Iowa driver's license, tags, etc. (Iowa City, Council Bluffs: 2011, city hall, neighborhood)

[ICvegan]

I'll be arriving in Iowa City late this Sunday from Oklahoma. How long do I have before I need to get an Iowan driver's license? Iowan tags for my car? Dogs registered? Anything else that I'm not thinking of now?

[SharpHawkeye]

Welcome to Iowa City!

This newcomer's guide put out by the city should help with all sorts of things. There's the webpage, and a pdf of the actual pamphlet--which you can get at city hall or the library.

I looked up the dog license: that is run through the Animal Shelter, and costs $5 for fixed pets, $30 otherwise. The animal shelter was heavily damaged in the flood, and so they're operating out of a warehouse way out of town on Sand Road--but they should still be able to do pet licenses.

As far as I could tell on the driver's license issue--I think you have a while, since at least 30 days of residency are needed for the new license. I'm not sure on all the details, but I don't think there's a huge rush. The DOT office here in town is kind of a pain in the butt, but you could probably call them or talk to someone at City Hall to get pointed in the right direction.

And! This week and next the city's "Rummage in the Ramp" program is going on at the Chauncey Swan ramp across from City Hall. People moving out drop off clean, used furniture they don't want and the city recycling program resells it for cheap ($5-$20), with the profit going to local non-profits.

[crazysixdownunder]

Iowa law requires you to register your motor vehicle with the county treasurer's office in your county within 30 days from the date you establish residency. I do not know for your drivers license. You can visit their website Iowa Department of Transportation or visit the DOT office when you arrive.


Iowa City Driver's License Station
Eastdale Mall
1700 South First Avenue
Iowa City, IA 52240

[danielsard]

do you have to retake the written drivers test when switching your license to Iowa?

[serate]

Not as long as the license you have at the moment is valid. If you wait until it expires, then you have to take the driving test and the written test. All you should have to do is pass the vision test.

[danielsard]

Thanks a lot!! I asked because when I got my Illinois License (moved from Florida with a valid license until 2011) they made me take it, so I didnt know if it was the same here

[SoCiEtY's ReBel]

when i moved from california to Council Bluffs i just gave them my valid california license, took the vision test, paid $23 (think that's what it was), and voila, a brand new Iowa license printed up in about 5 minutes...

[capitalcityguy]

Question. Who are these people that put their annual registration stickers all over their license plates (instead of sticking them one on top of the other in the lower left-hand corner)? It is really the difficult to follow instructions?

[SortaMobile]

Actually, I believe they don't want to follow instructions. I was admiring this one fellow's well decorated plate at a neighborhood park. He saw me and was at first a bit offended. I explained that I noticed he had every sticker since the current plate series came up. He explained he just didn't want to follow convention. Meanwhile my daughter started playing with his, and we dads started up a conversation.

Iowa plates: ugly and uninspired! I'm an Iowa native and I say the current series is the worst. As far as designs go, the sesquicentennial series from the early/mid 90s were the best. I still have mine.

I would like to see the state go back to the solid color scheme...pick a nice neutral yet visible scheme and stay with it. If you want a splash of color and change, then they could adopt the use of a long, plate wide registration sticker with a good sized Iowa logo in the middle. They could have a contest to see who comes up with the best graphic design each year. Fringe benefit: it would be long and wide enough that it could only go below the plate numbers. No more multi-color sticker plates...Now, I do get a bit exasperated with those who can't or won't follow directions, but their decade old mosaic of stickers draws one's attention away from the basically ugly IA plate.

Also, the state could just start issuing new plates as needed. No need to replace the whole fleet like Iowa has done in the past. The old series would just fade away over time, like the old white letters on green background used in Colorado, where I live now. The new series here is green on white, but I liked the old scheme better.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by SortaMobile

Actually, I believe they don't want to follow instructions. I was admiring this one fellow's well decorated plate at a neighborhood park. He saw me and was at first a bit offended. I explained that I noticed he had every sticker since the current plate series came up. He explained he just didn't want to follow convention. Meanwhile my daughter started playing with his, and we dads started up a conversation.

wow....may wife was correct! We had a bit of an argument over this. I told her people were just ignorant. She said people did it on purpose.