Grief from US DMV over renewal of US license

CA is a pain in the ars* for stuff like this. Luckily my parents still live there, as do my brothers, so I've pretty much always got an address to use. I renewed by mail - had my mom write a check (I ran out of checks for my US account and never got around to ordering more since I never use them) and mail it in for me and they sent the renewed licence to her house....

My mother hasn't renewed her licence in person in years.  She does it by post - Florida DMV sends her a sticker which she places on the back of the licence with the new expiration date.

When I did mine on-line, because my photo was digital, they just ran me a new licence with that photo on it from their records.  (I was changing the address from an old Florida address to my mother's Florida address.)

I guess Frances left this thread but still curious as how she is confident we are no longer considered CA residents!  Maybe you worked for the CA DMV, Frances?

Got the CA license in the post today, it won't expire until 2011.  It was mailed to our address here, not sure why we had the oirignal hassle.  But we qualify as CA residents (as I posted earlier in this thread).

My husband uses his mothers address as his permanent California address.  It's also his address for taxes/voting purposes. The DMV has been happy to renew his licence for the past  15 years.

Rosie

I play the same game as AnneG - I use another CA address. Sorry, lost track of who's who in this thread but if the  original problem hasn't been sorted then maybe DH should try to change his permanent address to the one that DMV now considers to be temporary. I don't think there's any chance that they'll send a license abroad.

I've been here 11 years and have kept CA license alive although renewed it 6 months late the last time because I had to go in for a photograph and was not in the country.

California residency is another matter - if you are resident you have to file and pay taxes so be careful. They don't cross check between DMV and taxes, however. But, when and if you register to vote from here be careful - different states have different laws. You can always vote in federal elections but in some states (and I think that CA is one of them) if you vote in state elections you're liable for taxes. There should be more info on this at http://www.democratsabroad.org/

I know this isn't California but my last US address was in Virginia.  Virginia DMV sent me a renewal notice for my license last year
with an Exemption of Residence Form for those who are entitled to a VA license but don't live in Virginia.  One of these exemptions is
if you are living in a foreign country.  Unfortunately, when I sent in the form over a month before the renewal date they said they did not
get it, that it must have been lost in the mail or something.  The expiration date passed and by law they require you to come in person to
renew if your license has expired!  What a bunch of crap!  So I have to go to Virginia DMV in May when I visit.  Only bad thing is I will be
visiting in Maryland, so I guess I'll need to make a special trip to Virginia

Perhaps CA has some hidden Exemption clause that's similar?

Matt

I brought up a similar dilemma a while back, received a lot of advice, and it really depends on whether you're willing to bend the rules a bit. The law in some states is that you have a year (or, from what I've read here) two years to renew an expired license without having to take the test again. If you're applying for renewal in a state where you must go to the DMV to do so if your license has expired, and that license had your U.S. address on it, tell the DMV/MVA person (if he/she asks) that the address on your license is still valid (if you say your address has changed, they'll want to see a couple of bills in your name, addressed to you at your new address in the state, to prove residence). If you play your letting your license expire off as an oversight, you shouldn't have a problem... Some on here will say, "That's not fair if you don't still live there." To them I'd say, "What's the big deal? Who WOULDN'T want to be licensed to drive when they're in the States?" Also, regardless of whether or not you have a restriction on your license that you must wear glasses while driving, if your vision is questionable, bring glasses with you, because you'll inevitably have to take the vision/eye test again. If you fail it, you'll have to go to an optometrist, get glasses, and go back and pass the vision test before they'll renew the license.

P.S. For the Brits on here wondering what the hell we're talking about, in the U.S. all states require that your driver's license be renewed every four to five years, and most (I thought all) licenses require a photo on them. I was amazed when Andrew showed me his paper license and said that in the UK, you don't need to renew your license and no picture is required (although I think the law is going to change about that). That seems like a prime possibility for identity theft, right there. If your license is lost or stolen in the States, most DMVs/MVAs (Departments of Motor Vehicles/Motor Vehicle Administrations--same thing) require that you show them your birth certificate or a certified copy of it, your Social Security card, and/or other items that verify you are who you claim you are before they'll issue a replacement. Also, in general, you won't meet anyone who doesn't think their driver's license picture is hideous--it's similar to a mugshot, but less flattering.