Good News, Bad News…
The Good- I finally scored a Puerto Rican Drivers License! I got mine today. I had been fretting over this for quite some time. When I first moved to PR, not all States had ‘reciprocity’ with Puerto Rico. That is, only certain States DL’s could be traded across for a new PR license. Alaska was not one of those States.
To add insult to injury, the written test is in Spanish only, as is the Drivers Manual.
My time was running out as my Alaska license expires the middle of December.
Departamento de Transportacion y Obras Publicas (DTOP)
The rules are the same as the mainland, but with a slight ‘local twist’. All the sign shapes are the same, but in Spanish. They drive on the same side of the road as the rest of the US… Speed Limit signs are in miles, but the green ‘distance to’ signs are in kilometers. It’s also important to watch for the yellow stripe going across the road to identify a school zone… those are 15 mph if not marked, some are posted even lower. They are easy to miss. I’m only glossing over a few key details… there are others.
So early last week we decided to check and see what I would need to get a PR License.
Besides surrendering my old license, I was going to need a medical form I downloaded from the net, signed off by my doctor who charged me $15 for ‘document fees’, MY Passport for proof of where I was born (otherwise, I would have needed a certified copy of my Birth Certificate), MY Social Security Card, Proof of residence based on a bill showing our street address in MY name which is a kilometer mark on a highway and made more difficult because bills are mailed to our PO Box (the Post Office does not deliver mail house to house in rural areas where there are no house numbers) AND 2 stamps- of $1 and $10 denomination we got from the Departamento de Hacienda (the State Revenue Office). [Read more…] about Tuesday After Lunch- Another Day in Paradise