easy. You only have to get 21/30 questions correct to pass. If you get a trickier question (blood alcohol levels/braking distances/fines) then you can afford to get them wrong and still pass. Questions are randomly generated and in 6 years of helping people get through I've only had one person fail because they got a few too many tricky questions. She went back the next day and passed. From what I've seen, the women prep a lot and pass and the guys do bugger all prep, rock up all cocky and pass....

Steerpike

Wow, 21/30 - that's pretty lenient! I just looked it up and there are 46 questions on the CA test, so you have to get 41 correct. I recall now, when I took the test back in 2013, I got maybe 6 or 7 wrong, BUT - in all my answers, I had given the most 'safety conscious' answer so the lady didn't even tell me to re-take the test - she just randomly asked me a couple of questions, which I got right, and said 'pass'! .

Dave2726

It's strangely the parallel park, from the LHS, that I fear the most! Especially using cones and not cars! I will have a good read of the handbook. I always do my homework quite thoroughly!

Pulaski

I had to do that in my road test, in New York. It was on a public road, so between actual vehicles, not cones, but the cars were far enough apart to literally have parked an articulated lorry! Remarkably, that was the only thing that I was tested on that hadn't been part of the test in the UK when I first learned to drive.
During dry weather the road surface gets greasy, mostly from rubber build up, so can be unexpectedly slick when it first gets wet. That is rarely a phenomenon in the UK, for obvious reasons, but although we oviously get more rain in NC than the SW / California does, when there has been a dry spell of a couple of weeks or more, a rainstorn does seem to generate more accidents than I would expect, and I exercise more caution, not because I have ever had a problem under such conditions, but because other idiots on the road often do have control issues.