Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Moving to the USA

Options
  • 06-02-2010 5:03pm
    #1
    ashisback
    Closed Accounts Posts: 87 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    me and my partner are moving to the USA and we are just wondering about how to get lessons for driving over there. my partner wants to know if he can use his Irish driving license over there aswell?

    thanks
    Aisling


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    silja
    Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭silja


    If you are taking up residence in a state, you have to get the state's driving license. You usually have 30 days for that, but it varies from state to state. Most people don't take driving lessons, as driving tends to be easier here with the automatic cars. Once you have decided where to settle, google driving schools for the local area, or contact the local police department for recommendations.


  • Options
    #3
    lonestargirl
    Registered Users Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭lonestargirl


    Most states will require you to prove your immigration status in order to get a driving licence. In Texas I needed my passport with visa (must be at least 6 months left on visa) and a letter from my husband's employer (as I'm on a spouse's visa, to show that he had fulfilled his visa conditions by turning up for work. I paid the fee (cash only) and sat the vision and written tests and then had to come back a few weeks later to do the driving test. Each state has its own rules regarding driving licences, google the DMV for the state you are going to.


  • Options
    #4
    spinandscribble
    Registered Users Posts: 3,000 ✭✭✭spinandscribble


    get a international license. it'll give you 6 months to get your american driving license sorted. costs 25 euro i think.


  • Options
    #5
    ashisback
    Closed Accounts Posts: 87 ✭✭ashisback


    thanks guys we also have to sort out a school aswell for my 3 year old


  • Options
    #6
    lonestargirl
    Registered Users Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭lonestargirl


    spinandscribble wrote: »
    get a international license. it'll give you 6 months to get your american driving license sorted. costs 25 euro i think.

    This is incorrect. An international licence is just a translation of your Irish licence. Each state in the US sets it's own rules, once you become a resident you have a certain number of days to get a licence. I know its 10 days in California and 90 in Texas, you'll have to check for any other state.

    Where it gets complicated is in determining 'residency' if you are on a student visa you may be able to drive on your Irish licence as you are not considered a resident of the US.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    lonestargirl
    Registered Users Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭lonestargirl


    ashisback wrote: »
    thanks guys we also have to sort out a school aswell for my 3 year old

    Again rules regarding school are at a local level not national. To start school where I am in Texas in September you must be 5. Each school district will also have it's own rules regarding vaccinations and your child will not be allowed start until they have all the required ones.

    Where are you going to OP?


  • Options
    #8
    ashisback
    Closed Accounts Posts: 87 ✭✭ashisback


    is it the same with play schools


  • Options
    #9
    lonestargirl
    Registered Users Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭lonestargirl


    ashisback wrote: »
    is it the same with play schools

    No just for elementary school (i.e. primary school). You'll have to pay for any play school / montessori.


  • Options
    #10
    ashisback
    Closed Accounts Posts: 87 ✭✭ashisback


    he has had his vaccinations when he was a baby does he need to get more over there.


  • Options
    #11
    lonestargirl
    Registered Users Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭lonestargirl


    ashisback wrote: »
    he has had his vaccinations when he was a baby does he need to get more over there.

    It's not really possible to answer this on the internet, I know though that children in the US are vaccinated against chickenpox wheras Irish children aren't. You'd have to find the required vaccination list from the school district he's going to attend and see if he's had them all. Getting a print-out of the one's he's had signed by his current doctor before you leave would probably be a good idea.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    lil_lisa
    Registered Users Posts: 1,829 ✭✭✭lil_lisa


    FYI, some states don't even accept an international drivers licence, if you take up residency, take the test asap. It makes it easier on insurance too. Also, the only thing I had to give was social security. Try and take the test in places outside cities, there's usually less of a line and they tend to be easier.


  • Options
    #13
    silja
    Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭silja


    Yes he will need to get a few more vaccinations as the vaccination schedule and types they do is different in the USA (for example they do chickenpox, Hep B). Most (not all) schools will let him start as long as you provide a letter from a US doctor stating that the child has begun a catch-up program of vaccinations. BTW, if your child had the BCG vaccine against TB, make sure you get a letter from your Irish doctor stating that (and allother vaccines while you are at it), and print out a page from the CDC website or similar explaining it. Many people here, including health care professionals, are not familiar with the BCG and it can show a "false positive" for TB when they do a TB test, causing all sorts of issues.

    In regards to school for the 3 year old, as mentoned there are few state/ public schools that start this early. Your option is in-home daycare (they will sometimes waive the vacination requirement) or a private day care or a church daycare. Make sure you visit a few before choosing, there are huge differences in quality and ethos- same as in Ireland I suppose.


  • Options
    #14
    spinandscribble
    Registered Users Posts: 3,000 ✭✭✭spinandscribble


    lonestargirl wrote: »
    This is incorrect. An international licence is just a translation of your Irish licence. Each state in the US sets it's own rules, once you become a resident you have a certain number of days to get a licence. I know its 10 days in California and 90 in Texas, you'll have to check for any other state.

    Where it gets complicated is in determining 'residency' if you are on a student visa you may be able to drive on your Irish licence as you are not considered a resident of the US.

    sorry for the misinformation, was just thinking of PA on a J1


  • Options
    #15
    InTheTrees
    Registered Users Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    I've done driving tests in California and Washington and it was really easy each time.

    You dont need an appointment, you show up to the office, take a number and read the rules of the road while you wait, then they call you and you steer your car around the block with the "examiner" and if you dont crash then you do a brief multiple choice exam, they take your picture and maybe finger print and you get your licence.


  • Options
    #16
    InTheTrees
    Registered Users Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    lil_lisa wrote: »
    FYI, some states don't even accept an international drivers licence, if you take up residency, take the test asap. It makes it easier on insurance too. Also, the only thing I had to give was social security. Try and take the test in places outside cities, there's usually less of a line and they tend to be easier.

    Yup, if your staying then get the licence quickly. You dont want to make some cops life difficult by producing some strange foreign licence if they ask.


Advertisement