jackcharles

From what I can see, as a non-resident, you can drive in Massachusetts for up to a year upon entry to the US on a UK license (“The year of eligibility to drive in Massachusetts begins again each time you lawfully re-enter the US” - multiple mass.gov sources including https://www.mass.gov/service-details...driver-permits). I travel a lot for work so I re-enter quite often.

Now, I believe this might change if/when I become a full resident of MA? I rent an apartment and work here (even if I travel abroad generally 1 week in 6), but am still new enough in the country to not pass the substantial presence test (will happen around the start of July).

From what I’ve read, it can take 2-3 months to book a road test, so I need to get down the RMV ASAP to pass the written test and get the road one booked (easier said than done given the state of the RMV here, I’ve tried this before and ran out of time).

In the meantime, given the above and not being a full resident yet, would I be able to buy a car and insurance and drive up until getting my full MA license?

Thanks.

tom169

Liberty mutual insured me on my British licence until I passed the test here.

matbow

You can definitely buy and get insurance for a car with a UK license, but legally speaking you need a MA license when you become a MA resident. Being a resident does not relate to "substantial presence"; if you have a job and a place to live in MA you're a resident from day 1. If you get pulled over you'd be at the mercy of the officer (anecdotally I've heard some were OK with it, some were absolutely not), but the main risk would be if you were to have an accident - you'd probably have pretty big problems for what amounts to driving without a valid license. There are a ton of threads on the "Boston Brits" Facebook page on this if you want to read more.

By the way - Commerce Insurance accepts UK licenses and accepted my UK drivers history/no claims when I signed up with them in 2010.