NEW: You Will Require An International Driving Permit To Drive In Florida

[calliopecruiser]

it appears that their main concerns are the fact that Canadian law does not allow them to spend more time here.

 

No, that would be a American law.

[truel1111]

I like to hear from those return from Florida, did car rental agent ask for IDP ?

[jackdiamond]

It is the US law that prevents them from spending more time in the USA

You can spend up to 6 months before having to register as an "Alien"

 

For people to continue to receive our medical care the rules are I believe 180 days out of Ontario ....other Provinces may vary

My friends have advised that the medical care situation was the reason they had to return. I have never heard any of them opine that they would have to register as an alien. As best I can recall, the folks with whom I have had this conversation were property owners here in SWFL.

[jackdiamond]

No, that would be a American law.

Can you give me the citation?

[Cupcrazy]

Here is the press release from CAA posted today on their website.

 

http://www.caa.ca/travel-documents/idp/

IDP-en.pdf

[Putterdude]

No, that would be a American law.

 

Well it is two fold. I am speaking as a homeowner and a 5.5 month resident of AZ each year. American law permits us to spend 6 months (less a day) in the US without a visa. However, with our national health plan most provinces require us to spend a minimum of 6 months at home to stay covered under the plan. Incidental, ADOT will issue a 6 month DL to and "alien" once every 12 months, I avail myself of the opportunity to have an AZ DL for a number of reasons but now it could prove to be handy to have in FL.:)

[jackdiamond]

Well it is two fold. I am speaking as a homeowner and a 5.5 month resident of AZ each year. American law permits us to spend 6 months (less a day) in the US without a visa. However, with our national health plan most provinces require us to spend a minimum of 6 months at home to stay covered under the plan. Incidental, ADOT will issue a 6 month DL to and "alien" once every 12 months, I avail myself of the opportunity to have an AZ DL for a number of reasons but now it could prove to be handy to have in FL.:)

Simply stated, the U.S., is not the reason for your return to Canada, but your health system is the real reason.

[Putterdude]

Simply stated, the U.S., is not the reason for your return to Canada, but your health system is the real reason.

 

That is incorrect, it a combination of both. People do get visas to stay longer in the US and take the risk of loosing their Canadian health care benefits. Or just take the risk of being caught staying longer in the US and or loosing their health benefits....over the years I have seen both situations. However if you are caught overstaying in the US you will likely be banned from re-entry in the future.

[LHT28]

Simply stated, the U.S., is not the reason for your return to Canada, but your health system is the real reason.

It is more complicated than just the health care

This will give you some insight

http://www.clearfacts.ca/budget/budget_planning/new_u.s._tax_laws_could_ground_canadian_snowbirds

[jackdiamond]

It is more complicated than just the health care

This will give you some insight

http://www.clearfacts.ca/budget/budget_planning/new_u.s._tax_laws_could_ground_canadian_snowbirds

This is a sad commentary on our situation here in the U.S.; and, allow me to assure you it will get worse with the tax and spend mentality of our present administration. And, it will not improve in the coming years, particularly after Januay 1, 2014, which is the drop dead date for those over 70 under Obama care. On that date the total number of people added to our health care system will be equivalent to the total population of Canada.

[Putterdude]

And dear folks is why we "aliens" should file an 8840 with the IRS which establishes "closer ties" with another country....in my case Canada. I have also read KPMG bulletins to the effect that failure to file this form could result in fines equal to $1,000 per each source of income. Which reminds me, I must do mine for Y2012.

 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8840.pdf

[phabric]

Here is the press release from CAA posted today on their website.

 

http://www.caa.ca/travel-documents/idp/

 

We will be leaving on March 14 and renting a car for 2 days in FLL.

 

I don't know if we should go and get a permit or not. I heard CAA ran out of the permits yesterday with lines up to 2 hours.

[Stratus22]

My friends have advised that the medical care situation was the reason they had to return. I have never heard any of them opine that they would have to register as an alien. As best I can recall, the folks with whom I have had this conversation were property owners here in SWFL.

 

That would be considered an Overstay!! And yes You would be illegally living here in the U.S. then. Trust me when I say I know.

[LHT28]

We will be leaving on March 14 and renting a car for 2 days in FLL.

 

I don't know if we should go and get a permit or not. I heard CAA ran out of the permits yesterday with lines up to 2 hours.

Is the car rental place insisting you need to have the permit??

If not then I would not worry about it

 

I could see getting a permit if the whole 50 States required it but why is Florida the only one ...boggles the mind

[jackdiamond]

I recall that when we became permanent Fl residents we were given 30 days to acquire Fl drivers licenses. I have never personally checked it out, but some of our sno bird neighbors advised that they had to acquire some sort of temporary drivers license. Some of those folks from NY have become permanent Fl residents to avoid the NY very high personal income tax. Also, they now enjoy the fact that Fl has no state inheritance tax.

[Mom2B&Z]

Is the car rental place insisting you need to have the permit??

If not then I would not worry about it

 

I could see getting a permit if the whole 50 States required it but why is Florida the only one ...boggles the mind

 

Is not just having the permit to rent a car, there are other opinions out there stating Canadian insurance companies may deny claims for motor vehicle accidents if the driver does not have an IDP as per current Florida law.

We leave for a florida in March, but are waiting to see if this gets cleared up in the next week or so. Otherwise CAA is going to be innundated, as March break is a prime time for Canadians to be driving south.

[Capt_BJ]

local paper today says this has already been suspended from enforcement by the State Police while further investigation is performed.

 

Appears this might violate the 1949 Geneva Convertion on Road Traffic . . .

 

reported by AP

[LHT28]

Is not just having the permit to rent a car' date=' there are other opinions out there stating Canadian insurance companies may deny claims for motor vehicle accidents if the driver does not have an IDP as per current Florida law.

We leave for a florida in March, but are waiting to see if this gets cleared up in the next week or so. Otherwise CAA is going to be innundated, as March break is a prime time for Canadians to be driving south.[/quote']

hopefully they get it sorted soon

[LHT28]

local paper today says this has already been suspended from enforcement by the State Police while further investigation is performed.

 

Appears this might violate the 1949 Geneva Convertion on Road Traffic . . .

 

reported by AP

The bigger question is why :confused::confused:

 

If it is a problem with non U.S. citizens driving then it should be implemented Nationwide not just Florida

[jackdiamond]

The bigger question is why :confused::confused:

 

If it is a problem with non U.S. citizens driving then it should be implemented Nationwide not just Florida

It is a matter of states rights.

[Mom2B&Z]

The bigger question is why :confused::confused:

 

If it is a problem with non U.S. citizens driving then it should be implemented Nationwide not just Florida

 

I read somewhere that it has to do with having an English translation of the drivers licence, as police officers have had difficulty determining whether licences are valid/real/have restrictions etc if they are in other languages. Except for Quebec, all Canadian provinces have English on their drivers licences, so thus the issue. I don't have a reference because I read a lot of stuff about this yesterday :rolleyes:

I just hope they get it all sorted out soon. We have decided our next step is to get in touch with our insurance broker on Tuesday (Monday is a stat holiday here), to get a final opinion on this issue. I have Friday off, so I might be spending it in line with a lot of other people to get the IDP before March break.

[Roxymax]

The Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles have made a posting on their website at www.fldhsmv.gov stating that they will not be enforcing this new law until the issue has been reviewed as it may violate the Geneva convention on Road Traffic(1949) Looks like it was just an error that slipped through the cracks. Law Enforcement officers are reasonable people and I doubt anyone will have a problem.

 

Yep another useless law taking up space on paper and wasting court time. You can't fix stupid, but maybe we can vote them out of office!

[mississauga]

Unfortunately, the rental companies we just called said that they cannot and will not honor Canadian licenses as it may void their insurance as it is in non compliance with the law, even if the law is ignored by others and/or will be amended. :confused:

 

 

We rented ( Alamo ) cars twice in Florida in January with no problems. We were not even aware of this until we heard it ( this past Thurs, Frb 14 ) on our locals news when it was reported that it may be recinded.

[LHT28]

Just saw a blurb on the TV about Canadain residents will get a refund from CAA for the IDP

Just saw a quick glimpse maybe it will be in the newspaper

found it

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/02/15/florida_travel_politician_responsible_for_licence_law_debacle_apologizes.html

[jackdiamond]

This has been a very interesting thread. Since we have been permanent residents of Fl for many years we both have Fl drivers licenses. I wonder how the Fl law impacts the sno birds with regard to their licenses? I seem to recall one neighbor indicating that they had to do something if their stay would be more than 30 days, but I cannot recall what they have to do. My only recollection is that when we became permanent Fl residents we were told we had to acquire Fl licenses within 30 days. I also recall that our prior insurance was no good in Fl; and, that we had to obtain insurance from a new source. However, that could have been because our prior agent was not authorized to write in Fl.