About the Texas driving test

In fact, as early as 20 17 when we first came to the United States, we knew the importance of learning to drive in the United States. According to local people, in most parts of the United States, if you don't own a car or can't drive, you can't live in the United States for a long time unless you are willing to stay indoors all the time.

Grandpa came to the United States in 20 15, but he didn't learn to drive until 20 19 and got an American driver's license. Before that, grandparents stayed at home and rarely went out except for walking near the community.

After we arrived in the United States this time, my family immediately said, "Go get your driver's license."

The main reason why we are in such a hurry to get a driver's license is that once we get out, I'm afraid we can't go back for a while. And all the travel here is inseparable from driving.

At first, I was quite worried about taking the driver's license, because I had eight months of driving practice when I took the driver's license test in China, and I was not interested in driving, my skills were not good, and I was a little afraid of driving.

But when I learned about the whole process of the driving test here, I found that the driving test in the United States was relatively easy, especially for people with a certain driving experience, and it was basically easy to pass.

Of course, this is the Texas driving test. I don't know the driving test process in other States in the United States.

In order to pass the written test and road test as soon as possible, we went to the driving school in China, Houston, Texas, with the recommendation of our family. The biggest advantage of choosing this driving school is that you can get an American driver's license as soon as possible.

On the day we went to register, everyone paid $80 as a written test training fee. After paying the money, the class can begin immediately. Courses are divided into face-to-face courses and online courses. You can choose any one.

The teachers in the driving school are all from China, so it doesn't matter if the driver doesn't know English. Professor of Chinese for traffic training. Of course, if you don't understand Chinese, you can teach in English. I remember a China boy 16 just came on the training day. He grew up in America and doesn't know Chinese. He chose to come to China City Driving School as soon as possible to register for driving test. Therefore, on the day of traffic regulations training, the teacher taught in both Chinese and English, and it was very tiring to think about that teacher.

On the day of training, we had about six hours of class (it is said that at least six hours of training is compulsory, I can't remember clearly), and we can take the written test immediately after class.

The contents of the written test are all in English, and my husband and I both finished it ourselves. In fact, after listening to the teacher's class and having a certain English foundation, it is generally no problem to pass the written test yourself.

But it doesn't matter even if you can't read the English test paper. There are three middle-aged and elderly people in class with us. They don't understand English. The teacher will let them sit at the same table together. He will explain the questions and answers of the test paper to them one by one. Anyway, you can rest assured that the teacher will help you until you successfully pass the written test.

After passing the written test, the driving school teacher will give you a written test certificate and seal it in an envelope. After that, you can make an appointment to apply for an internship driver's license at the American DMV.

It is said that you need to make an appointment to apply, but in some vehicle management offices in Texas, although there is an appointment sign hanging outside, there is actually a field number to be taken.

Fortunately, we went to two dmvs. The first one can only register information and wait for an appointment. The second explained the purpose to the staff, leaving the last site number. After discussion, they agreed to let my husband and I share a site number.

We filled out several application forms while waiting in line for the call. In China, you only need to fill in your name, gender, marriage contact information and so on. In the United States, you need to fill in not only the basic information mentioned above, but also your height, weight and hair color, and you need to fill it in according to the American units of measurement.

To apply for an internship driver's license, you need two copies of your passport, a visa page and proof of your American address. The proof of address is actually just a list of water, electricity and tap water in your home, and banks can also run water.

With the envelope, passport, visa page and proof of address, you can take photos, take fingerprints and check your eyesight according to the instructions of the staff, and you can get the A4 paper internship driver's license on the same day.

With this internship driver's license, you can start learning to drive on American roads accompanied by drivers who have been driving for more than 2 1 and have been driving for more than two years.

Under normal circumstances, if you don't have any driving experience, for example, grandpa, who learned driving for the first time before, has been studying on the road with his family for more than a month or two, almost every day, and he dares to go to the driving school to make an appointment for a road test when he is familiar with it.

My husband and I have obtained China driver's license in China. My husband often drives, and I have a certain driving foundation, so we decided to make an appointment for the road test as soon as the formalities were completed.

After getting the internship driver's license, my husband and I immediately went home and watched the online video (English should be called Impact) that American DMV must watch. The video is always divided into three segments, each segment is about 20 minutes. There will be several questions after each section, and you can't start the next video until you answer them correctly.

The content of the video is all about all kinds of traffic accidents caused by wrong driving of American drivers and how to prevent such traffic accidents. In fact, it is also for the driver's license examiners to observe traffic rules and avoid traffic accidents and unnecessary casualties, so they are required to watch such videos.

In the morning, I got my internship driver's license. I watched the video at home at noon. In the afternoon, we rushed to the driving school in China, hoping to make an appointment for the road test immediately. Fortunately, this driving school can arrange a road test every day, and the teacher in charge of the road test just has time, so we took the road test directly that afternoon.

The project of the road test is also very simple, that is, just follow the coach's instructions to make corresponding driving movements. I remember the following test contents: road driving, left turn, right turn, stop sign, straight-line reversing, side parking, etc. Because it is self-driving, it is relatively simple to operate (I took the manual transmission test in China a few years ago and felt a little difficult).

The road test went well, except that the coach said I was not skilled in driving, and we both completed the road test. Because I am not familiar with the driving habits of American roads, I asked my coach to practice for an hour before the formal exam, and my husband sat in the back and watched. When it was his turn, he basically took the exam at one time.

In the afternoon, everyone paid the driving test fee 100 USD, and soon got an envelope (the envelope was sealed by the driving school and could not be opened). With the envelope, internship driver's license and passport, you can apply for a full driver's license at the vehicle management office.

On the day we passed the road test, we made an appointment online to go to the vehicle management office to change our official driver's license the next day, and the trip the next day went smoothly. Just like applying for an internship driver's license, we also need to take photos, record fingerprints and check our eyesight. After the data review, the vehicle management office issued us a formal driver's license on A4 paper on the same day.

Of course, the internship driver's license and the official driver's license mentioned above are A4-sized documents, which are temporary driver's licenses provided by the vehicle management office. About a week later, I received two driver's licenses, which are similar in shape and size to domestic ID cards, namely, two cards, an internship driver's license card and a formal driver's license card.

It took about three days from the beginning of registration to passing the driving test, and finally getting the official driver's license (A4 paper) (of course, this is only applicable to people with certain driving experience).

On the question of whether the American driver's license can be used in China, we consulted the teacher of the driving school, and he gave the answer: with a Texas driver's license, you can change it into a China driver's license as long as you complete the written part of the driving test in China, and the validity period depends on the time you board the plane at the entry customs. As for whether the driver's licenses in other States in the United States are the same, it is not clear for the time being.

In addition, whether China's driver's license can be used in the United States varies from state to state. Later, we met a friend who immigrated from Guangzhou to Texas, and he told me that they also sent an email to the headquarters of the American DMV. The reply given by the headquarters is: If China people need to drive in the United States, China driver's license can be used in Texas, but it cannot replace the American driver's license.

I asked my friend if I could use it. He said that if it is a short trip to America, it should be available, but it can't be used often. Therefore, if you plan to settle down or stay in the United States for a long time, you still have to take an American driver's license.

This is our driving test experience in Texas, USA.