Help buy boat not driver

[xxhat]

Want to buy a boat in California but they need drivers license.

Not us citizen but have social security and green card.

What have people done ?

Surely non drivers can buy a boat !

[tkeithlu]

Most states issue ID cards for non-drivers to use where driver's licenses usually are required. Check with your DMV.

[lars]

If need be you can go straight to customs and get a cruising permit for your boat as a foreign national. This will give you a year to keep the boat in us waters and can be extended another year if needed. That should give you time to sort out your id problems. Also you avoid taxes on the boat
Until you register. Works for me in florida

[xxhat]

Boat is in california.

Seems they only accept drivers license or real id

What about non drivers ?

And I don't want visit dmv too risky

[Calif.Ted]

Who is the "they" that needs a drivers license ? I've been here since 1955 and have NEVER needed a DL for anything related to the boat.

[xxhat]

The "they" refers to california dmv.

Seems california dmv accepts only driver license or real id card.

Must be mistake surely non driver should be able use foreign passport buy boat !

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by xxhat

Want to buy a boat in California but they need drivers license.

Not us citizen but have social security and green card.

What have people done ?

Surely non drivers can buy a boat !

Who is "THEY"?? Will a passport suffice??

[xxhat]

I thought a foreign passport would be ok.

Dmv person did not seem to know so hoping someone went through this process.

Did anyone use a foreign passport or green card ?

[Cheechako]

I would NOT register a boat with Calif anyway they are the tax gestapo. STAY AWAY FROM THE DMV!
Can't you just buy it and leave? Get a signed and dated title, notarized/certified bill of sale to go with it. I have bought a boat outside my state without registering it in the state I bought it in...

[lars]

If it's "risky" to go to the dmv you may have some other issues you did not mention?

[JPA Cate]

xxhat, get a Walker's I.D. Sorry, don't remember who issues them. They are for people without drivers' licenses.


Ann

[sepharad]

"A California state ID card is an ideal option for residents who cannot – or do not wish to – obtain drivers licenses. Like a license, a state identification card serves as verified legal documentation of one’s identity, age and residency status. As such, it can be used wherever officially-issued identification documents are required. For example, card holders can use their non-driver IDs to facilitate interstate and international travel, when applying for state and federal assistance programs or when requesting government-issued documents, such as marriage licenses, or vital records, such as birth and death records."

"Californians can apply for a DMV ID card at any age. They may not, however, hold any other state-issued IDs – such as drivers licenses issued by California or any other state – at the same as a California non-driver ID. Holders of other IDs must surrender them to be issued a new California ID."

"Complete an application form.
Gather their documents.
Take the application and documentation to the DMV.
Pay the applicable application fee.
Have their fingerprints scanned.
Allow themselves to be photographed."

Source:
https://www.dmv.com/ca/california/apply-id-card

[Stewie12]

I believe that so long as you have a residential address, even a friends, you can get a 90 day drivers licence with your passport. You would have to pass a test, but that is not up to much. Check it out with the licensing department.

[Dsanduril]

You can register (and title, if newly purchased) a boat in California by mail. No need to visit a DMV office with a nosy clerk. The actual application form asks for your "true name as it appears on your driver's license or identification card" but there is no place on the form to enter the number from that document and there is no requirement to submit a copy of your ID with the paperwork you mail in.

[Montanan]

Use your passport as identification.

There is never a need to have a driver's license except to be authorized to drive and a sizeable and ever growing percentage of the USA population do not have drivers licenses, e.g., 20+% of 20 to 24 years of age are unlicensed; and 10% of 35 to 39 years of age. Although, a State issued identification card is an excellent alternative document.

Heck, I recall last year going to a Wells Fargo bank branch when visiting in California to withdrawal funds from my Wells Fargo bank account by presenting an out of state personal check [i.e., demand note] and the teller asked me for identification. The branch manager was busy tending to some business affairs and was standing behind her. I declined to acquiesce to her request for presenting identification documentation, stating the demand note is the only document I need to present the bank to be allowed to withdrawal my funds. The branch manager turned around having heard the conversation and immediately authorized the teller to provide the cash funds in exchange for my signed check. They can ask for ID, but they can't demand such.

I still on occasion pay stores with a check instead of a debit or credit card, some do not take plastic, and there is never a request to provide ID, just my signature on the bank check / demand note. I never show ID when submitting a personal check to a store for a purchase of a good or a service and have never been denied acceptance as payment, and in all of my years have only been asked for ID on rare occasions, with my reply being NO.