GaleOfWind

Hi all,

Got a lot of information from lurking this forum, so thought I'd post with a question I've been trying to research. I'm moving to California to study for 2 years. I plan on acquiring a local driving license ASAP if only because I expect it's a convenient thing to have, but I can't do so until my school activates my SEVIS record, which would be ~2 months or so after I land. I would find it very convenient to have a car (even if just a rental until I get a local license) from when I arrive for various reasons so I've been trying to figure out if I can drive on my UK license until I get a local license. So far I've figured out:

• California requires that you get a driving license within 10 days of becoming a state resident
• 'resident' means different things for different purposes (immigration, tax, driving, etc)
• For this particular purpose, residency is defined in Californian Vehicle Code Section 12505 as "residency shall be determined as a person’s state of domicile. “State of domicile” means the state where a person has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home and principal residence and to which he or she has manifested the intention of returning whenever he or she is absent"
• As an international student, I'm on a non-immigrant visa, and for example I must keep my 'permanent home address' on file with SEVIS as an address in my home country (UK)
• The definition continues with:
  • Prima facie evidence of residency for driver’s licensing purposes includes, but is not limited to, the following:
    (A) Address where registered to vote.
    (B) Payment of resident tuition at a public institution of higher education.
    (C) Filing a homeowner’s property tax exemption.
    (D) Other acts, occurrences, or events that indicate presence in the state is more than temporary or transient.
• None of A, B, or C would apply to an international student, and I'm not sure what D is but I doubt any such acts would occur in my first few months in the country.

So it seems to me that I have a claim to be considered non-resident (as defined in s.12505) and could therefore drive on my UK license, at least for the 2 months before I can get a US license? I have found that some universities support this on their website pages - the best example is Pepperdine University which says that this same explanation was given to them by a "Policy Analyst, LOD (Licensing Operations Division, Driver Licensing Policy, DMV, Sacramento, California)". Pepperdine is actually what led me to the above sections. But other universities say stuff that I can't see evidenced anywhere, for example UCLA says that you can use your local license for 3 months (not sure where that number came from).

So - I was wondering if there are any others here who have been international students / know international students in California, and could advise on this point?

As an aside, I've seen previous posts on this topic use Californian Code s.516 as the definition of non-residency for this purpose. S.516 does contain a definition of resident, but I believe s.12505 is the appropriate one to use here, because the the clause that allows non-residents to drive on a foreign license is contained in the same division as it (in s.12502), and s.12505 begins with "For purposes of this division only and notwithstanding Section 516...". This is relevant because s.516 contains a lot more examples of evidence of residency than s.12505 does. So if nothing else, maybe my post will help other people moving to California in the future.

PS I'd originally linked the sections of law in my post but I can't post links as a new member, sorry about that.

destone

In practice, you'd be fine driving on UK license until your US license comes through, especially due to Covid backlogs.

scrubbedexpat099

State residency is not connected to Federal immigration rules.

classicmds

I agree this would seem to allow you to drive on the international license.. However, I'd want to look into insurance; will they cover someone without a CA license? I think you are best to rent a car until your SEVIS record is updated.

civilservant

And in COVID times, that is going to cost you an arm and both legs. Although I agree it's probably your safest course of action.

GaleOfWind

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I figured as much from reading previous threads here anyway..but I guess I'd like to also be fine in theory as well as in practice

I understand there's no direct link, but since the definition of state residency for this purpose is "where a person has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home and principal residence and to which he or she has manifested the intention of returning whenever he or she is absent", I figured that the fact that I have clearly manifested this intention when applying for my student visa - and by listing my UK address as my permanent home - would be relevant here?

Has covid increased car rental prices? Yikes, that won't be fun, but I agree that sounds like the safest way to go while I'm still lacking the CA license. My move may be in December rather than August, so maybe by that time covid will have subsided more.



Anyway, glad you agree with my reading of the law here. Do you think there's any value in going to the DMV offices and getting something like this in writing so that I have something to show a police officer if I'm stopped? Or is this not something you'd expect the DMV to be helpful with.

civilservant

It has significantly constricted availability, which has increased prices.

Rental companies dumped their inventory at the onset of COVID because of the projected drop in travel, but now cannot get new cars because of the semi-conductor shortage. Less cars + demand = higher prices,

It cost me $600 for 4 days in Florida this coming August, and that was the cheapest car I could find (a 2 seater Mustang, believe it or not)

GaleOfWind

I see. I'm seeing prices for small/compact cars for £675-700 for a month from Hertz in Los Angeles, so not quite so bad. Maybe it's a dummy listing and I'll only find out when I try to book it..

cautiousjon

If you rent a car in the USA as a UK citizen from the UK rental car company website (Car Hire & Van Hire - Europe & Worldwide – Hertz Car Rental and pay in £), you'll probably be fully covered by the rental car company's insurance when you rent the car in the USA. However, if you rent from the USA website (www.hertz.com and pay in $), *all* insurance is optional and incredibly expensive. It would be worth researching this in detail to make sure that you know how it might work in your situation.

GaleOfWind

Yikes, that's a big difference - something like £700 on the UK site vs £1100 as someone living in the USA. It seems to depend on whether the car rental company views me as a UK person with a UK address (as I would be at the time of booking the rental), or someone with a US address (as I would be when driving the rental). I predict long hold times on the phone to get this figured out..

And I suppose car insurance for an international student without a US license would be prohibitive. Gah, it might just work out cheaper to take an Uber each way for a month and order groceries online.