To buy a house and a car in ME without being a US citizen (Bangor: DMV, income)

[BoarHunter]

Originally Posted by JWilliams

If your son or daughter, as US citizens, are 21 years of age, they can sponsor you for a green card/permanent residency. See if you can pull that off, it would be the best approach.

It is indeed what we have in mind and have started filling out the forms.

[viking81]

Change the International Drivers Licence in most of the states in USA they are good for a very short period of time. If they pull you over they will give you a warning, once you are in the system if you get pulled over again and you did not change licence to a USA one you are in trouble. The fines are high and you also can get it suspended( even if you do not have current usa licence they can place a ban on you for certain period of time). You need to be aware that you will probably have to take test to get a licence it does not matter where are you comming from.

[Coaster]

BoarHunter, rather than sorting through the remarks here, which are conflicting and of doubtful application, e-mail:

Catherine.Curtis@maine.gov

She is the deputy secretary of state for the Motor Vehicle bureau and a more helpful women I have yet to meet. Tell her that you currently live in France, you plan to move to Maine, you have a driving history available for review in both France and New Jersey, and you wish to 1) buy and register and insure a car in Maine, and 2) get a Maine driver's license. Ask her what you need to do to accomplish that. If she doesn't answer you herself, someone knowledgeable on her staff will.

[suep]

what area of maine are you interested in cming to I love Mane. There are folks who can help you once you come down to check into what's out there. If ou are coming to the Portland area let me knoww. We can set up appointments for you to speak with the right people who will have answers for you. It is very smart of you toask questions and I am hoping you go to the places where you will get the answers that you need.
good luck
sue from maine

[bobkemp]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

Actually, you will not be able to register an automobile in Maine without a Maine driver's license. An International license will not be sufficient because there is no way that the Secretary of State can check driving records. In addition, since having automobile insurance is mandatory in Maine no insuror will issue coverage unless they can verify driving records. Buying and driving are two separate issues. If you have the money to buy anything then you can. But registering a car for use on the public highways is regulated by individual states, and driving records must be reviewable by insurors before they will issue coverage.

Now that is strange I know 2 people whom had Nc drivers license andf they still bought and registered vehicles in maine. And what about the big air ballon race they had when the people landed in dover foxcroft Maine the French man from France bought a truck fronm them and yes he registered it. yet he was from France?

Robert

[Submariner]

I bought land recently, and nobody asked if I was a citizen.

I transferred my cars to Maine plates and I got a Maine driver's license, and I do not recall anyone asking me about my citizenship.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

Actually, you will not be able to register an automobile in Maine without a Maine driver's license.

This is incorrect. You need to show insurance coverage, but having an out-of-state license isn't by itself a bar to registering a vehicle in Maine.

An International license will not be sufficient because there is no way that the Secretary of State can check driving records. In addition, since having automobile insurance is mandatory in Maine no insuror will issue coverage unless they can verify driving records. Buying and driving are two separate issues. If you have the money to buy anything then you can. But registering a car for use on the public highways is regulated by individual states, and driving records must be reviewable by insurors before they will issue coverage.

This is something that should be checked with the Secretary of State's office. See my post above for the e-mail address to use.

[Submariner]

I have had an international license, I have never presented it stateside though. I still carry my California license, it is still good. And I did get a Maine one just as 'proof of residence'. But I carry a Connecticut one too, to show that I have a residence established there.

I do not think that a Maine license is needed for registering a vehicle here. I have not seen that before.

I have been in the cirsumstance before where I was coming back from overseas and no American insurance company had records of me. I was able to get insurance coverage, each time. I have done this a few times.

If you have gone a few years without a CONUS insurance policy, they may stutter for a minute. Since it is outside of many folk's mindsets. But it still happens.

It is one of the better things about alternating CONUS to OUTUS, is you can go to somewhere else, live and work for a few years and accumulate a few points; and when you return your drving record here is clean.

[dee46chris]

Originally Posted by BoarHunter

Is it possible ? I guess so but what about driver licence, inssurance ...

I am no US citizen, have lived in the US but did not apply for citizenship (I wanted to stay faithfull to my blood but considering how thing are going, I made a mistake).
My son and daughter are US citizen, so I guess even if they don't reside in maine and not even in the US, they could be the official owners.

Note I want to do thing legally and I wan't be a burden to the state, I am soon to be retired and have some good savings, in the US and EU.

Besides, my son is finishing engineering school in both a first class school (master degree) in France and Dublin (he speaks english, french, spanish and learning russian), my daughter just started residency for MD (as this is in french, I know it will be a problem to get it accepted in the US but seems possible in Quebec, one more reason to move to ME).

There should be no broblem as long as you have a green card. If you buy land, you have to fill out a form every year. I came to maine without citizenship, but since did get them.

[Acadianlion]

[quote=Coaster;424098]This is incorrect. You need to show insurance coverage, but having an out-of-state license isn't by itself a bar to registering a vehicle in Maine.

No sir. Actually you are incorrect. You must show proof of insurance issued to a Maine policy holder. That is the proof of insurance must be on a specific form that is provided by the insurance company when insurance is purchased for a vehicle that is to be registered in Maine. Waving an insurance policy is not proof of insurance that is valid in the State of Maine. The insurance "card" must be presented to the town that the car will be principally garaged in, and the excise tax paid there. Once that is done, the town clerk will complete the registration form and it can either be taken to the nearest Registry of Motor Vehicles office for registration plate issuance, or in some cases, the local town clerk can issue plates directly.

The insurance card has the name of the insurance company providing coverage and the vehicle description and vehicle identification number printed on it. The actual form is prescribed by the Secretary of State who is the chief registrar for motorvehicles and operators licenses in Maine.

If the insurance is cancelled, the insuror is required to notify the Maine State Police that coverage has been cancelled, and the State Police then notify the vehicle owner that the plates must be surrendered or insurance coverage replaced. This process is relatively new, but last year I cancelled coverage on a company vehicle when it was sold, and delayed turning in the plates for almost a month and a half. I was quite surprised to receive "greetings" from the State Police informing me that they "knew" that I had allowed coverage to lapse on a vehicle that they otherwise considered registered for the road.

You are correct in that having an out of state license is not a bar to registering a car in Maine. However in order to register a car you must have insurance coverage written by an insuror who is licensed to issue coverage in Maine, and that coverage must be certified by the issuance of a Maine insurance card that is used to show proof of insurance at time of registration. The insurance company may or may not require a Maine license in order to issue coverage. Not all insurance companies will underwrite drivers in all states. If an insurance company thinks that it might issue coverage for a car in Maine that could end up being principally garaged in New Jersey (for example), and that company does NOT write coverage in New Jersey, they may decline to issue coverage unless the vehicle owner possesses a Maine license. Insurance coverage is issued following and is subject to underwriting guidelines established by the individual insurance company. Most insurance companies will automatically "pull" the driving record either after the insurance agent accepts the application, or before if it is the requirement of the insurance agent to "pull" the driving record of the applicant as a part of the application process. Most state registries of motor vehicles are now "on line" with each other, and the ability to quickly check driving records on anyone applying for coverage is pretty easy for insurors to do. I have been out of the insurance business for a while now, but it was difficult to obtain coverage for cars principally garaged in Maine and owned by people from out of state. Not impossible, but difficult. Exceptions were often made when an out of state owner registered a car for maintenance at his summer residence. IF the insurance company insured the house and other vehicles in the "home state" of the applicant, then they would issue coverage for the Maine vehicle also, provided they were licensed to do business in both states. I also saw cases where insurance companies would issue insurance on "seasonal use" vehicles owned by people from out of state, when the policy holder signed a statement held by the insurance company stating that the vehicle was for Maine use only and would NOT be taken out of state, but such statements were very rare.

Since Maine is a compulsory insurance state, the key is not the place of domicile of the car owner, but is the issuance of insurance. The local town clerk will happily take the excise tax money since that stays in the town. But the town clerk can't issue a registration without proper proof of insurance. The issuance of insurance is therefore the critical element. Now, quite often insurance carriers who have coverage at home, will issue a Maine insurance card for a specific vehicle, and coverage then is actually purchased in, say, New Jersey, for a vehicle principally garaged in Maine. Then the insurance company is in fact, "domiciled" in the "home" state, and recognizes that they have some vehicle exposure in Maine. They then issue the appropriate insurance card for presentation to the town clerk/registry of motorvehicles. Once the excise tax and registration fees are paid, the Maine plates can be issued.