Drivers License?

[HombreEPGDL]

Can I get a drivers license in GDL with an FM1 Turista Visa?

[RVGRINGO]

Your current driver's license is valid in Mexico. I'm not sure they will issue one with an FMT and no permanent address. You can wait until you get your FM3. You may even go to your local DMV and renew yours early. Tell them you'll be out of the country beyond the present expiration date and need a 'fresh' licence.

[HombreEPGDL]

Thank you for your response. I do own property in GDL and the reason I want to get a license is because I plan to buy a car in GDL and then drive it back to Texas several times to take some stuff back to GDL before I make the final move in May and get my FM3. The reason I am waiting until May to get my FM3 is because it will be more convenient for me to renew.

[synthia]

Why would you need a Mexican driver's license to own a car? Surely there are rich old ladies who have someone to drive for them, don't have a license, and own a car.

[RVGRINGO]

Your current license is valid, no matter where the car is registered. Again, there is no need to rush to get a Mexican license. We've lived here over 7 years, have both US and Mexican vehicles and Texas drivers licenses. We drive South Dakota and Jalisco plated cars in both US and Mexico. No problem.
A good reason to get a US license is that they last for several years. In Mexico, you will probably have to renew every year; a hassle and expense.

[bigmutt]

Renewal of mexican driver license depends on the city it's issued in: Mexico City and several other cities that I know of provide a permanent drivers license (no renewal, ever).
You cannot get drivers license with FMT, at least not in this jurisdiction. Don't know about Guadalajara. Doesn't depend on whether you own property, it depends on whether you're a resident or not. Property ownership by itself doesn't prove legal residence.

A good reason to have (and use) a mexican driver license is that when the police take it after stopping you for some alleged infraction, it's easier to get replaced than your U.S. license, at least while you're down here. This has happened to me and I just went into my local office and got it replaced on the spot (told them I lost it.) This might not work if the cops who grab it are from the same jurisdiction, but this happened to me in Cuernavaca, 50 miles & another state away, and they don't share information.

Another good reason to have mexican driver license is to use as i.d. that some security guard stations hold onto while you go into some office or institution; again, if you lose it, no big deal. This also happened to me once when I forgot to pick up my i.d. at a college campus and when I returned next day it was gone; so, again just a trip to my local mexican license bureau.

[RVGRINGO]

Should you change your mailing address on your US driver's licence, you will be issued another one and instructed to destroy the original. We plan to delay that destruction until we are out of Mexico for the reasons expressed above. Just be sure to present the new licence if you are stopped in the USA and the old one if stopped in Mexico.

[Rodrigo84]

The permament Mexico City license is now a thing of the past effective December 31, 2007. I still have one of those and hope not to lose it.

You really should get one of these or the one from Estado de Mexico if you plan on driving locally. Should you get stopped, you better pay the mordita, because they won't give you a ticket, they will tow your car and put it in the impound lot. If however you have a local driver's license, all they do is give you a ticket and you are on your way.

When my cousin lived down here, he had the Edomex (good for 1 year, duration of your FM3 or FM2) and then later got the permanent D.F. license. He left his stateside DL at home and only drove with the D.F. license. Cops asked it from him at DUI checkpoints, but he rightly told them he doesn't have to have that in the car.

[maesonna]

Originally Posted by Rodrigo84

The permament Mexico City license is now a thing of the past effective December 31, 2007. I still have one of those and hope not to lose it.

Actually it was kind of funny what happened with the DF license. In December 2007 they announced that they were doing away with the permanent license, and thousands of people lined up at the license offices during the final days of December for their last chance at getting a permanent licence. People lined up all night, and even got into fights at some license offices.

Well, as it turns out, the permanent license was quietly not discontinued in 2008. I lost mine in April 2008 and my new license was... tada..... permanent!

With all this waffling back and forth between permanent and non-permanent, I guess we can't count on it one way or the other any more, no matter what announcements might be made. I got my permanent license, as I mentioned, in April. If you go now, who knows what you might get.

[Rodrigo84]

Originally Posted by maesonna

Actually it was kind of funny what happened with the DF license. In December 2007 they announced that they were doing away with the permanent license, and thousands of people lined up at the license offices during the final days of December for their last chance at getting a permanent licence. People lined up all night, and even got into fights at some license offices.

Well, as it turns out, the permanent license was quietly not discontinued in 2008. I lost mine in April 2008 and my new license was... tada..... permanent!

With all this waffling back and forth between permanent and non-permanent, I guess we can't count on it one way or the other any more, no matter what announcements might be made. I got my permanent license, as I mentioned, in April. If you go now, who knows what you might get.

That's odd, because my brother lost his and when he went to Cuajimalpa's delegacion, they just gave him the 3 year license.