Exchanging FL driver license to TX driver license (Frisco, Howe: home, transfer)

[n2da2nd]

Hello everybody, I've just moved here for work. I plan to stay here for a foreseeable future. I wonder if i could hang on to my FL DL until it's expired, then apply for a TX DL or should i exchange it right now. I also have a car registered in FL. Can I keep both my DL and my car's registration in FL? Which state i file, my tax on if i kept my identity as FL resident?

[toddsby]

Originally Posted by n2da2nd

Hello everybody, I've just moved here for work. I plan to stay here for a foreseeable future. I wonder if i could hang on to my FL DL until it's expired, then apply for a TX DL or should i exchange it right now. I also have a car registered in FL. Can I keep both my DL and my car's registration in FL? Which state i file, my tax on if i kept my identity as FL resident?

You are free to try to keep your FL registration and license, but as someone who also moved here from out of state let me warn you. If you get pulled over and cited for a speeding ticket or something similar you're in for a world of hurt. They will give you multiple very expensive tickets if you tell them you're a resident who's been living here longer than 30 days. You'll get one for failure to provide a proper license with a valid address, and failure to provide proper registration and inspection. If you're keeping track that could be FOUR separate tickets. Police here don't mess around with the fines! They excel at turning a simple speeding ticket into more than you can imagine. Getting a tx DL is relatively painless and inexpensive. $25? The inspection and registration is around $150. Those tickets could easily be $250 a pop. I guess you just have to decide what you want to risk.

I got my license changed over like the first week I was here, just visit the local DPS and stand in line for about an hour. You fill the form, pay the money, and get a photo taken. Think I waited a couple weeks before changing my registration, due to needing to find a local inspection place. DL first, inspection, then bring that inspection paperwork to county office for registration.

[LakeLifePA]

You're no longer a FL resident, (just keeping the DL for FL will not change that fact) and you should change your license and registration within 30 days of moving to TX. Not sure why you're asking about taxes, (income?) because neither state has an income tax. Just file your federal taxes for the address you're living at during the time of filing. You're lucky you won't have to mess with any partial residence for state taxes.

[Aceraceae]

You'll need some blood of your firstborn to get a TX ID.

[n2da2nd]

Originally Posted by toddsby

You are free to try to keep your FL registration and license, but as someone who also moved here from out of state let me warn you. If you get pulled over and cited for a speeding ticket or something similar you're in for a world of hurt. They will give you multiple very expensive tickets if you tell them you're a resident who's been living here longer than 30 days. You'll get one for failure to provide a proper license with a valid address, and failure to provide proper registration and inspection. If you're keeping track that could be FOUR separate tickets. Police here don't mess around with the fines! They excel at turning a simple speeding ticket into more than you can imagine. Getting a tx DL is relatively painless and inexpensive. $25? The inspection and registration is around $150. Those tickets could easily be $250 a pop. I guess you just have to decide what you want to risk.

I got my license changed over like the first week I was here, just visit the local DPS and stand in line for about an hour. You fill the form, pay the money, and get a photo taken. Think I waited a couple weeks before changing my registration, due to needing to find a local inspection place. DL first, inspection, then bring that inspection paperwork to county office for registration.

Thanks a lot for the warning! I'll get done asap. It's unpleasant to visit any local dmv is what i want to avoid.

Originally Posted by Robert20170

You're no longer a FL resident, (just keeping the DL for FL will not change that fact) and you should change your license and registration within 30 days of moving to TX. Not sure why you're asking about taxes, (income?) because neither state has an income tax. Just file your federal taxes for the address you're living at during the time of filing. You're lucky you won't have to mess with any partial residence for state taxes.

Got it. Thanks for the advice.

Originally Posted by Aceraceae

You'll need some blood of your firstborn to get a TX ID.

Lmao that's what I'm afraid the most.

[masonsmom4]

Switching the Florida DL over to Texas was painless for us. Nothing is as bad as it was in Florida several years ago when they instituted the new ID requirements. I remember every time I was in the DMV watching senior citizen after senior citizen get sent home for not having certified birth certificates or certified licenses for every name change. It was sad. If you made it through that experience I'm sure you have everything you need for Texas. My biggest takeaway from moving from Florida to Texas - regarding registering for things (licenses, schools, etc.) is common sense still exists here. For a little while anyway.

[n2da2nd]

Originally Posted by masonsmom4

Switching the Florida DL over to Texas was painless for us. Nothing is as bad as it was in Florida several years ago when they instituted the new ID requirements. I remember every time I was in the DMV watching senior citizen after senior citizen get sent home for not having certified birth certificates or certified licenses for every name change. It was sad. If you made it through that experience I'm sure you have everything you need for Texas. My biggest takeaway from moving from Florida to Texas - regarding registering for things (licenses, schools, etc.) is common sense still exists here. For a little while anyway.

Yeah I've asked around and heard that as long as I'm a citizen, it should be swiftly done. I'll try to go during midweek next week and get it outta my way. Any suggestion for inspection garage near Frisco? I guess that I'd have get my DL first, inspect the car, then bring that to the registration/tax collector office then. Any suggestions is appreciated!

[LakeLifePA]

Originally Posted by Aceraceae

You'll need some blood of your firstborn to get a TX ID.

Not true at all. Not sure why you said this. Texas isn't much different than any state when it comes to this.

[Aceraceae]

Originally Posted by Robert20170

Not true at all. Not sure why you said this. Texas isn't much different than any state when it comes to this.

I was pretty shocked at the amount of documentation I needed when I changed from a TN license in 2011. Especially since I already had a valid ID.

[RJ312]

Texas has the most inconvenient licensing/plating procedure of any state that I have lived in. I can understand why people would postponing getting a Texas Driver's License and getting Texas license plates. It can be as much as a 4 step process.

1. Vehicle inspection: The state vehicle inspection is the first thing that would need to be done in transferring over plates. After that, vehicle inspections are done annually when registration is renewed. It is an inconvenience for sure. Of all the inconveniences that I'm about to list, it is the least inconvenient. There are plenty of shops that do it, and most are open Saturday. A few might even have Sunday hours. However, people move here from states that don't require annual inspections and this can be jarring.
2. Two plate state: Texas is a two plate state. Front and back. People move here from states are just one plate states. So to accommodate the rule in Texas, if you move here from a one plate state, you have to modify your car to fit this. It involves drilling holes in your front bumper. You would have to watch YouTube instructional videos and collect tools if you don't already have them to accomplish this. Or, you can pay someone at an auto repair shop to do this. It is an obstacle.
3/4. Getting plates/getting license: In every other state I've lived in, one gets their plates and their license in the same office. Not in Texas. Plates come from one government office, and the license is from another. All have inconvenient Monday-Friday daytime hours. Between these two office visits, be prepared to lose a good portion of a day. Also, carefully check the documentation requirements for getting a license as they are more detailed than other states.

You would need some off days from an employer to accomplish it all, so one needs a gap between jobs of like a week or so just to do these tasks. You could lose two whole days on these tasks.