Driving in the USA – Licences & Lessons

• Your Home country license
  • If you’re from a country whose license isn’t in English, you will need to get an official English translation. The translation must be typed on a separate page on the letterhead of a government entity, accredited educational institution or translation agency. The translation must include a signed statement from the translator indicating that the translation is complete and accurate, attest to his or her competence as a translator and state that the document has not been translated for a family member, friend, or business associate.
• Current Passport & Visa
• I-20 or DS-2019
  • Whenever an I-20 is mentioned, I also mean a DS-2019.
• I-94 (printed out)
  • Go to this website, then click on “Get most recent I-94”.
• SSN or letter of ineligibility for SSN
  • See my post Applying for a REAL (State) ID for how to get this letter
• Two proofs of addresses
  • This can be a bank statement, lease, utility bill, etc. Anything that’s official and has your name & address on it should work. You can get a dorm housing contract with your name and address on it, you just have to e-mail Purdue Housing to get it. If you have no other options, the Letter from the SSA office should work as well but ideally you should still bring two proofs other than the letter.
• A car
  • They do not provide a car for the test, so bring your own car, rent, or borrow from a friend.
  • The car has to be properly registered (registration and insurance papers), and if it isn’t just yet, bring the paperwork the dealer gave you. It’s also a good idea to have a picture of the license plate (doesn’t need to be printed, they just have to know what it is). Be careful about using a rental car, as most of them don’t allow their cars to be used for driving tests in the small print of their rental/member’s agreement (such as Enterprise and Zipcar). You may also not get the necessary registration documents to show the BMV but a few Redditors claim that they accepted a printed copy of the rental agreement as proof of registration, so you can try your luck.

Any document listed above must be the original, or a printed copy if its only available online (I-94, Proofs of addresses)

I would recommend you get an international driving permit as you may want to practice before your test, or need to rent a car for the road test.

To take your written test, go to the BMV office in Lafayette (No appointment needed). Whenever you go to the BMV be sure to take note of the names of the individuals who assist you, as well as the date and time of your visit. You may need this information if there are any complications with your application.

Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) office
2200 Elmwood Ave Suite A6, Lafayette
Tue (8.30am-6.30pm), Wed-Fri (8.30am-5.00pm) Sat (8.30am-12.30pm)
(Sun/ Mon-closed)

Bring everything you brought to the SSA office, plus the letter you got and your driver’s license from your passport country with an official English translation. You’re also going to need to bring two proofs of addresses.

Take a number and a person will call your number up (or they might periodically tell anyone who has a written/computer test to line up somewhere). Present all your documents, and they’ll direct you to one of the computers to take the written test on. They have the following languages available alongside English:

• Arabic
• Burmese
• Chinese
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Korean
• Polish
• Punjabi
• Russian
• Simplified Chinese
• Spanish
• Vietnamese

Once you pass, stay in the building (if you don’t pass, it’s okay- you can take it again the next business day). Someone will call you up again to schedule the road test. You can also schedule the road test for a different BMV branch if the time doesn’t work out for you (you may find that you have to wait a couple of weeks between the written and road test).

You can do your road test anywhere in Indiana even if you did you written test elsewhere. A Reddit user gave the tip to take the road test in the town of Fowler (around 35 mins north of West Lafayette) as the passing rate there is almost 95-99% compared to West Lafayette where they are more stricter. Or you can opt to take it at the Lafayette BMV.

As you hold a drivers license from your passport country, you do not need to wait 180 days, or drive 50 hours before your road test.

All applicants are required to take a vision screening, which measures your visual acuity. If you normally wear glasses or contacts while driving, you need to wear them when you take your vision screening at the branch. Read more on this here.

The Driving skills exam (Road Test) may be waived if you qualify under a Reciprocal Driver’s License Agreement (currently for over 18 year olds who hold Japanese or Taiwanese licences).

For the road test, bring everything you brought to the BMV for your written test, as well as a physical copy of your i-94.

You should get to the BMV at least 15 minutes before your appointment. You also must park your car in one of parking spaces reserved for road test takers (they are marked with a sign).

Again, take a number from the machine at the door. Someone will call you out by your number, or your name.

Drive test itself takes about 15-20 mins. Just make sure you don’t go over the speed limit.

If you fail a driving test, you must wait 7 days before taking another driving test.If you fail three driving test, you must wait two months following the date of the last failed skills exam.

If you pass, the BMV will issue an interim license, valid for 30 days, authorizing you to drive pending authentication of documents submitted to them. All documents proving your identity, lawful status, social security number and Indiana residency will be verified through a central verification process.

After your documents are verified, you’ll get your real license in the mail. It can take up to three months for the BMV to get through the paperwork, do a background check, etc. so be patient. Since the temporary license is only valid for one month, you’ll have to go back to the BMV a couple times to get it renewed before your real one arrives.

• Indiana law requires that you have your license, car registration, and proof of car insurance with you at all times when driving.
• If you are ever pulled over by a police officer, stay in the car with both hands on the steering wheel until the officer comes to your window. If you get out of the car, the officer may assume that you intend to attack and may draw his or her gun. Once the officer arrives you can retrieve the vehicle documents for inspection.
• Do NOT attempt to bribe the officer—they won’t like it!
• U.S. laws are very strict about driving after consuming any alcohol. The best plan is to choose a designated driver if you plan to go out in a group. If you are found guilty of driving while drunk you can face jail time, heavy fines, loss of license, and in extreme cases, removal from the country. If you are arrested for drunk driving, you could have your visa revoked without warning.
• Be especially careful around school buses or in school zones. Fines for speeding or passing a stopped bus can be very high.
• Be aware that driving at really high speeds can sometimes result in an arrest, which may influence your ability to get future visas. Even when it is late at night and the roads are empty, you should still drive safely and within the speed limit.

Have you driven on snow or ice? If not, be sure you are aware of how to react when driving in slippery conditions. It is very typical to see loads of minor accidents and cars in the ditches during the first few snow falls of the seasons, even when the roads really aren’t bad. Often, inexperienced winter weather drivers will hit a slick spot and slam on their brakes which is the absolute wrong reaction. You also need to leave extra space between you and the car in front of you since you may need more time and distance to stop.

Don’t hit your gas or break pedal when you on ice. Drive a lot slower that you typically do. Driving on ice is similar to bad hydroplaning, but your car will move greater distances faster on its own. it just takes practice. If the snow is deeper than the height of the bottom of your vehicle, you should not plan on driving until roads are cleared.

A snow brush/scraper is a must and don’t be lazy when using this. Make sure your wind-shield wiper fluid is full, and then put some in a spray bottle and keep it in your car. spraying the wind-shield wiper fluid makes getting ice off the wind-shield a breeze on horrible mornings! Clean all of your windows and mirrors and be sure you don’t have a huge amount of snow on your roof that could slide down on to your wind-shield while driving. Check your battery- cold kills them- especially if it’s an older battery. Also, if you can try to regularly get out and drive it for 15-20 minutes like 1-2 times a week (depending on the temp), that will help keep the battery happy.

Keeping blankets, snacks/water and warm clothing in your vehicle is also wise in case you break down.

Make sure you have your antifreeze tested, do not let your vehicle get too low on fuel (you could need extra if you get stuck) and make sure you have decent tread on your tires. Bald tires are not good on snow or ice. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. I would recommend winter tires, as all seasons aren’t nearly as grippy in snow/ice compared to winters. i would also recommend a car with AWD or 4WD. if that’s not possible, Front wheel drive is manageable too. Stay away from Rear wheel drive cars in winter though.

If you’re really scared of getting stuck in the snow, i would also recommend you keep a shovel and a bag of gravel, or maybe even sand, to lay down in the spot your stuck in to give you a bit more grip.

Stay away from the Chauncey Hill area of State Street (Raising canes, The tap, Yatagaratsu, etc) during the snow. Pile ups happen often on that steep section of road. A better detour would be taking US52, as it has a much softer gradient and there’s less people driving there in general.

If you do not have a driver’s license in your home country, the first step to getting an Indiana driver’s license is to obtain a learner’s permit. A learner’s permit allows you to practice driving under the supervision of a licensed driver so that you can learn the rules of the road well enough to pass the tests required to obtain your driver’s license.

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) has more information about getting and using a learner’s permit. You can practise your driving only when you are under the supervision of a licensed driver who has valid (not expired, suspended, or revoked) driving privileges and is 25 years of age or older.

I found these recommendations on Reddit and social media. I have no personal experience with them- so assess the cost and the reliability yourself:

1. Lafayette Road Star Driving School Services
2. Midwest Driving School

Note that they will NOT provide the use of their cars for the Driving test unless you have spent a minimum of instruction hours with them- so please enquire and plan accordingly.