Driving with a UK license in the US

[haleywynne 0]

My future hubby is worried about not being able to drive here until he has a Texas driver's license (I say Texas because I think each state differs). I've let him drive around here a couple times while he's visited and he has done very well and picked it up fast!

I was wondering if his UK driving license is valid in the US at all. It will still be a while until he's living here permanently, but he is visiting again in a few weeks.

Anyone have any experience with this?

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

It will generally be valid, but the amount of time varies from state to state. In Connecticut, where we were for the first 10 months stateside, my husband had up to a year to get his CT licence. I know from another VJer that Texas theoretically should allow someone who entered on a K1 up to a year, but she had problems convincing a highway patrol officer of this fact when stopped for speeding. She received a summons to appear in court for driving without a licence! (As well as the speeding ticket.) However, luckily the assistant DA took a look at all the evidence she had dug up on Texas DMV rules that her non-US licence was acceptable after all.

Be prepared that because this is the DMV you'll be dealing with, you will be dealing with some of the most wilfully ignorant bureaucrats out there. Just my own experience.

[defunct 0]

See this thread.

There are issues with Texas in particular, as alluded to by elmcitymaven.

[Texanadian 10]

I'm in Texas. Their driving rules are fairly easy to deal with.

For US people from other states, they have 30 days to get a TX driver's license. Foreigners like you and I can use our foreign license for 1 year. The easiest thing to do is go in there after you've received your green card and apply then. That's why I did.

I applied for a TX license in November 2008. They gave me a TX driver's license that's good until 2015. Cost was $24. And it's a regular driver's license just like my US citizen wife's driver's license. They did ask to see my green card and proof of car insurance when I went for the license. No road test or written test either. I did have to submit my Canadian driver's license.

I wouldn't worry about getting your car towed for having a foreign license. That's the first time I've heard of that. 25% of Texan drivers don't have any car insurance. And when police do pull them over, they give them a ticket for it and then let them drive home. Same thing happens with people who are pulled over for no car insurance or who get in accidents with no car insurance. The police let them drive home. (I find that astonishing.)

If you really want to feel safer, you could go to the Texas driver's license website and print off the part that says foreigners can drive for 1 year. The cop who wrote up the person for using a foreign license was obviously ill informed about the rules. Probably because Texas advertises heavily that people are supposed to get inspection/registration/TX driver's license all within 30 days (and in that order too)....But foreigners are exempt from the drivers license aspect of that.

Edited March 31, 2009 by Texanadian

[Texanadian 10]

I should add that certain parts of Texas will tow your car and impound it if you don't have car insurance. Dallas does. Webster does as well. But most of the state doesn't do anything to you at the moment.

I highly recommend buying underinsurance.

[haleywynne 0]

Wow, okay thanks so much! Saves a lot of worry haha.

One question though: Is is different when he's here just as a visitor?

Edited March 31, 2009 by haleywynne

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Here's the link to the DPS page. I believe the link will open at the question, but scroll up a line and you see Out-of-Country Driver License as the topic. http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administratio...s_dl_id.htm#q51

It should be no problem as a visitor. After he moves here, there can be some confusion because the DPS and Highway Patrol don't really know K1 immigration (a federal process) that well. If he says "I live here" then they say he has 30 days to get a Texas license. But that is impossible for a K1. I would probably print that link and put it in the glove box. And in hindsight if stopped, I would say, "I am visiting" until he gets an EAD card.

Other Texas info:

He can't get a license until he gets EAD card. That's usually 60-90 days after applying for AOS/EAD/AP

He will have to take the written test and the driving test. The yellow driver's handbook is free at the local DPS office. A tip for the written test: read everything to do with teenage drivers because the test seems to be geared more toward them. My husband skipped over that part of the book and had no clue with questions like "What is the penalty for a minor for drinking while driving" or something like that. He did pass but barely. If you're in a busy metropolitan area, go to a rural/small town DPS to avoid taking the driving test in too much traffic.

In Texas, if your car is insured, then he can drive it with your permission and is covered. Call your agent to verify. My State Farm agent said he was covered and not to add him to the policy until he had a license.

Edited April 1, 2009 by Nich-Nick

[haleywynne 0]

Here's the link to the DPS page. I believe the link will open at the question, but scroll up a line and you see Out-of-Country Driver License as the topic. http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administratio...s_dl_id.htm#q51

It should be no problem as a visitor. After he moves here, there can be some confusion because the DPS and Highway Patrol don't really know K1 immigration (a federal process) that well. If he says "I live here" then they say he has 30 days to get a Texas license. But that is impossible for a K1. I would probably print that link and put it in the glove box. And in hindsight if stopped, I would say, "I am visiting" until he gets an EAD card.

Other Texas info:

He can't get a license until he gets EAD card. That's usually 60-90 days after applying for AOS/EAD/AP

He will have to take the written test and the driving test. The yellow driver's handbook is free at the local DPS office. A tip for the written test: read everything to do with teenage drivers because the test seems to be geared more toward them. My husband skipped over that part of the book and had no clue with questions like "What is the penalty for a minor for drinking while driving" or something like that. He did pass but barely. If you're in a busy metropolitan area, go to a rural/small town DPS to avoid taking the driving test in too much traffic.

In Texas, if your car is insured, then he can drive it with your permission and is covered. Call your agent to verify. My State Farm agent said he was covered and not to add him to the policy until he had a license.

Got your PM and thanks for the heads up! Yeah this is all very helpful! He was reading that without a TXDL if he was stopped they would impound the car. I didn't see how that was possible unless you had no license at all. I also have State Farm and he would be covered. Good thing I'm right in between a busy city and rural town haha.

Again, thanks for your help! I'll check out that link now...

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

He was reading that without a TXDL if he was stopped they would impound the car. I didn't see how that was possible unless you had no license at all. I also have State Farm and he would be covered. Good thing I'm right in between a busy city and rural town haha.

Again, thanks for your help! I'll check out that link now...

It does depend on the officer who stops you. Some are just a bit cocky so there's no guarantees what they might do. My husband was stopped by a state trooper for speeding. Still not sure he clocked the right person in a big pack of cars at night, but he pulled over the sports car (us). So he looks at the UK license and says "Are you a visitor or somethin'?" "No, I've lived here about 2 months. I'm immigrating." "Well if you live here, you are required to get a TDL within 30 days." Write's ticket for speeding and no TDL. So we go into long explanation of how he went to the DPS office and they wouldn't give him a license. The law changed Oct. 1, yada yada. "Hmmph, that's news to me" Then he muttered something about "these Mexicans have ...I guess his total immigrant experience is legals and illegals from Mexico and was telling about some documentation. After a long explanation of the K1/AOS process, he scratched off the no TDL part of the ticket. So that's why I said in hindsight print the page that says you can drive on foreign license 1 year and say "I'm a visitor" until you are able to get a license. The good part of the story is that the ticket won't be on his Texas driving record because he didn't have a license.