One of the most asked question I get to hear is, “Can I drive in USA with my Indian Driving License?”
Well, the answer is, “It depends on the state that you would drive in”. All most all states in US allow you to drive with your Indian License for a period of one year. After that, you need to get a US drivers license. However, if you become a resident of the state, then you need to get a US license within a months time.
One more thing that I get asked is about “International Drivers Permit”. Well, to be frank, its quite useless if your Indian Driving License is written in English. The permit basically tells that you have the license to drive back in India in English. So, its the License thats important and not the Permit. In fact, in some states, International Drivers Permit is not even recognized. So, don’t bother getting it. In any case, your Indian Driving License must be valid and active.
A very good way to confirm what the specific state laws are is to search the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) website for the state in question. This site has the links to DMV sites of various states. Or, you can search google for pharse like “Texas DMV” and see if you can get to the official site of DMV. Once you are on the site, you would normally find a “Drivers Handbook” (or equivalent), which has all the official rules and regulations for that specific state.
Even if you don’t plan to buy a car in the US, I would suggest getting a US drivers license for the reasons given below:
- Your Driving license works as your Identity card too in most of the US states. This helps because, you don’t need to carry your passport and other important documents around all the time. If you dont want to drive or dont know to drive, then most states issue a State ID card - so make sure you get it. Trust me, its very helpful!
- If you plan to drive in the US (say car rental etc), a valid US driving license helps. It will save you a lot of money on car insurance too.
- If you do buy a car, then almost all states in the US make it mandatory to have Auto/Car insurance. If you don’t have a valid US drivers license and drive on an Indian license, then your insurance premium will shoot up! (by at-least $400 to $500 or more for 6 months!)
In some states & cities (like in Texas) there is one thing that might force you to drive with an Indian Driving License… and that is the validity of your Work Permit (H1B or equivalent). In Texas, if your work permit expires within in the next six months, the DMV won’t allow you to apply for a US Driving License. So, keep this in mind, and apply six months before your Work Permit expires if possible! However, this is true for Texas (confirmed in Houston), but may not be true at other states.
Oh - Last but not the least, if you are driving in the USA, make sure that you have auto insurance. Its a must and will save you lot of money and headaches in case of any eventualities!
If you are already in the US, I request you to comment below on your states policy on Indian Driving License!
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October 24th, 2007 at 03:56pm
My 1998 Toyota Camry was doing great, but I always wanted to get a newer car, and finally got one this week. Ever since I have driven Camry, I have kind of become a big fan of it. So…got this 2005 Toyota Camry LE from an Craigslist Ad. (btw, craigslist rocks! its just amazing!).
Features of the new(er) car…
- 4 Door - Grey color as you see from the pic below.. :)
- Automatic Transmission.
- only 39, 500 miles on it when I bought it.
- clean title and carfax history.
- Power window, power locks (with remote!!!! - which i missed in my old camry), power seats!
- CD player + Radio ..but no mp3 player :(
- Relatively new!
- And got it at a pretty good rate!
2005 Toyota Camry LE - Front View
2005 Toyota Camry LE - Side View
2005 Toyota Camry LE - Front View
2005 Toyota Camry LE - Rear View
2005 Toyota Camry LE - Rear Side View
And exactly one week later, i sold my old 1998 Toyota Camry LE on craigslist!!
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August 13th, 2007 at 04:09pm
After months of car search, finally found the right car to buy!!
Its a Tan colored 1998 Toyota Camry LE. Came to know about this car from the tpost.com last Friday. Called up the seller and got the details. Ran a carfax check on the car. It came out clean. We then went to Johnson City to see the car on Friday, did a test ride, and found it pretty neat. Then on Saturday, we took the car to a Auto shop to do a 30 point checkup and found that the Car was in pretty good shape. Closed the deal on Saturday itself.
However, the car needed some attention to its breaks. So, fixed it, and took the delivery today.
Some Specs :
- 1998 Toyota Camry LE
- Automatic
- 4D Sedan
- Tan Colored
- Power Windows
- Power Locks
- Cruise Control
Here are some snaps :
Looking forward for a safe and fun filled driving experience in United States!
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May 8th, 2006 at 11:50pm
Its been quite sometime since I wrote here. Yes, you guessed is right. Work. As I had mentioned in one of my previous post, we have a milestone around this week. Most of the work from my end has been done well in advance. Except for a few minor hitches, everything is going on smoothly. But the last couple of days have been kind of hectic. And, the next couple of days would be hectic too.
This weekend was pretty lazy and relaxing. My car-hunt is on. Finding it very difficult to find a decent car. On saturday, we had been to Johnson City (around 15 miles from Kingsport) to see a car. Before going, I had checked with the seller on the condition of the car, the vechicle history etc… The car was supposed to have a little hail damage., and the seller told me that he was the first owner of the car and the car had a clean history.
We did manage to see the car, but could not meet the seller. He wasn’t there!! He had told us that he would be around!! But we did manage to get the VIN number. Came back, did a carfax check on the VIN number only to find that the odometer of the car had been rolled back! No wonder the car had low miles on it! besides, the car has already had 3 owners! So, the hunt continues….
Sunday, saw Taxi No 9211. Timepass movie. Nothing special. Two characters all bent upon screwing each other. No storyline……….nothing. I am just wondering about the fact that there is a page at wikipedia for this movie. LOL!!!
Also saw the award winning movie ‘Crash‘ (Official Site). Was good. Some scences were very touching. Would rate around 8.5 on a scale of 10. Oh. Yes, I subscribed to blockbuster.com online.
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April 24th, 2006 at 04:37pm