Car Insurance

[Fifa]

Hi,

I am having problems with car insurance. My insurance is very high because my husband and I do not have Florida driving licenses. After two years of paying high insurance, our insurance company cannot insure us any more until we get the Florida driving licenses. We hold British driving licenses and only use our car about four times a year when we visit the States on holiday. I have been told that I can get a Florida license because I am a Green Card holder if I take a vision, written and full driving test. My husband however, is not a Green Card holder and does not have any legal ties to the States except through me, so he cannot get a Florida license.

Is this true? and if so, how have some of you got round this problem as I know from reading the posts that a lot of you are car owners in the States.

Any help or ways round this would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Fifa

[flyrr100]

Cant you, as a legal US resident, sponsor your husband for a green card? As I understand it, as soon as you submit the paperwork he becomes eligible for a license....

[Fifa]

Hi,

We asked an immigration lawyer in Miami and he said it would take up to ten years for his green card to come through this way. He suggested a quicker route of waiting until I became a citizen and then it should only take up to one year. Time has gone by and I have not applied to be a citizen and my husband has lost interest in becoming a green card holder as he has a good job in the Caribbean.

The problem we have is that we cannot find anyone who wants to insure our jeep, even though we had previous insurance in Florida for two years and did not have any claims or problems. They say we must get Florida driving licenses first.

I thought that some of the owners of Florida villas must own their own cars and have found a way round this. I have been checking out the posts and it looks like most villa owners hire cars when they visit, which is what we did for the first two years, but found it was handier having our own transport.

Thanks to anyone who can help with this problem.

[jeffc]

i think you will find that you must have a florida licence if you stay longer than 30 days at anyone time.. that applies to anybody from anywhere.. we are from the uk and the snow birds were getting the florida licence at the same time...
the main diff was they didnot have to sit the exam and driving test..

also if you get a florida licence it only lasts the term of your visa thats the white I94 form in your passport...

hope this helps...

car insurance is very high to start with for us aliens....

[flyrr100]

All insurance in Florida is high for anyone. I moved here last year from Ohio and my rates almost doubled!

[Fifa]

So the story we are getting may not be true as they are claiming our insurance is high because we don't have Florida licenses, but if we get Florida licenses the insurance may still be high.

The main problem we have at the moment is that we can't get an insurance company to take the policy, even after having insurance for two years in the States without a claim. I thought it was very strange for a company to turn away and even loose business, but this is what they have done. They have also said that even if we get Florida driving licenses soon, they can't rewrite the polciy for one year. So we are stuck now, just calling everyone trying to get this sorted out.

I see that someone mentioned that your license expires when your visa expires and my ten year green card expires in November. So, if this is the case, I would be better waiting until my new card has arrived before I go for my driving test all over again.