md95065

Lots of people continue to drive on foreign licenses long after they should have obtained a license from the state in which they are resident.

Most people get away with it or, at worst, get a traffic ticket for not having a valid license if they get pulled over for some other reason - I know several Canadians that had this happen to them after moving to California but not bothering to get a California license.

Worst case it could potentially be much more serious if you were involved in an accident and were deemed to be an "unlicensed driver" ...

As a purely practical matter you really need a state issued driver's license as a form of identification so just go ahead and get one, but don't lose any sleep over the fact that it might take you 4 or 5 weeks instead of the 10 days that California officially allows.

(btw I believe that California does also issue identification cards to people who either can't or don't want to drive - I believe that they are essentially "driver's licenses that don't allow you to drive" - go figure ...)

Giantaxe

There was a case in the opposite direction a few years ago of an American living for many years in England but still driving on a US license. He was culpable in an accident that killed someone and had the book thrown at him for not having taken the UK test and thus driving as an unlicensed driver. He ended up in jail, but I forget for how long.

So my bottom line is "why risk potentially drastic legal and financial consequences"? It's not as though getting a CA license is difficult or expensive.

BadgerNaboo

I would not avoid getting one it's just on OH is still waiting for his social security card and cannot get a licence until he has that and he needs to drive to get to work...

Can anyone confirm we can still keep our UK licence?


Thank you

OzExpat

If they are just driving rentals they could probably get away with it. If you own a car, insurance could be a challenge and if you are pulled over it's pretty obvious you've been resident for more than 10 days if you own a car...10 days is the amount of time you are allowed to reside in California before you must get a local driver's license.

coastieexpat

I used mine for at least 2 years, course that was 25 years ago . My mate drove on his provisional licence for even longer. I did get stopped once but it wasn't a problem, not sure about nowadays though.

sarahlou145

We were never asked to hand in our UK licenses. Also you dont need a SSN to take the test, just tell them you dont have one, thats what I did

BadgerNaboo

I can do that too as I will not have a number but OH has to I think

Sally Redux

You can keep your UK licence but it's not valid if you don't live in the UK.

BadgerNaboo

Thanks for letting me know.