englishnurse

does anyone knoe if i need an international drivers license?
i am moving to az in sept
there seems to be a bit of conflicting advice
anyone?

Rockgurl

I got one when I moved to AZ and never used it. I think it's pretty worthless. I tried to get insurance on my English licence and it was insanely high so decided to hire a car for a month instead as a holiday-maker on my UK licence (with insurance included) and while I was there I took my driver's test in Phoenix (ridiculously easy) and got my USA licence and then bought a brand new car. I did this within the first month of being there. Of course the insurance was high but not as bad. Just be careful to read the small print as it's not like hiring a car in the UK...there's lots of hidden extras and you have to make sure you have good insurance, especially in AZ.

Jerseygirl

Rules and regs do seems to differ from state to state....best to look on Az's DMV website.

You do not need an international licence....normally you are allowed to drive on your UK licence for at least 30 days. You then have to apply for your US licence...you will need this anyway as a form of ID...a passport will not be recognised in the US as a form of ID!! Depending on the state you will have to take a written and/or a driving test. Don't worry about this...the test only takes a few minutes and if you can reverse into a space half a mile wide you'll be OK. Anyone with half a brain cell can pass a driving test in the US....you only have to look at all the bad drivers on the road.

Apply for your Social Security numbers as soon as you arrive in the US, can't do a great deal without one. Your SS number and driver's licence are your lifeline here.

Jerseygirl

Good point....that's what we did....hire a car for the first week or so. You can't buy/lease a new car unless you have insurance and you can't get insurance without a US licence....that's how it is in NJ but as I said before rules and regs do differ from state to state. DO NOT surrender your UK licence no matter what they say....just say you've not got it with you, act dumb...they're used to that LOL.

englishnurse

only half a mile
oh my god im doooomed

Jerseygirl

We only had to take a written/multiple answer test here. When my daughter took her drivers test it took place in a huge empty car park....she had to drive about 50 yards....then parallel park between to cones a blind man could reverse a bus into. Total time of test....less than 5 mins....BTW she passed first time.

gruffbrown

Did I ever tell you how really really difficult that test is?

dan_alford

Dito about the form of ID. Some places wouldn't even take a Permanent Resident Card ( Green Card) as a form of id. You will need your SSN to get your drivers license so make sure that you get all of that paperwork complete and mailed in as soon as possible.

Do a search for Driving Tests on here to see the ridiculously easy state of US Driving tests. They do vary from state to state but from what I hear/read they are all much easier than the uk test.

The written tests are very easy. They tend to concentrate on Acohol and common sense. This is one of the actual questions I had on my test:

"You are parked parallel to the kerb and are about to pull out into traffic. Do you :

A) Pull straight out without looking
B) Honk your horn to let everyone know they need to get out of your way
c) Use the Indicator, watch for a space in traffic and pull out when safe to do so
d) Any of the above

The driving part is also absurd. I had to reverse out of a parking spot, making 5 right turns (" a block") and parking parallel to the kerb.

Thats how easy it is to get a license and is also why american drivers are some of the worst. Would love for someone to do a study/show where they put american drivers through a UK sytle test (let them drive on the right) and see how many pass.

englishnurse

i have got into an unholy row about this license on another forum, as i had been advised to get one by my recruiter as it would mean that i didnt have to rush about taking a driving test straight away, good god people can be touchy, all i said was this was what i had been advised to do, next thing i know am in big trouble because i dared to disagree with a moderator
:scared:
she said i didnt need it
i said i had been told to get it
boom
warning on a pm 'it is against the rules to disagree with a moderator on a forum'
mind you i was a bit sarcastic, but am used to recieving sarcasm on here so i thought it was normal lmao

englishnurse

common sense???
i really am doomed now!!
thanks for the advice though im not worried about the test now to be honest

suzimc

It's actually an international driving permit not a license. Not beng picky about the wording, I wondered what all the fuss was about myself, but it is actually different. The IDP supports your existing license. It's all a bit ambiguous though, and from what I've gathered from emailing both the UK and Australian bodies in charge of it I don't think it's worth much to anyone who is an expat or emigrating, but more likely to help you if you are going on hols somewhere. Personally, having paid for the thing and then done the research I am not entirely sure that it's worth it!

Jerseygirl

The answer is of course....'A'.

englishnurse

oo yes it does say permit on it not license!

Jerseygirl

As a general rule.....if its not issued in the US it mean f**k all! The world begins on the east coast and ends on the west.....you'll get used to it.....eventually.

Jerseygirl

Doesn't matter what it says on it.....not issued here....doesn't count. The green card doesn't count either because Americans don't have them, so they don't know what they are.