Noorah101

Local office.

Rene

meauxna

Your local office is supposed to check the SAVE database for verification.

What visa are you here with?

_Orpheus_

H1-B

Can they not just approve it because I sound like Harry Potter?
Is that not a valid enough reason?

E3only

Oh, I totally get it. Totally….

I felt the same. Life was on complete hold. The bureaucracy is ridiculous. Can’t drive on foreign license more than 10 days, can’t get license without SSN, can’t get SSN in 10 days…love it California!

It’s frustrating but at the same time is a one time hassle so I hope not long to go for you!

_Orpheus_

Cheers. Its just fustrating, I feel like I'm back in College when all my friends were passing their driving tests and I wasnt quite old enough yet. No, wait, this is worse as I have actually been chopping on that sweet freedom for the last 6 years!

On a related note, does anyone know exactly how long I can drive on a UK licence for? I did a quick google search online but didnt turn up anything to definitive. I have yet to do a BEF search yet so I appologize if this has been covered plenty before

E3only

Depends from state to state. In CA it's 10 days . So when I applied for SSN, I jsut drove on my Australian license and carried the SSN application receipt with me. . .It's not my fault the SSN office, border control and DMV don't talk to each other.

Bob

Couldn't you just rent a car till you get squared away?

And how long you've got till you have to get a license, depends on the state, anything from 10 days to 12 months, though it's usually within 30-60 day range.

E3only

If you have an american express, they do the insurance for 30 days for a one time cost (very low).

_Orpheus_

I cant rent a car as I dont have a credit card, and cant get a credit card till I have a SSN...I see a pattern developing.

I decided this afternoon that my new game plan would be this; lease the car, and get a slightly higher insurance for the first month or so, get SSN, get driving licence, then get cheaper insurance. Now, due to my lack of credit I was going to get my friend to co-sign for me...only it turns out this afternoon that due to the market crash he has some very bad credit. Welcome back to square one

Im going to have to try and sort something out tomorrow. Can I get a lease with no credit and no SSN without a co-signer?

Bob

Got a debit card though?

And hindsight, but if you came on a work visa, it's a pretty standard ask that they provide a rental for a few weeks.

As for the lease, yeah, you can, but you'll get a shit rate and you'll have to put much more down....better off buying a banger.

_Orpheus_

No chance that Im buying a banger. Yeah I have a debit card but Im under 25 and almost all rental places require a credit card for under 25's. Im going to try and work something out at work. The last I checked we were trying to arrange with Ally to get me pre-approved (my business is rather cosy with Ally) using a copy of my UK credit rating and just about every document I brought with me.

I managed to get some pretty good rates on a nice new SUV but thats before they realize I have no credit or anything lol. Im running some insurance figures now.

God this moving thing is a pain in the ass. The snow better be worth it!!

_Orpheus_

Also, just out of interest, when I get USA car insurance, do they cross check with my UK history or do I get a clean slate?

Bob

You start from fresh, faced, whatever the youngest driver age in your state allows and add on no credit history.

The thing with a banger, you can buy a high mileage, 100K Audi for what you'd need to put as a down on a lease anyway. Advantage is, it'll be cheaper to insure for a year and then you'll have credit history, car insurance history and if the driving is anything like it is down my way, you won't mind when inevitably some arsehole prangs it.

E3only

Totally agree. Something reliable and then you can buy a new car once you have some history. By that time hopefully you are 25+. It's a win win.

Bob

Though do check the state age cut off, Maine just raised the age where insurance can rape you to 29, where it had been at 27, BIL just missed out on being grandfathered in by about 2 weeks so he's got another 2 years again of being a high risker

Oh, but the thing with a banger, that high mileage car with the 100K on it is still probably only 5 or 6 years old, it's probably fully loaded too. Swap Audi for BMW, Lexus, whatever swank you prefer, just note that they'll be more expensive to maintain than something local or at least locally popular.

Where I live, Honda's were dirt cheap to maintain because there are loads of them, but up in Maine, they're well expensive to maintain, but Saabs are dirt cheap.