[edwardsk]

Hi everyone,

I have been racking my brain over this for the past few weeks, and was hoping you could help me.

I am a former California resident (and self-employed author), but I have been living out of the country for the past 2 years. I am returning to the US at the beginning on 2015, and I would like to settle myself down in Las Vegas instead of re-establishing myself in California. My plan is to head straight for the strip as soon as I arrive back into the motherland.

Anyway, since I have been gone for 2 years my driver's license has since expired. I didn't really think anything of it at first, and thought that it would be no problem to just use a cab for the first day I was there, and then renew my license in Nevada, but when I doubled-checked I see that there is a "Proof of Residency" that I must demonstrate to get my license. So basically I need two of these


Residency & Proof of Identity

So obviously this creates a HUGE problem for me, because I can't rent a car while I'm there at all until I renew my license... Therefore traveling around will be a big issue. I can't really go "apartment hunting" without a vehicle, and it seems like every document they want requires me to have an apartment or own property already.

This ruins my plan of hotel hopping for a week or two and figuring out exactly what area I want to live and getting to know Las Vegas better. I don't want to sign a lease anywhere until I'm 100% sure about the different areas, and I certainly don't want to stay in the same hotel/motel more than 30 days without a car. That would be hella expensive and a terrible experience.

I could rent a mailbox and transfer my bank accounts and credit cards over to the NV address to get one of the documents, but all the other things seem impossible for me to get right away.


I was hoping that someone else has some experience dealing with this situation, or has some recommendations of how I can get over this and get my license renewed in Nevada the first couple of days I arrive there, so I can rent a car and start living. Surely, I'm not the only person to ever have this problem.

And if not... Is traveling around Las Vegas without a car reasonable at all? I imagine that renting cabs for 30 days+ for EVERYTHING would totally drain my wallet.

[Scott456]

I would suggest that you stay at a short term apartment first until you get your NV driver's license, then you start apartment hunting. You can use the short term rental address as your residence address. Other than a NV address, I don't believe they require any other proof of residence.

[swagger]

Have you called the DMV and talked to them about it?

Do you have a valid driver license where you're at right now? You could probably rent a car with that.

[Packrat1]

If you still are within the time frames can you pay a penalty and renew your calif license online? That way you have a valid license and can have valid ID to go apt hunting in Nevada as well as rent a car. I would suspect it would be easier to transfer your driver's license to Nevada if you have a valid one in Calif.

[lvoc]

Actually if within 90 days you can get a renewal for a year for free. But if not you have kind of had the course. I suspect OP will have a heck of a time establishing residence and then have to take the written and the drivers test which will take a while to get scheduled. Only sensible way is to use a drivers school.

This is one that you just should not do.

[edwardsk]

My license has been expired for about 6 months now, so can't do online renewal... I could renew in California, but I would be making a stop in California for literally no other reason than to renew my license, and I also don't have a California address, so that makes no sense.

I live in a city now where public transportation is a breeze, so no license is required, but I assume I will not have that luxury in Vegas and will need a license.

[lvoc]

You might consider getting a license where you are. That will at least let you drive in LV. I suspect you may run into much the same problem renewing in CA.

[Cold Warrior]

If you cannot provide two of the proof of residency documents, it is because YOU ARE NOT A NEVADA RESIDENT.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

If you cannot provide two of the proof of residency documents, it is because YOU ARE NOT A NEVADA RESIDENT.

Actually you are a Nevada resident the day you move here permanently. You simply lack proof.

Kind of interesting. You are required to register your vehicle here within 30 days...yet you cannot get the documents to prove you are a resident until after that period.

This guy is in a Catch 22. He needs to come in with some form of a DL or he is going to have a hard time acquiring one.

[SF-LV-NY]

You mentioned rental mailbox, I use MailLinkPlus that offers a Rainbow Blvd address. Prompt notification by email, online access. They can even scan the content however not cheap. The owner Eric is great and responsive. Here's the paperwork you need to finish when you sign up. Notice that USPS requires Form 1583 for delegation.

https://www.maillinkplus.com/documen...ation_1583.pdf

The whole signup process can be done all online if you have the software to work directly on a PDF file and sign it digitally. That's what I did actually. That way, you might be able to start transfering your bank accounts and credit cards now rather than later.

Hope that helps.