md95065

cluedweasel

Whenever we go back, me brother lends us one of his cars which he gets insured for our use. His insurance company asked if we had valid US licenses as this would be required for the insurance to be valid.

BritishGuy36

COB, you should be aware that you cannot be considered 'resident' in both countries simultaneously. It's one or the other.

Since you will need access to the US, you need to maintain your US residency. As has been said, that means short trips outside the US, and repeated trips for too long will make it harder and harder for you to regain entry to the US since immigration will look at your travel history and question whether you have materially abandoned your PR status.

Forget about your UK license, if you are a US resident it is not valid for driving in the UK anyway, whether it's in date or not. If you rent or insure a car in the UK based on the UK license and then have an RTA, your residency outside the UK means that your insurance/rental insurance is highly likely to be invalidated, since your license is not valid.

You can't have your cake and eat it, I'm afraid.

holly_1948

That is totally false.
Where on earth did that concept come from?!
You can be resident in several countries at the same time. And residence for driving purposes is not the same as residence for income tax purposes.

The UK does not prevent non-residents from holding driving licences actually. But it is an EU regulation that no member country may RENEW a driving licence for a non-resident. It is EU regulation (which has the force of law), it is not a UK statute.

DVLA does not even want to know about change of address unless you have a new UK address. You are required to tell them about a new UK address if/when you acquire one, but not about a foreign address. Not even within the EU.

The law is an ass. I checked North Dakota. You are considered a resident and required to get a DL if you work there legally for 90 days. But when you come to actually get that reqiuired license then working there legally for 90 days is not considered evidence of residency according to DMV guidelines. Go figure.

SEL_boy

"You are considered a resident and required to get a DL if you work there legally for 90 days."


I didn't know about this. So, basically, they treat your DL as your 'papers', as an ID card.
How can you get a DL if you can't drive? I have a friend who has epilepsy, and he is not allowed to drive - is there some kind of non-driving driving licence?

FWIW, I went to the DMV (in Virginia) very soon after getting my Green Card, and all they wanted was my SSN - there was no mention of my UK DL.

I went in just to see what the procedure for getting a DL was, and they said "well, you've been driving for years, why don't you take the test right now."
I replied, "what if I fail?", and they blithely said, "just take it again later", so I went for it.
Drove out of the carpark, three right turns to go around the block, and I'd passed the practical. No reversing around a corner, no emergency stop, no three point turn. Piece of the proverbial.
Back into the office, quick mulitiple guess on a touch screen, answers that any idiot could deduce, and bang, I was in.

It did answer a lot of questions about the pitiful standard of driving over here.

Noorah101

You can't.

Yes, a State ID.

Rene

holly_1948

And it is issued by the same people who issue the DLs.

I don't know whether ND requires people who have worked there for 90+days to get a State Id if they don't drive. Only that they do require a DL if the worker does drive (and almost all employed workers do).

BritishGuy36

Nonsense. Where did your idea that you can be resident in multiple countries come from?

You can only be legally resident in one country at a time. And for the US, you have to be a resident to qualify for a US driver's license.

Manc

If I had a house in both countries, and 6 months between the 2. I'd have 2 drivers licenses.

There is no law as far as I am aware against this.

Manc

Get an Ohio drivers license.

thousands have them and can't drive.

Jerseygirl

You cannot according to EU law re-new a UK DL if you are not a UK resident.

Manc

if you live there 6 months you're a resident no? for those 6 months at least?

Jerseygirl

I dunno.

Neptun

Definition of "Normal residence" from the 3rd EU directive on driving licences

md95065

Nonsense. Where did your idea that there is only one definition of the word "resident" come from.

Nonsense - quite apart from the fact that driver's licenses are issued by the 50 states and there are, therefore, 50 sets of different laws relating to the issuance of driver's licenses this is simply not true. While most states require proof of "lawful presence" before they will issue a license, "lawful presence" is not the same as "residence" .