BigT103

Can anyone please help, when I finally get home to my wife in California I have been told that I will have to get a CA drivers licence straight away, does anyone know if this is true or is there some grace period where I can still use my UK licence?

civilservant

As soon as you become resident in CA, you are required to obtain a CA DL. I believe there is only a 10 day grace period.

BigT103

Thanks Civil servant, is that 10 days after I receive my GC through the post?

civilservant

As soon as you land, as a Green Card holder (even if you don't have the physical card yet, you have the status), you are resident in the US. It's 10 days from arrival.

Noorah101

Keep in mind that you might not be able to accomplish this in 10 days, so continue to use your UK license, but get cracking on the US license ASAP.

Rene

BigT103

Thanks Rene, my wife told me that it can take months to get a test so as soon as I book my flight for POE we will book my test.

cluedweasel

It may be worth looking at doing your test at a DMV outside of the major cities. There was a 4 month wait at San Jose. I went to Los Gatos and got an appointment within 2 weeks.

BigT103

Yeah my wife told me trying to get a test booked in LA will be a nightmare so I was thinking of taking the written test near home at the DMV in Glendale and the driving test in King City which is near my in-laws.

Marc_ely

All of this is right for CA. However if you did get stopped by a cop they wont necessarily care if you don't have a license. They just want to give you the ticket. My wife was stopped 2 weeks after we arrived and they just wanted the cash. She was in tears though so the cop probably wanted to make a quick exit.

Best of luck dealing with the DMV. Consider it a... err... rite of passage :-)

vikingsail

And for information effective Jan 1, 2019 you will be able to take advantage of the new non binary designation on your license for new and renewal licenses in CA

BigT103

What do you mean by non binary?

vikingsail

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/f...201720180SB179

See Section 2 (d)

BigT103

Thanks for wasting 2 precious minutes of my life!