Process to get a Drivers license in Texas with foreign license?

[Carlos.Brazil 40]

Hi, I've been going through the forums trying to get an answer and see mix results regarding getting a drivers license in Texas. My wife has her drivers license from Brazil, and we went to DPS where they told us she would have to apply as if she never had a license, which entails taking an adult drivers education course online and then a test to get her permit. This is where I've found mixed information, I see some people just took the driving test and were issued their DL and I see others that had to take the online education course and get a permit first before taking the driving test. My question is how long do we have to wait with the permit to take her driving test if they make us go that route? I see other posts say you could take it the same day after getting your permit too, so would I schedule both for a first time DL and driving test for the same day? We already have an appointment for August 11th, 2022 and she completed the Online Education course, but I'm trying to not go back again if thats possible since appointments are booked almost until next year. Any advice is welcome from those who recently went through this in Texas.🙏

[Timona 4,207]

You have to do it afresh like DPS told you. No shortcuts.

 

As soon as she gets the permit, you can schedule a road test for the next available date. 

 

And yes, she can test the same day as the day she got her permit, provided there's availability for road test.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Timona

[Carlos.Brazil 40]

@Timona Well she's already taken the drivers course like they said, and I'm assuming with our upcoming appointment, she'll be taking the test for the permit correct? Our appointment was for a "First Time DL" when we made it, so I'm not sure what all else is going to happen.

[powerpuff 6,697]

~~ Topic moved from Working & Traveling during US immigration to Moving to the US & Your New Life in America where DL questions are posted ~~

[Carlos.Brazil 40]

@powerpuff Sorry, I never know the perfect place to post, I try to give my best guess😅

[Carlos.Brazil 40]

Actually, going through the DPS website again and it says people over the age of 25 are not required to take a driver's education course, just to watch the ITD video and print out the certificate you get from that to take your driving test. So where does the permit come from??

[Timona 4,207]

4 hours ago, Carlos.Brazil said:

@Timona Well she's already taken the drivers course like they said, and I'm assuming with our upcoming appointment, she'll be taking the test for the permit correct? Our appointment was for a "First Time DL" when we made it, so I'm not sure what all else is going to happen.

 

She won't be taking a test for the permit. She already did the driver's education, passed and got the certificate. So, she will be getting a permit. How? She will take the certificate + residency proof blaa blaa blaa (they have a checklist online for this. Make sure you check it and carry correct items or else you'll be turned back) and ask for the permit to go practice on US roads. Being an immigrant, there's no way you'll be skipped direct to road test, even if you know how to drive. I have first hand experience in this. Had you been US resident and lived here for long, they'll let you skip to road test.

 

Now, while you're being given permit, ask them to schedule you for a road test at the earliest available date that's convenient to you. Then take permit, go practice a little then come back on appointment day and do your test. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Timona

[Timona 4,207]

3 hours ago, Carlos.Brazil said:

Actually, going through the DPS website again and it says people over the age of 25 are not required to take a driver's education course, just to watch the ITD video and print out the certificate you get from that to take your driving test. So where does the permit come from??

 

You already have the certificate. So use it. I would not recommend the ITD test. I think it's 1 hour and done at the DPS computers, back then. I don't wanna sit at DPS for 1 hour. Nope 

 

As such, I always recommend testing online, irrespective of age. It's 6 hours but you can just let sections run out (as you can't fast forward) then just come back and answer the question. It's $25.

 

Additionally, you can take this certificate, ring your auto insurer and tell them that you've done defensive driving. That'll knock off some $$ off your monthly payment. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Timona

[Timona 4,207]

Self delete 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Timona

[Carlos.Brazil 40]

Okay so still a little confused regarding if we have to schedule 2 separate appointments for a permit and road test? From her driving education course, there is this section for getting a DL if you're over 25 years old and it shows this: 

 

So it says to just schedule the road test. We have a road test scheduled for Monday, 8/8/2022 and we had scheduled another appointment before for "Applying for a first time DL" on 8/12/2022(This appointment was made before the road test).

Would we be able to just show up for the road test, get her permit there if its even necessary, take the hearing and vision exam then the road test? Or should we cancel the road test and just go to the later appointment then schedule another road test after we get her permit. The only problem with that is that the appointments for road tests are booked until October/ November, so not sure if we should just take a chance and go 3 days from now.

[Carlos.Brazil 40]

Okay so to update incase somebody has similar questions in the future. Since my wife is over 25, she did not have to do the drivers education course (Although, they do recommend you do it to learn the laws here in the US). For clarification, this is the 6 hour online course you can take that consists of videos with an exam at the end (And this exam counts as the one you would have to take at DPS, getting you your ADE-1317 Certificate). The you have to watch a 2nd course online (IMPACT Texas Adult Drivers) which is just a 1 or 2 hour long video and you print a certificate from that once you finish watching it.  

 

Now comes the confusing part. We had already scheduled a road test online at DPS, but I called and they said we had to set up an appointment for a "First Time DL" first so that they could process all the paperwork AND THEN I could schedule a road test. I asked if they could process the paperwork on my road test appointment but they said no, so we cancelled that road test and scheduled for a first time DL. We were going to use her Receipt of Notice for her I-485 to show lawful presence, but her EAD and Social Security Card came, so we used those instead, along with 2 utility bills with her name to show she was a resident of Texas.

The only problem was that now the road test were booked out for 2 months, so we decided to take the road test with a 3rd party company since we could take it with them that same week instead of waiting 2 months for the DPS road test, so the woman at DPS booked us for a week later to get her Drivers License since we would have the sealed packet with her results from the 3rd party company. 

 

NOTE: If you want to use a 3rd party to take the road test, you must first get your permit to take the test with the 3rd Party. When we went to our appointment for the "First Time DL", the DPS lady was processing our paperwork assuming we were going to schedule a road test at DPS 2 months from now, and if you are over 25 years old, you DO NOT need the permit to take your road test at DPS. However, my wife wouldn't be able to drive whatsoever until she took her road test, so I asked about getting a permit and she said it was optional, but we decided to get it so she could still practice driving with me in the passenger seat. (Plus we needed it to take the road test at a 3rd party).

 

Today we showed up for our final appointment with the sealed results of her road test and they gave her a temporary paper drivers license, the card should be coming in the mail in a few weeks.

 

To sum it all up:

Online Drivers education course with exam > IMPACT Texas Adult Driver video > Schedule for "First Time DL" (Recommend getting permit here) > Schedule Road test at DPS and get DL    OR   Take Road test at 3rd Party + Schedule for "Change permit/DL" at DPS to get DL

 

Just wanted to share our experience since I was confused with the process at first, hope it can be helpful to somebody else in the future!

 

[TBoneTX 45,288]

Thank you for your courtesy and thoughtfulness in taking the time to provide the details.