American's Abroad Advice: DMV edition
About 15 years ago I decided to leave my home country for an adventure abroad. It was meant to last a year or two yet here I am, still worrying about visas and living a much simpler life devoid of most material possession pressures in a country with far lower income potential but also a much lower cost of living (funny how that balances out.)
For the most part it has been a wonderful choice but since I am not an actual citizen of the countries that I have lived in, there are a few things that I must do in order to maintain a somewhat "normal" life back in the country that claims me as one of their own. Some of these things I have learned by doing research, most of them I learned by doing them the wrong way and hence I present to you one of the biggest lessons I have learned and that is to always do what the DMV tells you to do.
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For those of you that don't know; the DMV is the "Department of Motor Vehicles" and they were formed around 1915 or so. They developed a system of handling the growing number of vehicles in the US and in the past 100 years those same systems are still in place and that is why it takes 14 hours to file one form.
Every DMV consists of pretty much the same setup.
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They have 20 service counters but only have 1 or 2 of them with a person at them and they also have a ticket system that gives you an idea about how long it will be before you get your turn, go ahead and settle in to your really uncomfortable chairs that make economy lounges in airports seem like luxury spas because you are gonna be there for a VERY..... LONG......TIME....
There is also nothing to do in the DMV, and if you try to entertain yourself by playing a portable game or something, that is probably against the rules. Thinking of eating or drinking something? Are you crazy? No food or drinks allowed for some reason. Oh and they always make sure to have about 1/3 as many chairs as they actually need so if you find a nice wall spot, go ahead and get your lean on but don't sit on the floor or you will be reprimanded like a toddler.
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I am certain there is no worse place to be that doesn't involve famine or war. If I had the choice to go to prison for the day or spend a day at the DMV you can go ahead and get me my orange jump suit. At least in prison I am allowed to speak audibly and maybe play some basketball.
@gooddream : What's the point, what does this have to do with being a USA citizen abroad?
I'm glad you asked. I just had to get that frustration off my chest. The "tip" here is to look at your driving license right now! There is an expiration date on that little gem of "taking your rights away and then selling them back to you"
If you can see that your driving license is going to expire soon, you can actually apply for a new one online for something like $20. Where you happen to be in the world at the time is completely irrelevant. If there are no moving violations or point deductions on your record (and there wont be if you live outside of the States, even if you are an absolute road terror in the country you are living in,) they will print you another one and mail it to your USA address. For some reason, despite the approval being almost immediate, the actual printing and delivery of said license takes a month or so.
Never let your license expire!
I let mine expire last year, and then spent at least a week gathering all the required paperwork to get another one. I had to re-sit the test also despite the fact that everyone else in the testing center was 15 and kept looking at me like I was a narc. Then I had to take a road test with someone 20 years younger than me and if there is one thing I enjoy it is being talked down to by someone that has 10 years less diving experience than I do.
It really is a massive hassle and it is just mind-blowing to me that something this inefficient can possibly still exist anywhere. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised because it is the government after-all and this is just "par for the course"
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It's always a hassle replacing license for driving expecially when you keep procrastinating about doing it later, later and then later. Just like your case, another thing is that driving licenses can be a rigourous exercise to acquire in my country
I'm always amazed when I hear about driving license procedure in different countries. It's funny that you can renew your driving license online.
In my country (Romania) driving licenses are issued for ten years and in order to get another one you have to do a medical checkup. If your health is not what it should be, you don't get your license renewed.
Last year I had some friends from Germany and the woman showed me her driving license issued when she was 18, which was many decades ago and still valid. A big piece of paper basically because back then there were no plastic cards as now.
Looks like it's different in each country.
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Sometimes I not understand the USA laws. In my country the driving licence never expired. Only when you getting over 68 years old you have to go to the doctor and he will check you about your driving airworthiness.
Great info! You left out the part about where they don't take credit cards at the counter. That means if you bought your vehicle through a third party they throw the tax on when you register and you need cash to cover the cost. I think the only other place that is worse than the DMV is the Social Security office. We had to sit there one afternoon after my wife and I got married and she was changing her last name. It was horrible!