How to get Puerto Rico Driver’s License for US Residents
[Please note that this article was written in 2019. The author is unaware of any changes to the process since this article was published.]
This article is intended to assist US persons who are taking up residency in Puerto Rico and need to get a Puerto Rican driver’s license. I am sharing what I learned — including the headaches I encountered — in hopes to make it smooth for others.
What you need to take with you to CESCO (Puerto Rico’s DMV):
- Your US Driver’s License
- An official copy of your state driving record
- Your social security card or a W2 or I9 that shows your social security number
- Proof of residence such as a utility bill or bank statement
- IRS stamps- $16 for driver’s license, $17 for real ID
- Medical statement $20-$25
US Drivers License. To the best of my knowledge you have to surrender your US driver’s license from your previous US residence. It’s plausible you could tell them you lost it or don’t have it, but you may be opening yourself up to future trouble if you have two licenses. I suggest getting and keeping a (non-DL) official state issued Identification Card from a US state to avoid headaches in the States from ID checkers who don’t understand that Puerto Rico is part of the United States.
Official copy of state driving record. I am from California, and in order to get an official copy of my driving record I had to mail in a form to the California DMV and pay them $5. This process normally takes 4–6 weeks. I made the mistake of bringing to CESCO an unofficial copy of my driving record I downloaded from the California DMV, which was rejected. I was able to get on the phone with California DMV and a very friendly supervisor assisted me in an expedited process that took one week. I overnighted a self addressed envelope and payment to a specific office attention to a specific employee who turned around the record for me.
Some of our friends have driver’s licenses from states that do allow for an official copy to be downloaded from the internet. Much better than the headache with California.
Social security card, W2, or I9. Self explanatory — but they want something official that shows your social security number. You can print your own W2 or I9, you don’t have to bring in the official one an employer sent you.
Proof of residence such as a utility bill or bank statement. I brought in a document that I found on the CESCO website that claimed had my landlord sign that I lived in his building. To my annoyance, they didn’t accept the document saying “not everything on our website is correct.” Another tale about this below. So be sure to get something they think is official before you waste your time at CESCO. I ended up getting a document from the bank in Puerto Rico where I opened an account the day before — which I had to pay the bank $5 to print :-/ Be sure the address on the document is the actual address that you want on your drivers license. I ran into a problem where the state thought our official address was different from the address where we actually lived and received mail — they used an address that that was allocated to the utility line rather than the front door where we would be located. It took us extra work to get them to use the address we could actually be found living at.
IRS Stamps. I believe this is how you pay the tax to the Puerto Rico government for getting a license. Everyone told us that we needed different amounts. If you buy them from the bank you will pay the face value. If you buy them from one of the second hand sellers near the DMV you will pay a premium. I showed up with $16 in stamps for the drivers license, and then found out if I wanted my DL to be a “real ID” — which is now required for flying on planes, I had to buy an extra $17 worth of stamps for $25 from a re-seller. In short, to the best of my knowledge as of the end of 2018, bring $32 worth of IRS stamps to buy the Drivers license and Real ID.
Medical Statements. Nothing to say here but it’s a racquet. They want a “doctor” to sign off on the fact that you are healthy enough to have a drivers license. There are several doctors offices near CESCO and there are people standing outside of the door ready to assist you in going to one of the doctor’s offices. If you are in the mood to be thrifty You can probably find a competitive price by comparing the costs of the various doctors. You will sit down with a doctor who will fill out a form for you and ask you some basic questions about your health. You could probably even fill it out yourself and forge a signature of a doctor — but I am not encouraging you to actually commit fraud.
The Headaches and Astonishments:
- The first time I went to CESCO I arrived at 4:15 PM to find the doors were locked, even though the website said the office hours went until 4:30 PM. Remember not everything on their official website is true.
- Unlike the California DMV, they don’t have you verify the information they are going to print on your drivers license. They gave my wife and I drivers licenses with the wrong address on it. We had to have them reprint them. We were so exhausted and flustered from the experience we didn’t notice that they had misprinted our names as well. I had to go back the next day to have them reprint our DLs with our proper names.
- They rejected one of their own online documents I used to prove residency in a home.
- I am astonished that I had to pay extra for a “Real ID” yet they put no effort in confirming that the name on my DL matched the passport or other official documents I had provided them.
All of that said — most of my experiences at other DMVs have been headaches as well. So my advice is to get all of your documents and stamps in order before going there, grin and bear it, and bring the best attitude you can with you. The people were at least friendly and directed me to a manager who was able to speak to me in fluid English.
If you went or go through this process and have additional information, please share it in the comments.
