Quoting California Car Insurance on a License From Another Country

Arriving from abroad and needing a car quickly is common, and the quote itself is not the hard part. The hard part is that your license status can change after you buy, and the policy has to keep up with it. Work through it in this order.

Step 1: work out whether you are a visitor or a resident

Vehicle Code 12502 lets a nonresident over 18 drive in California on a valid license issued by the foreign country where they live. The catch is residency. Under Vehicle Code 12505, residency for licensing means your domicile, the place that is your true, fixed and permanent home. Registering to vote, paying resident tuition or claiming a homeowner's property tax exemption are all treated as evidence of it, along with anything else showing your presence is more than temporary.

Once you establish residence, the exemption runs for no more than 10 days. After that you need a California license to drive, which matters for the quote: a policy bought on a license you are no longer allowed to drive on is a policy built on the wrong facts.

Step 2: tell the quote exactly what license you hold

Give the issuing country, the license number, the issue and expiry dates and the class. Whether a company will write a driver on a foreign license, and how it records one, varies by insurance company. That is the main reason to say so at the very start rather than selecting the nearest option on an online form.

Step 3: give your full driving experience

Years of driving experience is one of the three factors every California insurer must weigh, alongside your safety record and annual mileage (Insurance Code 1861.02). How much credit a company gives for years licensed abroad varies by insurance company, so give the real date you were first licensed and let each one apply its own rule.

Good Driver status works on a fixed rule: a driver with a foreign license is presumed to qualify after 18 months licensed in the U.S. or Canada while meeting the same criteria for that period (Insurance Code 1861.025). Ask each company when your file will reach that point.

Step 4: do not apologise for having no U.S. insurance history

In California the absence of prior auto insurance cannot, by itself, be a criterion for rates, premiums or insurability (Insurance Code 1861.02(c)). Answer the prior-insurance question truthfully. Coverage you held at home is still worth mentioning, even though it will not work like a U.S. policy record.

Step 5: plan the switch to a California license

1. Apply the same way as someone holding another state's license: application, identity and residency documents, fee, thumbprint, vision exam, photo and knowledge test.
2. With a license from another country you must also pass a driving test, and you must show proof of insurance meeting California's requirements to take it.
3. The DMV requires an accompanying driver to and from the drive test when the license you hold is from another country, so arrange one in advance.
4. After you pass, the DMV issues a temporary license valid for 60 days, and the card arrives by mail, normally within three to four weeks.

Step 6: update the policy the week the new license arrives

Send the insurer the new license number and issue date. Some companies re-rate when the license changes, in either direction, and that varies by insurance company. What should not happen is a claim months later where the license on the policy is one you were no longer allowed to drive on.

If you are arriving soon or have just arrived, send your details through our quote form and say which license you hold; we will tell you which companies will write it before you commit to a car.