Driver license abroad, question.

by jam 7 Replies latest social current

• 

  jam

  Today a bill was pass to issue driving license for illegals here

  in California. So people here from all over the world (Asians, Africans,

  Europeans and Central and south Americans) will be able to drive

  legally come Jan. 2014.

  My question how does that work if I am traveling abroad and do not

  have a legal driver license, can I obtain one? Lets say in Canada for

  example. If I am not a legal resident , will I receive a temporary

  license or a 2-4 year license?

  What's the law in other countries regarding driver license?

  When I lived in Central America I was never ask not one time

  to show my driver license, and I had a valid license from the states.

  But I was thinking, what if my US license had expired while I

  was living there.

  It took me almost 3 years to get my son driving license. Because he

  was born in Central America and without valid birth certificate they

  wouldn't issue him a driver license. I presented my birth certificate,

  my discharge from the army, my wife birth certificate.

  We finally contacted our congressman, he got his drivers license.
• 

  stillin

  Most countries will honor your existing drivers license. There is a common scam on the internet making an international drivers license available, for a fee Of course. But having rented cars in GB, France and various Carribean islands I can say that I've never been asked for anything but my valid, current license.
• 

  mariu

  For tourists, most countries accept the licences issued by other countries without problems.

  For residents, the usual rule is that you need to get a local licence after a few months. In some cases it's a simple formal procedure, in other cases you need to take a course and/or test.

  The so-called International Driving Permit (IDP) is not a scam per se, it's simply a translation to a standardised format defined in an international treaty. It doesn't have any magical powers, it's just to make sure that everyone understands your licence (which could be difficult otherwise if it's written in Arabic or Chinese, for instance).

  Note that many countries have dedicated ID cards, so the driving licence isn't considered "the" ID as it is in the US.
• 

  jam

  Thanks Stillin/Mariu. You can always count on someone here to

  give you the facts.
• 

  Simon

  When you visit a country, you can hire a car and drive under your regular license as long as it is recognized as valid.

  For longer term use though they expect you to get a locally issued one. In Canada they do a straight swap from UK licenses.

  There are advantages to having a locally issued one as they are often used as identification.
• 

  Anony Mous

  In the US, AAA can give you an International Drivers Permit. It may be useful, costs $15. They are AFAIK the only ones that can give out 'official' IDP's, the rest is fraudulent. Talk to the embassy of whatever country you are trying to visit.

  If you are here legally you can always obtain a drivers license as long as you can prove (temporary) residence.
• 

  jam

  Thanks Simon for the info.

  Anony: "If you are here legally you can always obtain a driver

  license as long as you can prove (temporary) residence".

  That is the issue, illegals can obtain a driver license now and

  without being a residence.

  Are there any other states (US) that issue driver license to illegals??

  We are talking about a permanent license. The driver license is a

  little different from the regular issue driver license, it can not be use for ID purposes,

  only for driving.
• 

  jgnat

  Information about the International Driving Permit. More than 95 participating countries. The immigrants we were hiring at the mine had these. UK drivers take extra care to drive on the right side of the road.