Trying to get a renewed driving license shipped outside of the UK...

agnes · 25 Oct 2018 at 21:17

Does anyone know a way? I could get it sent to my friends but I thought I'd ask first. I live in California, I need to renew my driving licence but I can't find anything concrete on it being shipped to an international address from the DVLA.

Any ideas?

pacegod · 25 Oct 2018 at 22:34

I know when we moved to France, the dvla said we were no longer entitled to a uk driving license, so we had get our licenses swapped for french ones. They def wouldn’t post one abroad.

terley · 25 Oct 2018 at 23:21

Get it changed to a friends address and get it mailed over, best bet.. if not a little illegal.

agnes · 26 Oct 2018 at 00:23

Cool, thanks guys, I'll avoid asking them directly if that's the case then.

silversurfer · 26 Oct 2018 at 00:46

Theres probably such a thing as a forwarding service but for a one off when you arent even using it in UK, friend sounds best.
How is it useful in USA I wonder, id or do they take it for some use there

agnes · 26 Oct 2018 at 01:49

silversurfer said:
Theres probably such a thing as a forwarding service but for a one off when you arent even using it in UK, friend sounds best.
How is it useful in USA I wonder, id or do they take it for some use there

Insurance.

Resistance · 26 Oct 2018 at 02:00

You can only use it in the usa for 1 year after this you must change it to a international licence or a usa one I am sure you can google more info on it or go to the place in the usa that deals with this

agnes · 26 Oct 2018 at 02:08

Resistance said:
You can only use it in the usa for 1 year after this you must change it to a international licence or a usa one I am sure you can google more info on it or go to the place in the usa that deals with this

Aye, I'd still rather have a valid license on me until that year is up hence wanting to renew. The international one isn't valid for UK licenses. I think you CAN, but it was incredibly convoluted and a huge grey area as normally the international part is just to translate it. And as it's English, you don't need the paper part thus it's a grey area.

I'm just dragging out going to a Californian DMV as long as possible

B@Th*nG · 26 Oct 2018 at 02:50

you'll probably be fine abroad but just bear in mind that if you want to get a rental in the uk you might need proof of address, which you obviously wouldn't have

agnes said:
Aye, I'd still rather have a valid license on me until that year is up hence wanting to renew. The international one isn't valid for UK licenses. I think you CAN, but it was incredibly convoluted and a huge grey area as normally the international part is just to translate it. And as it's English, you don't need the paper part thus it's a grey area.

I'm just dragging out going to a Californian DMV as long as possible

it is the sensible option really. It's worth buying yourself some time with this sort of thing and seeing how the dust settles before committing. Even if it's a little "grey." Things can change quickly with a move!

B@

Participant · 26 Oct 2018 at 06:00

B@Th*nG said:
you'll probably be fine abroad but just bear in mind that if you want to get a rental in the uk you might need proof of address, which you obviously wouldn't have

Wouldn't that be on his licence......? I don't believe I've had to provide proof of address in addition to driving licence when renting a car in the UK.

D.P. · 26 Oct 2018 at 06:18

agnes said:
Aye, I'd still rather have a valid license on me until that year is up hence wanting to renew. The international one isn't valid for UK licenses. I think you CAN, but it was incredibly convoluted and a huge grey area as normally the international part is just to translate it. And as it's English, you don't need the paper part thus it's a grey area.

I'm just dragging out going to a Californian DMV as long as possible

Just go to the DMV and do the test, takes 10-15minutes

Scania · 26 Oct 2018 at 08:06

My partners dad has lived in Cyprus for the last 12years, he’s not wanted to get a Cypriot licence as he doesn’t see the point given the appalling standard of driving over there so he just gets it posted to his daughters uk address and sent over there.

The Cypriot police don’t seem to care (I’ve been in the car with him during a stop) nor do the Turks care when he travels to occupied Northern Cyprus.

Apparently ex-pats retaining U.K. licenses over there is pretty much the norm.

Another mate who’s emigrated to Canada still has his U.K. license, the authorities again don’t seem bothered especially given he’s a truck driver over there!

OllyM · 26 Oct 2018 at 13:45

agnes said:
I live in California

You need a California DL then. You're supposed to get one within 10 days of becoming a resident (no idea where the one year thing came from), driving around with a UK license isn't the best idea plus it's a useful form of ID...

B@Th*nG · 26 Oct 2018 at 16:22

Participant said:
Wouldn't that be on his licence......? I don't believe I've had to provide proof of address in addition to driving licence when renting a car in the UK.

I've had to provide items of mail as proof of address when renting

B@

agnes · 26 Oct 2018 at 18:49

OllyM said:
You need a California DL then. You're supposed to get one within 10 days of becoming a resident (no idea where the one year thing came from), driving around with a UK license isn't the best idea plus it's a useful form of ID...

That's if you're on citizenship/green card. On a visa, you're considered a non-residential alien. So that law doesn't apply, regardless of stay period.

I've been here a while now and not once has anyone informed me that I'm anything other than a none resident alien. As said multiple times, due to how backwards the systems are here there are huge grey areas with a lot of public facing confusion. I only ever take advice from my immigration lawyer on any matter regarding status/visa/etc. I'd avoid reading forum posts on immigration sites as 90% of the time they are full of guff.

OllyM · 26 Oct 2018 at 21:21

agnes said:
That's if you're on citizenship/green card. On a visa, you're considered a non-residential alien. So that law doesn't apply, regardless of stay period.

I've been here a while now and not once has anyone informed me that I'm anything other than a none resident alien. As said multiple times, due to how backwards the systems are here there are huge grey areas with a lot of public facing confusion. I only ever take advice from my immigration lawyer on any matter regarding status/visa/etc. I'd avoid reading forum posts on immigration sites as 90% of the time they are full of guff.

That's not true at all. It's perfectly possible to be a resident alien but not a permanent resident or US Citizen. An immigration lawyer isn't going to know the ins and outs of how individual states (and the IRS!) determine if you are a resident alien or not. If states don't consider people on visas to be residents that require a local DL why do they have procedures to issue limited term licenses to people on temporary visas?

When I first moved here I had an L visa and never considered myself a non resident alien.

D.P. · 26 Oct 2018 at 21:36

You may have a year in the US, but you you will have to get a CA licence anyway, and at that point your UK licence will be made void.save yourself a lot of money and just go to the DMV

D.P. · 26 Oct 2018 at 21:38

And yes, resident is someone who sleepover 180 days in the US, regardless of visa. You basically have 6 months and then a lot of laws change, especially around taxation.

agnes · 26 Oct 2018 at 21:55

OllyM said:
That's not true at all. It's perfectly possible to be a resident alien but not a permanent resident or US Citizen. An immigration lawyer isn't going to know the ins and outs of how individual states (and the IRS!) determine if you are a resident alien or not. If states don't consider people on visas to be residents that require a local DL why do they have procedures to issue limited term licenses to people on temporary visas?

When I first moved here I had an L visa and never considered myself a non resident alien.

D.P. said:
You may have a year in the US, but you you will have to get a CA licence anyway, and at that point your UK licence will be made void.save yourself a lot of money and just go to the DMV

D.P. said:
And yes, resident is someone who sleepover 180 days in the US, regardless of visa. You basically have 6 months and then a lot of laws change, especially around taxation.

I may be mistaken then, I've not spoken in length regarding visa status for a while. The insurance company stated the first year of my insurance can be on my UK license with the quote I had.

I do intend on getting my US license but it doesn't change the fact that as it stands, I'd be driving with an invalid out of date license hence I'm trying to get it over here.

I may reach out to the immigration lawyer to clear up my perception of the first couple of years then as the last thing I want is to be confused/incorrect on assumptions regarding my current state of affairs in terms of visa and residential status.

Thank you both for the highlight, I'll update once I get a response. Just for reference, I'm 14 months into a L2 visa (with EAD).

OllyM · 26 Oct 2018 at 22:01

The California DMV themselves tell you that your license is only valid for 10 days if you become a California resident. Your insurance company can't determine if you're good for a year and if a police officer will be happy with a UK license when you're clearly a resident.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/dl_info#two500

If you are a visitor in California over 18 and have a valid driver license (DL) from your home state or country, you may drive in this state without getting a California DL as long as your home state DL remains valid.

If you become a California resident, you must get a California DL within ten (10) days. 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.

I hope you've not been telling banks and the IRS that you're a non resident alien if you've been here for more than a few months :eek: