Applying for California Drivers License

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Your Canadian driver license gives you the permission to operate a motor vehicle. As a Canadian citizen, you can drive with your Canadian driver license until you become a resident. You become a resident when you get a Green Card, vote in an election, or pay property taxes in California. In fact, that's how the State of California defines a "resident." Until then, you are fine driving with your Canadian license and if you ever get a ticket for it, it will be dismissed in court in a heartbeat.

Note: California does indeed not recognize "international driver licenses" as many of these are obtainable from the Internet for a dollar and change. They explicitly require visitors to use the original driver license from their country, even if it's in Chinese.

[Danu 19]

If it helps, when I went to get mine done (and I was one of those who just drove around on my Canadian license, though very rarely because I have heard that the cops version of resident and the actual resident where you have your greencard can be very different) they did allow me to do it with my EAD (Santa Ana DMV) with no questions asked. They gave me temp licenses that allowed me to drive around on my own because of having a valid Canadian license. I did end up having to go back to show them my greencard though because apparently when they were doing the lookup of my residency status or something, they couldnt find it (was taking forever, ended up getting 2 full temp licenses good for 3 months, on top of the temp one they gave while I was waiting on my driven test). It wasn't that big of a deal, just walked in with everything, got the new temp license issued and within a week had my actual CA DL card. It really may depend on where you goto, I know Santa Ana deals with a lot of immigrants so they might be one of those places that just does their proceedures the way they are suppose to. I had a similar encounter when I went for my SSN here, no questions asked for filing or for changing my name, just sat down, waited a minute while they typed and then I was done.

As to what Rob said. I have read, on this forum, of a case where because the person was living here, regardless of the fact his status wasnt changed or anything yet, that he got fined $1000 for not having a CA license. They aren't really suppose to as you aren't technically a resident based on the standards of their "are you a resident check" unless you meet a bunch of criteria like what Bob posted, but the CHP don't always see it like that, because of course of the large number of immigrants in some parts of the state. I did drive, as I stated before, but I would limit how far you go and make sure you do everything right. I never drove on the highway or really further than the grocery store until I got my EAD and got the temp license. It was a bit of an inconvienience however reading stories like that I didn't want to chance it. My EAD only took something like 50-60 days if I remember right, so it was only a couple months that sucked, but after that I got that bit of freedom back

[The_Dude 1,142]

Your Canadian driver license gives you the permission to operate a motor vehicle. As a Canadian citizen, you can drive with your Canadian driver license until you become a resident. You become a resident when you get a Green Card, vote in an election, or pay property taxes in California. In fact, that's how the State of California defines a "resident." Until then, you are fine driving with your Canadian license and if you ever get a ticket for it, it will be dismissed in court in a heartbeat.

Note: California does indeed not recognize "international driver licenses" as many of these are obtainable from the Internet for a dollar and change. They explicitly require visitors to use the original driver license from their country, even if it's in Chinese.

Wrong.

California law enforcement will allow you to drive using your canadian drivers license if you are a visitor. Once you PoE and move to the U.S., you have 10 days upon arriving in California to obtain a California driver's license. Can they strictly enforce this? Of course not, but it's really not hard to tell when someone is full of it when a cop pulls them over and sees a foreign license. Chances are you'll simply get a warning. But if they see you again, you'll not only get the ticket from the police, but you can also be assessed fines from the DMV depending on how long you were in the state without getting a CA driver's license.

[The_Dude 1,142]

If it helps, when I went to get mine done (and I was one of those who just drove around on my Canadian license, though very rarely because I have heard that the cops version of resident and the actual resident where you have your greencard can be very different) they did allow me to do it with my EAD (Santa Ana DMV) with no questions asked. They gave me temp licenses that allowed me to drive around on my own because of having a valid Canadian license. I did end up having to go back to show them my greencard though because apparently when they were doing the lookup of my residency status or something, they couldnt find it (was taking forever, ended up getting 2 full temp licenses good for 3 months, on top of the temp one they gave while I was waiting on my driven test). It wasn't that big of a deal, just walked in with everything, got the new temp license issued and within a week had my actual CA DL card. It really may depend on where you goto, I know Santa Ana deals with a lot of immigrants so they might be one of those places that just does their proceedures the way they are suppose to. I had a similar encounter when I went for my SSN here, no questions asked for filing or for changing my name, just sat down, waited a minute while they typed and then I was done.

As to what Rob said. I have read, on this forum, of a case where because the person was living here, regardless of the fact his status wasnt changed or anything yet, that he got fined $1000 for not having a CA license. They aren't really suppose to as you aren't technically a resident based on the standards of their "are you a resident check" unless you meet a bunch of criteria like what Bob posted, but the CHP don't always see it like that, because of course of the large number of immigrants in some parts of the state. I did drive, as I stated before, but I would limit how far you go and make sure you do everything right. I never drove on the highway or really further than the grocery store until I got my EAD and got the temp license. It was a bit of an inconvienience however reading stories like that I didn't want to chance it. My EAD only took something like 50-60 days if I remember right, so it was only a couple months that sucked, but after that I got that bit of freedom back

Yes, they are supposed to give you a ticket if you are pulled over and found to be residing in the state of California and operating a motor vehicle without the proper license. When you move here after your PoE, you are a temporary resident, and as such, subject to the same guidelines as everyone else. Please do not advocate people doing something which is blatantly illegal, like driving without a valid license when they move here. Even if you are simply advising people to limit their driving, it is still illegal, and the person driving is still subject to the hefty citation from the police, as well as any fines levied by the state/DMV.

[Krikit 1,164]

Here's the $1k fine thread. California is quite stringent with their rules.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/196811-driving-in-california-a-warning-to-all-you-non-resident-newlyweds/

[Danu 19]

Yes, they are supposed to give you a ticket if you are pulled over and found to be residing in the state of California and operating a motor vehicle without the proper license. When you move here after your PoE, you are a temporary resident, and as such, subject to the same guidelines as everyone else. Please do not advocate people doing something which is blatantly illegal, like driving without a valid license when they move here. Even if you are simply advising people to limit their driving, it is still illegal, and the person driving is still subject to the hefty citation from the police, as well as any fines levied by the state/DMV.

Rob, from the website:

"Residency is established by voting in a California election, paying resident tuition, filing for a homeowner’s property tax exemption, or any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents."

Seeing as you can't vote, aren't deemed a resident for tuition purposes, most likely will not have filed property tax emeption or had any other benefits given to non-residents of california, you are not technically a resident. I wasn't stating anything illegal, the line is completely grey. The DMV even told me I was allowed to keep driving on my Canadian one because I wasn't able to get a DL on just my I-94. They could have been wrong, who knows, but I will refrain from continuing on this topic.

[Danu 19]

double post ><

Edited November 15, 2010 by Danu

[The_Dude 1,142]

I think what confuses people in this thread, and the other one where the guy DID get the $1,000 fine is that immigration law is immaterial, as is DMV requirements. Different people might interpret what constitutes residency different, however, the law doesn't take those into account. From their standpoint, the moment you enter after your POE, you are considered a resident. They don't differentiate between the various stages within the legal and illegal realm of immigration status.

We have millions of illegal immigrants in this country. Should the court systems ignore any crimes or vehicle code infractions they do simply because they aren't legal residents? That is tantamount to what some are suggesting here. When you are issued your visa, and you pass through your POE, you are intending to move and live here. That is all that matters. You are required to get a driver's license within 10 days of moving here.

The likelihood that you get a ticket for this is remote. Chances are, if you do get pulled over, a police officer will ask you about it, and remind you of the law here, and give you a warning. If you continue to flaunt the law, and that cop sees you again, you're going to get a big ticket, and possibly more/

[Danu 19]

I think what confuses people in this thread, and the other one where the guy DID get the $1,000 fine is that immigration law is immaterial, as is DMV requirements. Different people might interpret what constitutes residency different, however, the law doesn't take those into account. From their standpoint, the moment you enter after your POE, you are considered a resident. They don't differentiate between the various stages within the legal and illegal realm of immigration status.

We have millions of illegal immigrants in this country. Should the court systems ignore any crimes or vehicle code infractions they do simply because they aren't legal residents? That is tantamount to what some are suggesting here. When you are issued your visa, and you pass through your POE, you are intending to move and live here. That is all that matters. You are required to get a driver's license within 10 days of moving here.

The likelihood that you get a ticket for this is remote. Chances are, if you do get pulled over, a police officer will ask you about it, and remind you of the law here, and give you a warning. If you continue to flaunt the law, and that cop sees you again, you're going to get a big ticket, and possibly more/

Gotcha. So basically the DMV told me their requirements, which are completely not in line with the actual laws. Theirs are what deems you a resident to get the actual DL, but that doesn't let you drive on the old one anyway because you are a resident, even though you...arent. Wow, I wrote that really confusing.

[BokkieandGuapo 4]

Yeah, I read that too and when I went with the EAD/AP cards with my wife after I was told by the supervisor of the office that that didn't prove immigration status, which it doesn't. I suppose it will depend upon the office you go to.

Edited November 22, 2010 by BokkieandGuapo