Moving on Monday

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

RJ is always right.

Well, not always. But thanks anyway.

Go get your Social Security card. That you can get with a K1 up until 2 weeks before your I-94 expires. Read how to prepare in the VJ guidelines. SSA workers are all over the place with what they tell people because many don't get the K1 scenario. Go knowing you can and why. I think there is a SS forum too. My husband drove with his UK license until he got his EAD and a TX license. Consider yourself a visitor until the US gives you something (like an EAD or greencard) to be more than a 90 day visitor.

Good advice.

[markjbankover 1]

Are you in MA? From the day you become a resident you need a MA license but the cops don't know that! I drove on my UK license for a year.

It sucks taking the test again but it is ridiculously easy.

Yeah i'm in MA, i've been driving all week.

Applied for SSN on Tuesday and informed it will be mailed to me within two weeks which seems pretty quick.

I was told by the drivers license place in Boston that i could not apply for my permit without my SSN, so will go back when that arrives

How easy is this test then ?

Thanks

[scotinmass 588]

Yeah i'm in MA, i've been driving all week.

Applied for SSN on Tuesday and informed it will be mailed to me within two weeks which seems pretty quick.

I was told by the drivers license place in Boston that i could not apply for my permit without my SSN, so will go back when that arrives

How easy is this test then ?

Thanks

The permit test was ridiculous. I studied the driver's manual till I knew it backwards. But I didn't study the stuff that didn't apply to me. I am in my 40s so obviously all the stuff about the junior operator's license (under 18s) doesn't apply to me so I skipped that.

The test is multiple choice done on a touchscreen computer. 25 questions. You have to get 18 or more right to pass. I got 5 or 6 easy ones and was feeling good. Then I got asked one about a motorcycle. I was thinking #######? I'm taking the car test. I got that one wrong. Then I got 7 or 8 questions in a row about what the penalties were for breaking various driving laws while on a junior operators license. It wasn't even anything I could guess. (How long do you lose your license for if you get a speeding ticket on a JOL? A 30days, B 90 days C 6 months D 1 year) That kind of thing. I had no idea and was getting rather annoyed. I got most of them wrong and must have been down to my last strike when finally I got 4 questions on road signs and managed to get them all right.

So study everything. Even if it has nothing to do with you.

When you take the road test you can make the appointment online and you can take it at any RMV in Mass. I'd advise you to not take it in Boston. Take it somewhere with quieter roads. I took mine in Willmington. I drove out of the parking lot, down the street 50 feet then turned into a very quiet and empty residential area with a 20mph speed limit. The cop told me to take a few left and right turns. There was no other cars on the road. He told me to stop at the side of the road and then back up. I went no more than 5 feet and he said that's enough. I then did a 3 point turn and drove back to the RMV across the street. That was it. He never even got me to park. Just stop at the door so he could get out.

He asked me before I started if I'd had a driving license before and I said yes so maybe he went easier on me.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

The permit test was ridiculous. I studied the driver's manual till I knew it backwards. But I didn't study the stuff that didn't apply to me. I am in my 40s so obviously all the stuff about the junior operator's license (under 18s) doesn't apply to me so I skipped that.

Your experience sounds exactly like my husband's in Texas. He didn't even read the front of the book about teen licenses and penalties. Then he found out the test was geared heavily for new teen drivers and guessed his way through to barely passing. The driving test was in a small town neighborhood...a few turns around the block, then the lady said "you're an excellent driver" and drew lines through a lot of the sections on her checklist and wrote "passed."

[scotinmass 588]

Your experience sounds exactly like my husband's in Texas. He didn't even read the front of the book about teen licenses and penalties. Then he found out the test was geared heavily for new teen drivers and guessed his way through to barely passing. The driving test was in a small town neighborhood...a few turns around the block, then the lady said "you're an excellent driver" and drew lines through a lot of the sections on her checklist and wrote "passed."

It's not just in MA then.