Permanent resident in the US with foreign driver's license wants to know if he can drive his car

April 18, 2007 3:01 PM

I'm a foreign national with permanent residence in the US living in Providence, RI. What is my legal status as regards driving? I do have an Icelandic, EU-approved driver's license, but not an American one.

My wife and I own a car. I don't drive it and the only reason we have the car is that my wife needs it for work. However, her doctor told her that for the next month she will need to limit her driving (essentially she's not supposed to drive much more per day than to and from work). So, if driving needs to be done I'll be the one to do it. My wife is on the insurance, but I'm not.

Would I be breaking the law if I drove? If my wife were with me in the car, would that be different from me driving without her in the car? If I were to get an American driver's license what would the process be? Would I have to go through the whole shebang (instructor, written test and practical exam) or could I get a shortcut based on already having a driver's license?

posted by Kattullus to law & government (22 comments total)

I don't know about the licensing aspect, but you are required to be covered by liability insurance if you're driving a car registered in RI. This means you must add yourself to the insurance policy. There are some stiff fines if you are stopped and don't have proof of insurance.
posted by knave at 3:12 PM on April 18, 2007

To get on the insurance policy, do I need to get an American license?
posted by Kattullus at 3:16 PM on April 18, 2007

Ok, section 31-10-2 of the RI laws says:

The following persons are exempt from the licensing requirements of this chapter:
...
(2) A nonresident who is at least sixteen (16) years of age and who has in his or her immediate possession a valid operator's license issued to him or her in his or her home state or country may operate a motor vehicle in this state only as an operator;

So it looks like your Icelandic license is probably sufficient, but you will definitely need liability insurance.
posted by knave at 3:17 PM on April 18, 2007

Knave, that’s not really clear, since Kattullus is resident.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 3:19 PM on April 18, 2007

knave, that says a 'nonresident' - the OP is a resident. The rules often change then.
posted by different at 3:19 PM on April 18, 2007

Crap, sorry for misleading... Here is the definition of resident, and section 31-10-1 says if you are a resident as defined there, you must get a license within 30 days of establishing residency if you are driving a vehicle. So if you are a resident by that definition, you will need a license.
posted by knave at 3:24 PM on April 18, 2007

knave, that's true too, but what the OP is wondering is whether his Icelandic licence will be recognised or not.

As a non-resident that seems to be true, but unfortunately some places won't let you drive when you're a resident (as in my case, though not in the US).
posted by different at 3:26 PM on April 18, 2007

I thought that's what we just clarified. 31-10-1 says "Any resident as defined under § 31-1-18 shall be required to obtain a Rhode Island operator's or chauffeur's license within thirty (30) days of establishing residency." It sounds like they're explicitly requiring an RI license of residents, right? In other words, the Icelandic license won't be good enough, if he meets the definition of "resident."
posted by knave at 3:30 PM on April 18, 2007

Yeah, but I think the confusion is over this: the thing is, you have to get a local license when you are resident somewhere for more than a certain period of time (this is true for most places, in my experience). The question is whether the local authority will recognise your original license and let you swap it for a local one (as you can if you have a US licence from another state), or whether they say that your licence isn't recognised and make you take a driving test again. Does that make sense?
posted by different at 3:32 PM on April 18, 2007

Ok, I see what you're saying now different, there are multiple questions:

1.Would I be breaking the law if I drove?

If you have been a "resident" for more than 30 days, yes.

2. If my wife were with me in the car, would that be different from me driving without her in the car?

No.

3. If I were to get an American driver's license what would the process be? Would I have to go through the whole shebang (instructor, written test and practical exam) or could I get a shortcut based on already having a driver's license?

I don't know.
posted by knave at 3:34 PM on April 18, 2007

Would I be breaking the law if I drove?

Almost certainly, but only a real asshole of a cop would bother with it. And even then, only if you had been pulled over for some other reason. Then again, a nontrivial proportion of cops can be real assholes.

If my wife were with me in the car, would that be different from me driving without her in the car?

No. The only thing this will do for you is relieve any misconception that the car is stolen.

If I were to get an American driver's license what would the process be?

Depends on whether they'll accept your Icelandic license. This page describes the process if they will.

The odds of you having to take a driving course a re slim. At worst, you might have to take a very easy written exam and a laughably, frighteningly easy driving test.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:44 PM on April 18, 2007

Would I be breaking the law if I drove?

Almost certainly, but only a real asshole of a cop would bother with it.

Not to derail, but your real problem would be if you got into an accident. Your insurer could technically bail on you as you would not be legally able to drive.

Katullus, just call the RI DMV and ask them. You're going to have to deal with them anyway, as you will need to trade in your Icelandic licence.

Good luck!
posted by different at 3:48 PM on April 18, 2007

One thing I learned in my own green card, ex-pat process is that the term "resident" means many things depending on the context. In this case, I suspect that "resident" doesn't refer to your immigration visa but to your living in the state of Rhode Island, regardless of your visa class.

Even if you are a citizen most states require you to obtain a driver's license for that state within some period of time after you establish residency. The process for obtaining this varies from state to state - most of the time if you already have a valid license from State A, it's just a matter of completing some paperwork or maybe taking a written test, to get a license from State B.

However, if you have an out of country license, most of the time you have to take a written plus an in-car driving test. For some states with some countries I found that you could just do the transfer like a StateA-->StateB situation.

In my own case, I moved from Canada to NYC, but never drove there, and then to California where I drove and bought a car. I needed to take the written and in-car tests.

Here is the RI DMV info on state-to-state transfers. I'm sorry but I can't seem to find info that states whether that also applies to country-to-state transfers, but that would be the place to start.
posted by marylynn at 3:55 PM on April 18, 2007

Not to derail, but your real problem would be if you got into an accident. Your insurer could technically bail on you as you would not be legally able to drive.

That is an exceedingly good point, and Katullus should ignore my lame-brained implication from the previous comment.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:24 PM on April 18, 2007

Instruction Permit

If you are 18 or older, and have never held a driver's license in Rhode Island, or if your license has expired over three (3) years, you must apply for an Instruction Permit.
You are not required to take any driver education course.
You ARE required to take and pass the written exam given by the DMV.
You ARE required to show a Social Security card.
Applicants for permits for a new driver's license must show:
Identity document
Signature document
Proof of Rhode Island residency
posted by desjardins at 4:25 PM on April 18, 2007

My parents are resident aliens in NY - they both had to take the whole test again - written, compulsory drivers ed and practical - much to my father's annoyance after 30 years of holding a UK license...
posted by prentiz at 4:41 PM on April 18, 2007

The good news is that most of the States give out driver's licenses like penny candy to anyone with a pulse. If you have passed a European-standard driving exam, you should have no trouble passing here.
posted by eritain at 5:19 PM on April 18, 2007

I'm a permanent resident from Canada, and was able to skip the driving test by providing the DMV with my driving record from Nova Scotia. I did, however, still have to get a license. (Plus insurance of course.)
posted by joannemerriam at 7:01 PM on April 18, 2007

Thanks everyone. I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and pay a visit to the DMV.
posted by Kattullus at 8:55 PM on April 18, 2007

I used to work with a permanent resident (in MA) and every time she needed to do anything with the DMV she assumed it would take at least 2 trips to accomplish it, as they would ask her for some random bit of paperwork she neglected to bring with her the first time. One thing she started to do is take that second trip at the same time, same day, the next week, so the same staff was likely to be on. That way she could say, "That guy told me this would be OK," even if she didn't end up in his line. FWIW, she came over without a foreign license, so she obviously did have to take the test and all. Good luck.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:25 PM on April 18, 2007

Joining in with the resident aliens, when I moved from the UK to California, I had 10 days to take my driving test. This involved taking my paperwork to the DMV in order to start the process and have my photo taken, taking the very easy multiple-choice written test, then taking the ridiculously easy driving test. Just get a copy of the RI driving laws book (probably free at your local DMV) and study up one evening in order to pass the written test. No idea what the RI practical driving test is like, but from mine and other resident alien friends experiences here in CA, they go very easy on foreign (European?) drivers. I just drove around the block once, and passed the test.

It won't be a huge deal, just get down there asap to get the process going. You can qualify within a few days quite easily. Your insurance should stay in your wife's name, just get yourself added as a named driver AFTER you have passed the test.
posted by Joh at 12:50 AM on April 19, 2007

I'm a foreign national with permanent residence in the US living in Providence, RI.

You are a permanent resident of RI. You need to have a drivers licence from the state or country in which you reside permanently, which in your case is RI, USA.

If you were residing elsewhere, such as Iceland or New York, you would need a licence from there to be allowed to drive in RI.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:36 AM on May 4, 2007