If you have your International Driving Permit - IDP along with your Foreign Country’s Driver License, you can drive up to 6 months or so, depending upon which state you are in. But you ultimately going to need a USA Driver License.
To start with, you will have to apply for a Learner’s Permit, which requires you to appear for a written test at your nearest DMV office. Depending upon which state you are in, you can download the State-Specific Driver’s Manual from State’s DMV Website. For example, for New York State, you can get the Driver Manual from New York’s DMV Website. Besides that you can also get a printed copy, free of charge, of the same Driver’s Manual from a nearby local DMV Office.
You need to have at least 6 points of proof of identity. For any new arrival, following can be used to accumulate 6 points:
- Foreign Passport with I-94 – Primary ID – 4 points
- Social Security Card – Secondary ID – 1 point
- ATM or Debit Card – Secondary ID – 1 point
Click here for an Online 6 Point Document Selector for the state of New Jersey.
Fees (Source: NY DMV):
Once you successfully passed the Test, you will be given an Interim Permit immediately, which looks like:
Within two weeks you will receive the original Learner Permit in your mail box, which looks like:
