dh010447

Hey all,

I am moving out to Atlanta in a couple of weeks and I'll need to get a local driving license while I am there.

I am not worried about having to do the test, but I know that I'll have to relinquish my UK driving License in order to get a GA one.

So - my question is, what happens to my UK one when I give it to them? Not that I don't trust them to destroy it, but I would rather not have someone wandering around using my license. Do I have to give them both parts or just the photo card? Also, would it be worth getting a replacement before I go (tell DVLA that I lost it) and when I have to hand over my license, give them my old one that was reported lost? That way I'll still have a UK license to use when I am back in the UK and even if someone does happen to 'find' my old relinquished UK license, it will be invalid as it will have been reported lost.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers!

JAJ

How do you know they won't let you keep it?

dh010447

I have been told by various people that they will take your UK license from you. I think I even read it somewhere... So i am pretty sure that I will not be allowed to keep it...

TruBrit

well do double check.

i know all states vary however i'm in Tx and have kept mine, i wouldn't relinquish it for anything, i'd tell them i don't have a uk licence if that was the case

britvic

Exactly, you dont tell them nothing

dh010447

If I told them that I didn't have a UK license, I think I would be put in the New Driver category and would therefore have to go though a probation period. And I would also have to have had a learners permit for over a year beforehand. Still not too sure why I have to hand over my UK license though...

britvic

I wouldn't mind betting that most of us over here have not handed over our UK license's no matter what they expect.

Patrick Hasler

You have been told wrong !
I hear all sorts of tales about being an offence to have both
The truth is you can't have any other licence from another state. I even tried to hand in my UK one but it was handed back to me at every attempt.
Whenever I am stopped by DOT on the road I have both in the same compartment, state trooers etc are not interested in anyway, I have recieved coments by them on how much secure it seems than a US one (It's a photo licence with hologram), but I should hang on to it for when I am ever in the UK.
Don't worry ..... Keep your licence

TRPardoe

When I got my first US driving license in NYC nobody asked me for my UK licence. I took the full test anyway.

When I moved to FL I surrendered my NY license to get my FL one.

I would be surprised if they would accept your UK license anyway. You will probably have to take the full test, which is a piece of cake anyway.

I still have my UK license, both the silly paper part and the photo card.

dh010447

Great - I guess if I get stopped and I am ever in a rental car, I can give them my UK one and not get any points on my US one... Not that I would do that though, cos I am sure that would be illegal...

Guess I should get the address on my UK one updated to my folks address...

TRPardoe

That worked for me for years. If I got stopped in the US I gave the cop the UK paper license. Confused the buggery out of them.

Mind you, now I live and work in Fort Myers, on the odd occasion I have been stopped I always use the FL license. Although if I was in a rental out of state I would probably still use the UK version.

tamms_1965

In some states you do not have a probation period if you are over 18.

dbj1000

People get confused between the rules for people with Out of State licenses and foreign licenses.

I haven't looked up the rules for FL, but in Texas you're also required to surrender your out of state license when you get your Texas license (oh, and you can only dive on an out of state license for 30 days after moving to TX). However, neither rule applies to foreign licenses. You keep your UK license and can drive on it for up to a year.

It's just like the US being unable to force British citizens to relinquish their British passports upon Naturalization. A British driving license is completely outside the jurisdiction of the DMV here in the US, and they cannot possibly have a legal right to take it away from you.

If the functionary at the DMV demands it, ask to speak to their supervisor, and then their supervisor, and so on up the chain.

It's worth finding the appropriate section of the FL DMV rules to wave in their face too - I'm sure it's there in black and white somewhere, but DMV employees are neither known for their intelligence or their happy, friendly interpretation of the rules!

dbj1000

OK, I'm bored so I read all over the Florida DMV site, and can find no mention of having to surrender ("exchange", as they call it) a foreign license for a Florida one. You only have to "exchange" an out-of-state license, and even then you do not have to if you live for part of the year outside Florida.

If you want to reassure yourself, use Google to search WITHIN the FL DMV site like this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=excha...mv.state.fl.us

... you put any words you're searching for into Google followed by "site:hsmv.state.fl.us" and Google searches only within that particular site.

...or you can use the super-crappy interface on the site itself:

http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/html/dlnew.html

dh010447

Great, I'll give that a try with the GA website...