Moving to California from B.C. on TN1-Visa

[thomasclark]

Hello
You don't need to get a licence if it's not your principal residence. The 90 day rule is for people permanently moving there, you're not.
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[ColinL]

Here's what I had to go through. I'm from BC on a TN Visa. I applied for my SSN the second day I was here. The clerk said I shouldn't have come in and that they didn't have the paperwork from DOHS yet but they would put it in the waitlist and up to 12 weeks before I get my SSN. I got it in one week from applying. After ten days of driving in California, you must get your vehicle registered, and you do need to get a California driver's license. This isn't a bad thing. Yes, I had to do the written test, then a road test on another day. Btw, you need to show proof of insurance before you can take the road test. Make sure you have the first page of your proof of insurance and registration (same page for ICBC). I got my car insurance from AAA and it was $800/yr and for this, you need a California's drivers license. Just to compare, I was paying ICBC $1900/yr for my 2008 minivan. You can always take your car back to BC and not have to re-register from what I've been told. ICBC will back-date your insurance from the date you get your vehicle fully registered (conditional doesn't count). You need to get border papers and a regular smog check. I got my border papers at the San Jose airport since I shipped my car down. If you drove across, you should have gotten border papers then. You don't have to return your BC driver's license, and all you have to do to renew when you return is show up with your birth certificate (this is what the person at ICBC told me).

[calican]

I am planning to get a TN-1 visa and move to California from Quebec. I would be driving across the US before getting to LA. Will I need to:
1) Get a local Cali driver's license?
2) Get the plates on the car changed?
3) Apply for a SSN once in LA, or can I do this while in Canada?

The closest border crossing is Champlain, NY.
And even if I'm not obliged to get a Cali license, can I? It may be helpful to have local IDs. What about getting insurance with a Quebec plate? I read that State Farm does it.

Thanks

[ColinL]

1. You should do this as soon as possible. You are obligated to obtain one once you exceed 10 days of being here and intend to drive around. You don't have to do this if you are only visiting. If you are on a TN or H1B Visa, the police officer won't consider you as a "temporary" visitor.
2. If you get pulled over, you will get a fix-it ticket. If you ignore it and get pulled over again without fixing it, they can have you show up in court.
3. You have to do it at a Social Security office, the only way I can think of is in person once you are in LA.

Insurance has nothing to do with license plates in California. Most insurance companies only want your California's drivers license number, your VIN, and your money.

My friend has BC plates on his vehicle and has valid insurance here in the States. It is a strange concept but it makes sense. You are insuring the car, and not the license plate

Another thing, you will have to renew your car's registration every year. It's such a foreign concept considering that in BC you only register it once and never have to do anything until you sell your car.

[calican]

So that means that a TN-1 visa holder must get a local Cali license within 10 days and equally get the plates changed to Cali plates?

Would I be able to drive around with Quebec plates and proper local insurance? Is having non-Cali plates considered an offence in California?

Would I be able to apply for a SSN from NY state by just showing up at the local office in Champlain, NY and accompanied with my I-94?

[ColinL]

Yes, but of course, you can't get a California's drivers license without your SSN. It's a catch-22 situation. The chances of you getting pulled over are slim. I drove around with my BC plates for more than 10 days, and my coworker more than 2 years. Not having a Cali plate isn't an offense. There are lots of people with Texas, Maryland, Ohio, etc.. plates driving around.

Regarding your SSN, I would just apply at the closest local office to where you will be working. The first two weeks I was here, I was barely at work cause I was running around doing errands. It won't matter if you show up with your Canadian passport with the I-94 stapled in there or not. They will simply photocopy your picture page along with the I-94 page, then wait for the paperwork from customs. I guess having the I-94 stapled, along with a stamp isn't sufficient for the SS office.

To make a long story short, just do all of the things I suggest as soon as you can, but there are no hard deadlines to meet. In other words, I wouldn't stress out about it.

[calican]

Thanks all

[Steven]

1. You should do this as soon as possible. You are obligated to obtain one once you exceed 10 days of being here and intend to drive around. You don't have to do this if you are only visiting. If you are on a TN or H1B Visa, the police officer won't consider you as a "temporary" visitor.

You're in a non-immigrant classification, and there is no visa in your passport, so he won't have a clue. This is assuming you even have your passport on you which isn't a legal requirement.

It does vary from State to State as to how resident you have to be to be required to have a DL and tags in that State. VA seems to be very strict on it, NV seems to make it very difficult to become resident and get a DL and tags.

Given that California gives back foreign licenses, you can get away with getting a California DL because if when you enter as TN-1 they want proof of residential ties to Canada you can still produce your Canadian DL. On their website it says this:

Commercial vehicles and any vehicle owned by a California resident must be registered upon entry into California unless a special permit was obtained. Visitors whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state may operate their vehicles in California until they:

Accept gainful employment in California.
Claim a homeowner's exemption in California.
Rent or lease a residence in California.
Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote).
Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).

Which is extremely vague, but this is the State law: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displ ... =6700-6703

There are lots of special provisions in there that seem to deal with non-residents because of the proximity to Mexico. There is a specific exemption for non-resident commuters but it doesn't apply to foreign nationals.

The bit about renting or leasing a property doesn't seem to be supported by the legislation, that would make no sense anyway as it would require people with vacation homes to have their cars registered in California.

So basically yes, it appears in California you are considered resident when you start work or when you intend to be there on a permanent basis - TN-1 is not a permanent basis but obviously you're working so in California you need a DL and registration.

See what I learn by looking up the law?