You’ve moved to Georgia, found a place to live, started work, and focused on your family. You’ve been here a couple months and you are pulled over for a minor traffic violation. The officer comes to your window and asks you for your license and you provide an out of state license. They take the license back to their patrol vehicle and return with two citations, one for the minor traffic violation, and another for failing to update your license within thirty days of becoming a Georgia resident.

That second citation is not the biggest deal in the world. It is most likely just a fine. It doesn’t put any points on your license, and it doesn’t act to suspend your license. But not updating your license to a Georgia license can be a big deal if your drivers license or ability to drive gets suspended in Georgia.

I see it all the time in DUI cases. If you’re arrested for DUI and have an out of state license, you immediately lose your option to get an ignition interlock device limited permit to protect your drivers license after refusing to take the state’s chemical test after arrest. Because you can’t get that permit your only option is to appeal the pending suspension, or lose your ability to drive for one year. If you are later convicted for DUI in Georgia and have an out of state license, you also cannot get the limited permit associated with an affidavit of first conviction, meaning that a DUI conviction in Georgia on an out of state license is at minimum a hard 120 day suspension of your drivers license.

It doesn’t just impact drivers with DUI issues. You cannot get a limited permit in Georgia for any reason without a Georgia drivers license. There are other suspensions like points based suspensions, suspended registration, hit and run, racing, and fleeing and eluding that offer the ability for a limited driving permit during the suspension period, but that is only possible if it is a Georgia drivers license that is suspended. If you have an out of state drivers license at the time of suspension you will have to serve the entire suspension period, reinstate your out of state drivers license, and then you would be eligible to apply for a Georgia drivers license to prevent that from happening in the future.

If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog or any Georgia drivers license questions, feel free to call or text me today at 678-753-6431 or send an e-mail to ryan@ryanwalshlegal.com.