Re: Smart to get licensed in compact state first?? Plz advise Originally Posted by AndyRN
I, too, have had the experience of relocating to Texas only to find out that my Mississippi license were only good for 30 days. VERY DISAPPOINTING, since I still have another good year to use them. I guess I was one of those few that didn't understand the "true" meaning of the Compact State Laws.
It's not just a "few" -- there is a
lot of confusion about "compact licenses."
The easiest way to understand the NLC is to remember that it works
exactly the same as our driver's licenses. The only reason we can drive cross-country without having to stop and apply for a new license at each state border is because, a long time, at the dawn of the Automobile Age, all 50 states got together and signed a
compact agreeing to honor each others' licenses. The NLC is exactly the same thing, except that not all the states have chosen to sign.
We all understand that you can use your current driver's license in your home state to drive as far as you want, as long as you want, in other states -- but if you
move to another state, you have 30 days (or however long the state law says) to apply for a new license in your new state. The NLC works exactly the same way -- you can use your "home" license to work in another "compact state" as long as you want -- as long as you still live in your home state. If you move to another state, even another compact state, you have to apply for a new license. Same as with driver's licenses.
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