# British Driving Licence - USA



## Oldblighty (Feb 13, 2013)

Hi! I have been searching this forum for some information regarding driving in the United States once I move there & couldn't find anything.

Q1 - Can I drive in Illinois on my full british driving licence? If so, is this for a specified amount of time as I would be a resident?

Q2 - Would I still need to take an international driving permit with me?

Q2 - Would I have to apply for a U.S driving licence at some point?

Q3 - If I obtain a U.S driving licence could I still keep my british driving licence for when I return to the U.K for visits?

Thank you in advance, as I said I did search for this info but came up blank.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Foreign Visitors Driving in the U.S. | USA.gov


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Illinois New License Application Info at DMV.org: The DMV Made Simple

IL requires surrender of your UK license. Ask at DMV once you are there if taking the road and written test will allow you to keep your UK license.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You won't need an international driving license. The state of Illinois gives you 90 days to drive on your "old" drivers license, but you must get an Illinois license if you become resident in the state.

This is the page you want to refer to - right from the horse's, um, "mouth" (or rather the Illinois State site): Driver?s License/State ID Card

And I note that it says that one of the requirements is that you must: 



> "Surrender all valid out-of-state licenses, state ID cards, instruction permits and commercial driver's licenses.


But your Illinois license is valid to drive on when you're visiting back in the UK.

Cheers,
Bev


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## ventus2c (Sep 11, 2012)

I'll dispute the statement that you would have to surrender your UK driving license; we went through the same process in Illinois many years ago, at that time we were never asked to surrender our UK licenses and in fact still have them and have used them when back in the UK despite the fact they are the old green style. 

But when relocating from one U.S. state to another, yes you do surrender the out-of-(U.S.)state license to get the new one. However in that case they will typically offer to punch a hole through the old one so you can keep it as an additional form of ID.

My experience has been that anything foreign is viewed as non-applicable and even something they assume you wouldn't want to keep anyway; when going through the naturalization process in the 90's, we were asked to show our Brit passports just once in an interview (photocopies had already been supplied), and at the naturalization ceremony only had to surrender our green cards to receive the certificate.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

ventus2c said:


> I'll dispute the statement that you would have to surrender your UK driving license; we went through the same process in Illinois many years ago, at that time we were never asked to surrender our UK licenses and in fact still have them and have used them when back in the UK despite the fact they are the old green style.
> 
> But when relocating from one U.S. state to another, yes you do surrender the out-of-(U.S.)state license to get the new one. However in that case they will typically offer to punch a hole through the old one so you can keep it as an additional form of ID..


As you said - many years ago. DMV IL states that foreign DLs have to be surrendered. That is why I suggested to check in person once OP is in IL.



ventus2c said:


> My experience has been that anything foreign is viewed as non-applicable and even something they assume you wouldn't want to keep anyway; when going through the naturalization process in the 90's, we were asked to show our Brit passports just once in an interview (photocopies had already been supplied), and at the naturalization ceremony only had to surrender our green cards to receive the certificate.


Naturalization gets handled on federal level. I have never seen anything official saying you have to turn in your original passport. DL falls under state law.


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