martha1703

Hi,

I 'moved' to NH with my husband in Jan this year while we were still waiting for green card to be processed after AOS. Obviously during this time i was unable to work/apply for a license. My green card was approved on April 24 and i just received it in the mail.

I want to go to the DMV to do the knowledge and road test to get a NH license but i'm unsure as to whether i can dive myself there? My husband has given me permission to use his car and his insurance company know i have a UK license - but when i called the DMV to check she said i'd been a resident for over 60 days so could no longer dive using my UK license. Is this true? I was physically in NH in Jan but i didn't become a legal 'resident' until April so surely the 60 day period to get a license while using my UK license starts from the date on my green card??

Any help advice would be appreciated! My husband works during the DMV hours so is unable to drive me there and back for my test.

I'm fully capable of driving here and have done so before, but i don't want to arrive at the DMV and get into trouble.

Pulaski

You're in a legally grey area. I drove beyond the supposed cut off date for a foreign license (in NY), driving to my own road test in a rental car. Just be sure to carry documentation that (i) shows you're working to get a license, and (ii) that you weren't a LPR until April anyway. ..... There are glaring gaps between federal immigration law and state DL laws!

martha1703

So it would only be an issue if i were to be pulled over?

Would the DMV say anything when i got there about who drove me or how i got there?

sir_eccles

They probably won't care though they may want proof of insurance.

hungryhorace

Why do you say, 'obviously'? I suspect you're referring to the (false) condition that you need a SSN to obtain a driving licence? In fact, a denial notice from the Social Security office is good enough to obtain a licence. So you could have gotten the denial notice, then applied for a driving licence.

They may have asked to see your visa (they asked to see mine), but if you don't have one then either your temporary work permit (sent after filing your I-765) should (I believe) be good enough. Did you obtain a visa before 'moving' here?

Bottom line, you shouldn't be driving on your UK licence. A fellow Brit who lives in our apartment complex was involved in an accident, after coming here on the VWP and overstaying / "applying" for a green card through marriage. He's now in a heap of trouble because the State trooper reported him for driving on his UK licence when a MA resident.

Guindalf

Likely the DMV won't even know. They don't know when you arrived and most likely don't care as long as you comply with what you're there for.

As Pulaski said, it's a grey area, so it's hard to prove one way or the other and chances are, they won't know any more than we do anyway!

hungryhorace

You've clearly never been to a DMV before. They couldn't give two shits. Honestly.

Pulaski

HH is absolutely right. If Dante was alive today, he would add DMV offices as an additional circle of hell!

hungryhorace

They also don't know the law on driving on a foreign licence. Neither do the cops either as it happens, though the general feeling I got from cops I asked was that they would overlook it unless I was involved in a serious accident. Such a bizarre approach to policing!

Hotscot

Additional? I thought that was one.

hungryhorace

BTW - I'm not familiar with NH laws, but MA's are quite specific and are contained in MGL. Take a look at the below and compare them to NH's. They're probably quite similar.

The below are statutory exceptions to driving without an MA licence:

General Laws c. 90, § 10 contains seven exceptions to the requirement of
a Massachusetts license:

(1) a person who is licensed in another state or country, has applied for a Massachusetts license but has not yet been given a drivers test, and has been issued a 60-day temporary permit by the Registry of Motor Vehicles;

(2) a person who possesses a valid Massachusetts learner’s permit;

(3) a person who is licensed in another state and who is accompanying a spouse who is a member of the armed forces on assignment to Massachusetts;

(4) a member of the armed forces on active duty who has a license issued by the state of his or her domicile;

(5) a member of the armed forces within 45 days of returning from active duty outside the United States who has a license issued by the armed forces in a foreign country;

(6) a nonresident who is licensed in the state or country where the vehicle is registered, but for not more than 30 days in the aggregate annually or beyond 30 days after acquiring a regular abode or place of business within Massachusetts unless Massachusetts liability insurance requirements are met; and

(7) a nonresident who is licensed in the state or country of his or her domicile, if it grants reciprocal privileges to Massachusetts residents, but for not more than 30 days in the aggregate annually or beyond 30 days after acquiring a regular abode or place of business within Massachusetts unless Massachusetts liability insurance requirements are met.

Pulaski

Not even then. Like Sir Eccles said, so long as you're insured, and as I said, you can show that you're using your best endeavours to get your license, the police are unlikely to so much as bat an eyelid.

Bear in mind too, that a police patrol officer has no way to determine when you "became resident", and exactly when you became resident has multiple possible answers, so don't worry about it, it's not worth the trouble.

That you're an immigrant in the country legally, have insurance and are working to get a license might make you a novelty to a police officer!

hungryhorace

Haha, well, that is a fair comment. They did seem surprised

martha1703

Thank you all for your help!

Pulaski

You're welcome, and good luck! ..... Though you won't need luck for the test. So long as you obey the STOP signs, lights, and speed limits, and don't actually cause an accident during your test, you'll be passed!