Chinese Driver's License

[xiaoheather]

Does anyone know if a Chinese drivers license is valid temporarily in the US in the place of a US license? Most of you probably didn't encounter this, but my husband has a license in China and I've heard he can drive on that for about three months. I know my Shanghai colleagues with licenses could rent cars and drive on business trips in the US, so I assume my husband can on a green card. Just can't find it in writing.

 

Thanks!

[jim_julian]

No it is not valid.

[dnoblett]

Driving privileges are a state's rights thing, so the first place to look for that info is your state's DMV office. There is no national driver's license in the USA.

 

Example NYS:

Can I drive in NYS with a driver license from another country or with an International Driving Permit? Must I get a NYS driver license?

 

If you are a resident of another country, and you have a valid driver license issued by that country, you can operate motor vehicles in NYS. You are not required to get a NYS driver license. You can operate the same types of vehicles in NYS that you can operate in your home country. The DMV recommends that you keep your driver license from your home country. Do not apply for a NYS driver license unless it is necessary. You must get a NYS driver license no more than 30 days after you become a resident of NYS. The DMV recommends that you get an International Driving Permit in your home country before you come to NYS. The International Driving Permit is recommended, but it is not required to operate a motor vehicle in NYS. The DMV web site has the complete instructions for drivers from outside the US and Canada.

http://nysdmv.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nysdmv....amp;p_topview=1

[rogerinca]

You should check with your own State DMV, as these regulations will vary from state to state.

 

In California it is allowed, if previously licensed in a foreign jurisdiction who¡¯s licensing standards are deemed to be equivalent to those of this state; wherein you may do so for a period not to exceed 10 days from establishing ¡®residency¡¯ in the state. If driving for hire/compensation the CA license is needed immediately.¡­.these are the general provisions.

 

Ref: Section 12502,12505, CVC.

[toy_rn65]

Like Jim said, "IT IS NOT VALID".

 

Quote form the Government of the United States of America:

 

"An international driver's license must be obtained from your home country. This permit only verifies that you hold a valid license in your home country. It is your foreign driver's license that allows you to drive in the United States. Contact the authorities in your home country to get an international driving permit, as the United States does NOT issue international driver's licenses to foreign visitors."

 

Since China is not a party of the UN's Convention on Road Traffic (Geneva, 1949) nor the Convention on the Regulation of Inter-American Motor Vehicle Traffic (Washington, D.C., 1943), it is not authorized to issue "International Driver's Permit" and it's driver's licenses are not recognized.

[xiaoheather]

I'm not sure if I completely agree with your comments about it not being valid based on what I have just read. This is for the State of Illinois, from the official guide of the DMV:

 

"Sometimes you may drive in Illinois without a valid Illinois driver¡¯s license. You are exempt if you:

 

• move to Illinois and have a valid driver¡¯s license from your home state or country. You may drive with that license for 90 days."

 

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publicat...of_road2001.pdf

 

It says nothing about holding the "international driver's license". I'll look more into it before he starts driving, and I'll talk with my Chinese friends who rent cars in the US on their biz trips. Surely a rental car place would not let someone who isn't allowed to drive rent a car.

[rogerinca]

There is obviously some confusion here. It is not my intent to get into an argument with other members here in this regard. I will not make a ¡®blanket¡¯ statement, and will only speak to the law and the general law enforcement practices/policies in my state of California; as I did in my previous post.

 

First, Dan is correct, this is an issue reserved to respective state law and regulation. While the US Government has a lot of power (as we all know) it does not have the power to set rule or regulation with respect to the driver license laws within any of the states for a motorist, as long as they do not fall under the scope of some rules for an inter-state commercial vehicle operator. The USA Info' website was posted because they (the Fed¡¯s) get thousands of general questions about this from foreign visitors. The US government, however, cannot dictate the enforcement policies of individual states. They even indicate, more than once, in the web page to check with your local jurisdiction for specific details. That web page is for general information only, and [cannot] be used as a citable code of regulation.

 

I can also tell you, that the California Vehicle Code (CVC) is [moot] with respect to any mention of the International Driver License. The intent of the law is clear in my state of California, and there is no ¡®list¡¯ of countries attached to the relevant sections of the vehicle code, whatsoever.

 

The ¡®practice¡¯ in my state, is that if an officer stops a motorist and that motorist produces a valid license from a foreign jurisdiction, the officer will inquire as to his or her current residency status. If the visitor says they are now residing in the US/California, then the officer will ask how long. If they respond that it has been a period of over 10 days, the officer in his/her discretion may cite the driver. However, if the driver states they have established residency, but it has been for a period of less than 10 days, there is no violation and they will merely be advised as to the provisions of the law. The same, if they indicate they are just visiting and will be returning to their foreign jurisdiction, at some time in the near future, there is no violation. Most LEO¡¯s in the major jurisdictions in CA are so busy, they will not even give a rat¡¯s-ass about this, if it is encountered, unless the driver creates a ¡®problem¡®.

 

The law in California was crafted the way it is, because there are multi-millions of drivers in this state, and tens of thousands of foreign drivers at any given time. LEO¡¯s in most jurisdictions in CA, have too much on their plate, to worry about much more than the 'residency' and '10 day' rules, as long as the driver has a valid license from a foreign jurisdiction. Think about it.....if we cannot even do anything about an obviously undocumented Mexican or Central American alien, during a routine traffic stop, why would we care about someone visiting here with a legal visa, and who possesses a valid license from their respective country ??

 

So Heather, check with the local DMV office within [your] state of residence, and find out the rules for your state regarding the temporary validity of your husband¡¯s driver license. And please know, if he is driving through California, on your way home, he will not be cited for being unlicensed in this state. Yikes, if one can drive in Guangzhou, that same person can sure as heck survive in L.A. !!

 

You have been through a tremendous ordeal, I hope your life becomes much better now !!

 

Best wishes !!

[IllinoisDave]

I'm not sure if I completely agree with your comments about it not being valid based on what I have just read. This is for the State of Illinois, from the official guide of the DMV:

 

"Sometimes you may drive in Illinois without a valid Illinois driver’s license. You are exempt if you:

 

• move to Illinois and have a valid driver’s license from your home state or country. You may drive with that license for 90 days."

 

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publicat...of_road2001.pdf

 

It says nothing about holding the "international driver's license". I'll look more into it before he starts driving, and I'll talk with my Chinese friends who rent cars in the US on their biz trips. Surely a rental car place would not let someone who isn't allowed to drive rent a car.

 

Thanks xiaoheather. This is great info!

It means I don't have to worry about getting my SO a learner's permit for the first 90 days she's here. She can practice to her heart's content with or without me along.

I never thought to look in the Illinois manual. I just assumed she wouldn't be able to drive on her Chinese license. Oh well, you what they say about assuming anything.

 

Thanks again for the heads-up.

[tonado]

I'm not sure if I completely agree with your comments about it not being valid based on what I have just read. This is for the State of Illinois, from the official guide of the DMV:

 

"Sometimes you may drive in Illinois without a valid Illinois driver’s license. You are exempt if you:

 

move to Illinois and have a valid driver’s license from your home state or country. You may drive with that license for 90 days."

 

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publicat...of_road2001.pdf

 

It says nothing about holding the "international driver's license". I'll look more into it before he starts driving, and I'll talk with my Chinese friends who rent cars in the US on their biz trips. Surely a rental car place would not let someone who isn't allowed to drive rent a car.

 

Thanks xiaoheather. This is great info!

It means I don't have to worry about getting my SO a learner's permit for the first 90 days she's here. She can practice to her heart's content with or without me along.

I never thought to look in the Illinois manual. I just assumed she wouldn't be able to drive on her Chinese license. Oh well, you what they say about assuming anything.

 

Thanks again for the heads-up.

 

Beware of letting your SO drive without a permit. Contact your auto insurance company as well. Driving without proper permit may get her in trouble with the law. Any police record will not look good for the AOS interview.

[xiaoheather]

Thanks guys. I didn't mean to sound rude at all in my last post, so hope it didn't sound like I was trying to argue.

 

It's just that I had heard something along the lines of what I read this morning -- that the Chinese license can (in some cases) satisfy requirements for driving for a couple months. So, I didn't expect to hear that it couldn't.

 

Also, it was very helpful to know it varies from state to state. I had looked in some Louisiana info before, but didn't see anything about it.

 

Anyway, thanks guys for helping clear everything up. I'm still going to double-check before I let my hubby behind the wheel. We didn't have a car in China, so he'll need some refresher lessons anyway.

 

Thank goodness Chicago has great public transport!

 

FYI, for those who know my situation, my husband is in Guangzhou now. Went today during the overcome time to submit his passport for a replacement visa. However, they told him he won't know until Friday whether or not he can get it. Don't ya love it!

[IllinoisDave]

I'm not sure if I completely agree with your comments about it not being valid based on what I have just read. This is for the State of Illinois, from the official guide of the DMV:

 

"Sometimes you may drive in Illinois without a valid Illinois driver抯 license. You are exempt if you:

 

? move to Illinois and have a valid driver抯 license from your home state or country. You may drive with that license for 90 days."

 

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publicat...of_road2001.pdf

 

It says nothing about holding the "international driver's license". I'll look more into it before he starts driving, and I'll talk with my Chinese friends who rent cars in the US on their biz trips. Surely a rental car place would not let someone who isn't allowed to drive rent a car.

 

Thanks xiaoheather. This is great info!

It means I don't have to worry about getting my SO a learner's permit for the first 90 days she's here. She can practice to her heart's content with or without me along.

I never thought to look in the Illinois manual. I just assumed she wouldn't be able to drive on her Chinese license. Oh well, you what they say about assuming anything.

 

Thanks again for the heads-up.

 

Beware of letting your SO drive without a permit. Contact your auto insurance company as well. Driving without proper permit may get her in trouble with the law. Any police record will not look good for the AOS interview.

 

According to the Illinois manual, since she already has a license from her home country,she won't need a permit for at least 90 days. Unless I'm not reading something right.

[ed and ying]

I think it best to cover all the bases - make sure your insurance covers someone with a foreign license. Insurance companies can get a bit cranky about not having immediate family members listed as drivers on a policy. When Ying got her Illinois permit, I contacted Satae Farm. They said she was covered under my policy as long as she had the permit and did not have to be listed as a driver on the policy until she had the actual license.

 

It could get interesting when you try to add a driver to your policy with a Chinese license.

[trumpetwasher]

I'm not sure if I completely agree with your comments about it not being valid based on what I have just read. This is for the State of Illinois, from the official guide of the DMV:

 

"Sometimes you may drive in Illinois without a valid Illinois driver抯 license. You are exempt if you:

 

� move to Illinois and have a valid driver抯 license from your home state or country. You may drive with that license for 90 days."

 

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publicat...of_road2001.pdf

 

It says nothing about holding the "international driver's license". I'll look more into it before he starts driving, and I'll talk with my Chinese friends who rent cars in the US on their biz trips. Surely a rental car place would not let someone who isn't allowed to drive rent a car.

 

Thanks xiaoheather. This is great info!

It means I don't have to worry about getting my SO a learner's permit for the first 90 days she's here. She can practice to her heart's content with or without me along.

I never thought to look in the Illinois manual. I just assumed she wouldn't be able to drive on her Chinese license. Oh well, you what they say about assuming anything.

 

Thanks again for the heads-up.

Just checked on this today with Sec of State's office. In Illinois, (unless you bought it from a friend of a certain ex-governor) you may drive for 90 days on a foreign license. Lixin has had a license for 10 years in China, and many of the rules are identical. So she can get herself around while waiting for that all-important Soc Sec card.

 

In any event, the Federal Government has no jurisdiction over state laws regarding who may drive a private, not-for-hire vehicle. That's why the Illinois manual states that it is permissible to drive in this state with a Federal License.

Edited August 30, 2007 by trumpetwasher (see edit history)

[IllinoisDave]

I think it best to cover all the bases - make sure your insurance covers someone with a foreign license. Insurance companies can get a bit cranky about not having immediate family members listed as drivers on a policy. When Ying got her Illinois permit, I contacted Satae Farm. They said she was covered under my policy as long as she had the permit and did not have to be listed as a driver on the policy until she had the actual license.

 

It could get interesting when you try to add a driver to your policy with a Chinese license.

 

Thanks Ed. I'll definately check with my insurance agent before she drives.

[jim_julian]

Dave & Ed ... please check again and make it clear that you're talking about a license from Mainland China or the People's Republic of China .... NOT Taiwan.

 

You may get a different answer ...