Keeping NY license

Please, can anyone help? I am a US citizen who recently became a Canadian resident. I have worked in NY for 23 years as a mechanic for the same company which requires me to have a NY commercial drive...

Keeping NY license

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rickandkathy
New Member

Joined: 27 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
Location: Niagara Falls

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:17 pm

Please, can anyone help?
I am a US citizen who recently became a Canadian resident. I have worked in NY for 23 years as a mechanic for the same company which requires me to have a NY commercial drivers license. Now that I am a Canadian resident, I am required to get an Ontario license. I cross everyday from Niagara Falls to NY. I still have my NY residence. Is there ANYWAY to avoid this? If I turn in my NY license, I will loose my job! Does anyone know what Ontario does with the license I turn in? Do they notify N.Y. D.M.V.?

Reba
Moderator

Canuck in NC

Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 967
Location: North Carolina

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:14 am

You cannot keep 2 licenses from 2 places. There are legal reasons for this, such if you lose your license in Ontario for drunk driving or dangerous driving, if you kept your NY license you could still be driving illegally etc etc.

Why do you need to keep the NY license? Did you keep your job there and you're commuting?
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rickandkathy
New Member

Joined: 27 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
Location: Niagara Falls

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:37 pm

yes, i still work at that job full time and commute daily.

Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 739
Location: Calgary

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:40 am

Move back to NY basically, that's the only legal way. Seems odd they wouldn't accept the equivalent Ontario licence.

It used to be that some States did have some sort of non-resident DL system to cover commuters from other places, but all that has gone out the window with the federal Real ID Act, to stop illegal immigrants from getting them.

New York especially has been getting wound up about it, as you may have seen in the press.

The Real ID Act does provide for a system whereby you can have a DL issued by a State that doesn't not constitute legal ID, hence the Gov. of New York proposing using that exemption to cover illegal immigrants. So far I think only New Mexico has actually used that mechanism. But the Gov. had to back down because of all the political pressure.

Now you can sit with us and moan about how stupid and xenophobic the US is when it comes to immigration. Welcome to the club!
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Steve.

rickandkathy
New Member

Joined: 27 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
Location: Niagara Falls

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:19 am

Easy for someone else to say "just move back to the States". The reason i got my permanent residence in the first place is to be with my Canadian girlfriend of 7 years who is now my finance and her 2 children. We didn't go through all the paperwork and cost for me "just to move back to the States". I'm just hoping there is someway around this as i can't lose my job because of not having a NY license. As I have said, I've been there for 23 years and if i stay another 7 years I'll get my pension and the job won't accept any other license but, a NY license. Your quote about how stupid the States is when it comes to immigration doesn't make any sense either. It is Ontario that is pushing me to get the Ontario license.

Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 739
Location: Calgary

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:10 am

It's your employer that wants you to have the NY licence. Ontario doesn't care.

You asked for the answer to your question and that's it (easy or not) - you have to be a resident of NY to have a NY licence, and that's now mandatory because (a) of Federal law based on keeping illegal immigrants out and (b) because of paranoia in NY about illegal immigrants getting licenses.

But yet you're the one getting stiffed.

From the sounds of it you don't even need a DL in Ontario at all because you don't work there. What Ontario law says isn't really that important.

There might be some way of setting up residency in the US, i.e. so you have an address there, but then you have to have everything there, i.e. file taxes, register your car there etc. (which might be easier as far your employer goes because of the W-2.)

This will get messy because you are also a resident of Canada because you live there. Which means you have to file taxes in Canada. It's possible to claim a closer association for tax purposes to the US, but if you do that then it can affect your permanent resident status in Canada because the tax treaty provisions are based on where you permanently reside, and you would be saying the US. You won't qualify for healthcare in Ontario to begin with. So you would have to pay taxes twice to fool the system.

The whole thing is set up legally so you cannot be a resident of both countries simultaneously.

Your employer is bound by their policies, so I think the best way would be to talk to your employer and explain the situation. They have the ability to be flexible, whereas the law doesn't.
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Steve.

rickandkathy
New Member

Joined: 27 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
Location: Niagara Falls

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:16 am

I still have my residence in NY and still file my taxes there. I already have my health care provided by my employer and really don't need OHIP. Talking to the DMV in NY, they told me that as long as I still had a residence in NY, I can keep my car registered there and my DL. As soon as I sell my residence in NY, I need to exchange it. It is Ontario and the border that's pushing to exchange my DL to an Ontario one.

rickandkathy
New Member

Joined: 27 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
Location: Niagara Falls