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| Planning and Managing Your Move |
California Driver’s Licenses
Any person, except tourists and out-of-state students, who owns and drives a car and is a resident in the state is required to obtain a California driver’s license.
If you become a California resident, you must get a California driver license within 10 days after residency has been established (i.e., you have voted in a California election, accepted permanent employment, paid resident tuition, filed for a homeowners property tax exemption, registered a child in school or applied for any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents).
To apply for an original driver license if you are over 18, you will need to do the following:
AUTO REGISTRATION
The following is required to register a vehicle from out-of-state (nonresident):
REGISTERING TO VOTE IN CALIFORNIA
To register to vote, you must complete a voter registration form (found at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote/). Simply fill in the information requested on each screen, print the form, sign it and mail it directly to the county elections office address that is preprinted on the form. Alternatively, you can pick up a form from your county elections office, local library or U.S. post office or calling the Secretary of State’s Voter Hotline to ask for a form.
Any person, except tourists and out-of-state students, who owns and drives a car and is a resident in the state is required to obtain a California driver’s license.
If you become a California resident, you must get a California driver license within 10 days after residency has been established (i.e., you have voted in a California election, accepted permanent employment, paid resident tuition, filed for a homeowners property tax exemption, registered a child in school or applied for any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents).
To apply for an original driver license if you are over 18, you will need to do the following:
- Visit a local DMV office. For locations, visit http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/fo/offices/toc_fo.htm. (For faster service, making an appointment at www.dmv.ca.gov is recommended.)
- Complete application form DL 44.
- Give a thumbprint.
- Have your picture taken.
- Provide your social security number and your true full name
- Verify your birth date and legal presence
- Pay the application fee ($31 in 2013)
- Pass a vision exam
- Pass a traffic laws and sign test (the written test) based on the California Drivers Handbook, which can be downloaded for printing at http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl600.pdf.
- If you have a license from another state, the driving test can be waived, but if you have a license from another country, you will be required to take a driving test.
- Provide proof of financial responsibility
- If you have moved to California from another state, you will receive your license in the mail.
AUTO REGISTRATION
The following is required to register a vehicle from out-of-state (nonresident):
- Complete and sign an Application for Title or Registration (REG 343) (a PDF can be downloaded at http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg343.pdf)
- Present the last issued out-of-state title.
- Present the last issued registration certificate or renewal notice for the current year or a letter from the last registration jurisdiction verifying the registration period.
- Arrange a vehicle inspection by an authorized DMV employee, law enforcement officer or a licensed vehicle verifier. These inspections can be performed at a DMV and are free of charge. Appointments are recommended for faster service
- Pay the appropriate fees and any use tax that is due.
REGISTERING TO VOTE IN CALIFORNIA
To register to vote, you must complete a voter registration form (found at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote/). Simply fill in the information requested on each screen, print the form, sign it and mail it directly to the county elections office address that is preprinted on the form. Alternatively, you can pick up a form from your county elections office, local library or U.S. post office or calling the Secretary of State’s Voter Hotline to ask for a form.
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