dbr84

.. San Francisco/Oakland area.

Any tips/ways around this? I've tried various offices in the area and they all have crazy delays before I can book an appointment

From reading the DMV site, an appointment is required to apply for my license. It looks like they won't accept walk-ins for this?

petitefrancaise

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/de...essing_Centers

are any of these close enough for you to use?

In Texas we have mega-centers but they are the same thing. You can turn up early in the morning, just before opening time and get a test that morning.

dbr84

Hmm. The one in San Jose is 50 miles away. I guess I could hire a car and drive there one morning. probably my only option

petitefrancaise

what's wrong with waiting for an appointment?

dbr84

Kinda funny, I can legally hire a car and drive there on my UK license (i guess within the 10 day limit), but I cant drive if I buy my own car. heh. Thanks. I think I'll try this

dbr84

6 weeks relying on public transport/uber is a bit too long. I've got stuff to do :-)

petitefrancaise

that doesn't make sense, plenty of people get lease cars ready for when they arrive in the USA and before they have their licenses.

I'm off out now but maybe someone could check this one out?

petitefrancaise

why do you think you can't drive your own car? Is this a California thing? Is it something an insurance agent has told you?

dbr84

CA DMV says you must apply for a license within 10 days after becoming a resident

petitefrancaise

You ought to be able to drive your own car with your current license (?UK) - telling you 10days then making you wait up to 6 weeks for an appointment to take your test.
I had a client here in Texas who was waiting for 3 months for a document before she could take her test, she drove her car in the meantime.
Having insurance is a requirement for buying a car, so speak to an insurance agent.

Pulaski

As long as you have started the process and can show you have an appointment you will be fine - it is fairly common for Americans to take months or years to get around to changing their license when they move to another state.

Someone here on BE, who immigrated to California had been stopped and even the police officer thought people had 30 days to switch their license.

Also bear in mind that the police don't have access to any data that shows exactly when you became resident in the state, so it is a bit of a moving target anyway.

It does, of course, make sense to be extra careful during that time before you get your CA license.

That said, I agree with doing whatever you can to get your license ASAP, and when I moved to New York (close to NYC), I was told the wait was almost three months, but by trying offices further and further out into the boonies the wait time went progressively down, to two months, then one month, then two weeks and finally I found somewhere willing to let me take my road test the following week, but it was halfway across the state in the middle of nowhere!

dbr84

drove down to San Jose, waited about an hour then got my test and permit passed. Cool.

Now to book the behind the wheel.. ;-)

slices

The county I'm in Florida there is only one office that does road tests for that county and only on Tuesdays and Thursdays so there is a four week wait. Could do the written test sooner but have booked both in the same day.

malch

Good luck!

When I took my CA driving test, they wouldn't allow me to take it in a rental car. Ultimately, I booked a 1 hour lesson with a driving school and then used their vehicle for the test.

I understand DMV will permit tests in rental cars now but I have to say using the driving school is not a bad idea. Of course, I already knew how to drive but my instructor gave me a whole slew of tips on how to pass the CA test. It was easily worth the cost of the 1 hour lesson.

Pulaski

So you learned to stop at STOP signs and at red lights, and ..... ????

IMO if you have a British licence and learned anything substantial from a US instructor, then you probably shouldn't have been on the road in the UK.

Someone else here on BE noted recently, that the only criteria appeared to be not killing someone during your road test.