wyerd

Hi all,

After over a year of planning, my wife (USC+GBC) and I (Visa approved and I-551 stamped. Waiting for green card & SSN to be mailed to a US address) are in the final stages of moving to the US. We have found a house in upstate New York and are currently back in the UK to finalize the sale of the house here and to get everything boxed up, sold, dogs flight arranged etc.etc....list goes on.....

Anyway, we aim to be back in NYS at the end of the month in time for the closure of the house there and then have a permanent address. We will need the use of a car straight away, but are confused by the conflicting advice given by DMV and threads on here as we don't carry a NYS licence, just a UK one, which will expire after 30 days once we're permanent. The dogs will fly over a couple of days after closure, so they will need collecting from JFK, and as they're Newfoundlands, It'll have to be a rental minivan until we can purchase the Honda Pilot - which then brings the next problem - registration. We will have the required number of points I believe, but what about insurance?

Then when we apply for a learner license, we won't be able to drive, unless accompanied by an over 21 year old with a full license?!?!?!?!? That's not going to work unless we can get a full one within a few days.

How have other Expats overcome these problems?

Thanks,
David.

Pulaski

You don't apply for a learners licence, you apply for a test; meanwhile you use your UK licence - you will never have a learner's licence/ permit. Then you have to take compulsory classroom training, unless the process has changed since I arrived in New York in 2001. Then, after completing the classroom training, you book a road test, and in upstate NY that should be available within a week or two (try a smaller town nearby if the local test center is booked up.) The staff at the location where you take the training might try to book you up for the road test at the local test center, but there is no need for you to take the test there, or to book the test at that time. I told them I would book my own test (they were offering test dates three moths out!) and drove to Herkimer from the suburbs of NYC for a test the following week. You can take your test in a rented car, I did, .... in fact it was an SUV!

Mostly though, don't stress about your license "expiring". The same issue exists to some degree in just about every state, and everyone including the police, know that however many days you have to obtain a license is wildly unrealistic in many cases, and for starters the police don't have access to any record that tells them when you actually took up residence. Another example is that some states (I don't remember if it applies in NY) require a utility bill to prove your address before you can even get a licence, so that automatically means a minimum delay of thirty days!

rpjs

You don't need any proof of address to get your learner's permit/license in NYS (which surprised me) but you do need your Social Security Card. Details are here: http://www.dmv.ny.gov/forms/id44.pdf

Bob

Easy, ring around, get quotes, pay up the cash. Budget $1K per six months of coverage, with no US driving history or credit history.

Plenty of threads of people asking for recommendations in the NY/NJ area in the various insurance/driving threads so might be able to find some that'll be better than others.

wyerd

Thanks for the responses guys. Much appreciated. I'll have a look for the insurance threads.

VJW

Hello
Whereabouts in upstate NY are you going to be based?

We live just north of Albany near Saratoga Springs and did exactly what you are talking about two years ago. I can give you some specifics of where to go for tests / courses / road tests and time scales of how long it took us etc.. if you are going to be located nearby.

Good luck. We also brought our dog over, hope everything goes well. Just message me back if you think we could help.

Victoria

wyerd

Hi Victoria,
Looks like we're going to be just up the road from you. Diamond Point, near Bolton Landing. It's around 9 miles north of Lake George Village on the 9N.

I believe that the nearest road test site is at Glens Falls, but I'd appreciate any help and advice you can give as there's so much to sort out as I'm sure you know first hand!!

Did you come over with your dog, or did you arrange pickup at a later date?

Thanks very much,
David & Sheila.

Bob

Saratoga is awesome, we hit that on the last leg of our summer road trip and the 4th July fireworks were fab. Lovely part of the state. Would have loved more time to have checked out the Finger Lakes area though.

VJW

Hello wyerd

Wow, Bolton Landing is absolutely beautiful, you are very lucky. The village is busy in the summer, we love to visit there.

Yes, we came on the same flight as our dog, picked up a rental car at the airport (big enough for luggage and dog) and then we stayed in a hotel near Albany for three nights (with the dog), closed on our house on the second day and the shipment arrived on the third day to our house. It was all VERY stressful and looking back I'm not sure logistically how we did it.

I did my road test in Glens Falls. But first before that you need go into the local DMV and do the paper written test. We came across lots of 'issues' in regard to insurance when we bought our car.

Ensure you get letters from your car insurance company (which need to have a phone number on) regarding no claims. We came across problems because we had more than a months gap between the UK letter ending and us taking up new car insurance because we had the rental car for several months. We had been driving around on our UK licences for a few months in the rental car not realizing we should have got US ones.

We did buy our car whilst we had our UK licenses and took out insurance which was fine but we immediately applied for our US licenses. If you are prepared to travel you could get your licence fairly quickly.

1. Go into the local DMV office and do the paper test, pass (study the handbook)

2. Book yourself onto a 5 hr drivers education course, which you can do in one evening (in Albany, Troy) with lots of high school students.

3. Once you have done the 5 hr course and get your special code number, you can go online and book your road test wherever you like. You can search for the 'first available' and if you are prepared to travel can usually get one within two weeks.

It all sounds so simple. Actually, you are supposed to have someone with a valid US licence to go with you to the test. This is where fellow ex pat friends helped out.

There is so much more. Message me any other specific info you would like and we are more than happy to help out.

How are you bringing your dogs? Our dog travel went flawlessly, I think I was more stressed than our dog.

Good luck
Victoria

VJW

Hello David and Shelia

I have remembered you can do your 5 hr Driver Education course in Clifton Park, north of Albany that is closer to you. I will look tomorrow but I think you could also do it in Glens Falls or Saratoga too, these will be even closer.

Victoria

wyerd

Hi Victoria,
Many thanks for the information. I'll PM you from now on.
David.