Buy And Register Vehicle in AZ?

[Unsettled]

I'm overseas and I'm wondering if I can fly into Arizona, like Yuma or Phoenix, get a drivers license from a hotel receipt and buy/register/insure a vehicle?

I tried researching this, but I couldn't find anything specific to what I'm trying to do.  Most of the results talk about re-registering a vehicle from another state, which is not what I'm trying to do.  I want to buy the van in Arizona and register it there.

I'll have enough money to do all this, but I don't want to waste any if can help it since I'll be starting up unemployed (incomeless) and looking for work.  I would prefer to move into the vehicle ASAP, like within a week, to avoid paying for a long hotel stay.  

I do have a passport and drivers license from Florida.  But I'm not keen on buying/insuring/registering a car in Florida to take to Arizona and repeat the process.

One forum says that AZ requires you to get a drivers license within ten days of moving there anyway.  Can I do this from a hotel address over the course of a week?  Any other documents I'll need or catch-22s to expect?  Or is there another approach I should consider?

Advice is appreciated as I'm quite serious about doing this.

 

[user 423]

The info for getting a DL says it can take up to 15 days for the license to get to you at the address you give them, so there's that.
(link is to AZ MVD info):

https://azdot.gov/node/4877

I have an account at AZ MVD Now and I can't find where it says if renewal notices (or other mail) is done only online. If that were the case, once you have an AZ license a set mailing address wouldn't be needed. You might want to see if you can open an account and look around some about the address issue:

https://azmvdnow.gov/home

Also, AZ allows independent tag agencies to handle titling and registrations (for a fee) which is usually a lot quicker than going to the MVD, especially in PHX or TUCS. I did mine at the Sierra Vista MVD and it was bad enough.

A tag agency should be a big help in answering your questions.

Here's a link to one in Tucson:

https://www.azautolicense.net/

 

[wayne49]

Why have you already zeroed in on AZ?

Here's an older post about AZ, mostly centered on registering a vehicle, not on residency requirements.

https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=19918&pid=280906#pid280906

 

[highdesertranger]

Arizona has cracked down on driver licenses and vehicle registration. they used to be real easy not anymore. they made my buddy jump through all kind of hoops. the people at DMV said the feds had made them crack down. a hotel or motel will not cut it. they made him get a real ID so he had to prove residency. just giving them a address won't cut it. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

A really easy way is to get a temporary seasonal job that has housing available in Arizona. Your employer can give you a letterhead statement showing you have met resident requirements as well as a pay stub. With the new identification requirements I’m not sure what is required but I would bring 3 picture ids like passport, driver license and something like a Sam’s card or medical card. Where you work will possibly require a social security card and birth certificate so have those. We worked a season and got everything good for the next 5 years, vehicles and driver’s licenses. We also got a post office box and had all notices sent to it. We go by every 6 months or so and check it on our way. The smaller out of the way DMVs are easy to work with and have no emissions or safety inspections. We have always gotten everything done in less than a hour, walked out with everything we needed, nothing needed to be mailed.

 

[Unsettled]

Arizona has cracked down on driver licenses and vehicle registration.  they used to be real easy not anymore.  they made my buddy jump through all kind of hoops.  the people at DMV said the feds had made them crack down.  a hotel or motel will not cut it.  they made him get a real ID so he had to prove residency.  just giving them a address won't cut it.  highdesertranger

They just love to make things difficult to impossible, don't they?

Thanks for the heads up.  I guess I could rent an apartment for a bit and break the lease or something.  Such a waste of money though.  I'll think on it.

 

[Unsettled]

A really easy way is to get a temporary seasonal job that has housing available in Arizona. Your employer can give you a letterhead statement showing you have met resident requirements as well as a pay stub. With the new identification requirements I’m not sure what is required but I would bring 3 picture ids like passport, driver license and something like a Sam’s card or medical card. We worked a season and got everything good for the next 5 years, vehicles and driver’s licenses. We also got a post office box and had all notices sent to it. We go by every 6 months and check it on our way.

Thank you.  I'll research those seasonal jobs with housing.  My thing is that I want to fly in and get set up, so that might be a good way to start if I can find one online.

 

[Unsettled]

Why have you already zeroed in on AZ?

Here's an older post about AZ, mostly centered on registering a vehicle, not on residency requirements.

https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=19918&pid=280906#pid280906

I don't know.  I've never actually been there. I like the desert and it seems like an easier place to find cheap parking for the van from the vids I've watched.  Being near the border is also a plus for me.  But I'll keep an open mind.  When the day comes, it's a flight ticket to somewhere in the US for me, with some money to get started but not much else, so making the right move is critical for me.  Don't want to burn through too much start up savings by making the wrong one.

 

[Unsettled]

The info for getting a DL says it can take up to 15 days for the license to get to you at the address you give them, so there's that.
(link is to AZ MVD info):

https://azdot.gov/node/4877

I have an account at AZ MVD Now and I can't find where it says if renewal notices (or other mail) is done only online. If that were the case, once you have an AZ license a set mailing address wouldn't be needed. You might want to see if you can open an account and look around some about the address issue:

https://azmvdnow.gov/home

Also, AZ allows independent tag agencies to handle titling and registrations (for a fee) which is usually a lot quicker than going to the MVD, especially in PHX or TUCS. I did mine at the Sierra Vista MVD and it was bad enough.

A tag agency should be a big help in answering your questions.

Here's a link to one in Tucson:

https://www.azautolicense.net/

Thank you for the research info.  I'll look into tag agencies and how that works, maybe explore with some emails and report it back here. I've lived overseas so long I barely know how anything works back home anymore, just that everything sinks ever deeper into the bureaucratic abyss year by year.  I describe how overcomplicated stuff is in the US to people in other countries all the time and they're pretty shocked by it.

 

[GntlStone]

I would also check into Nevada as a state of residency. I believe there may be a tax benefit as well. Most of AZ has a 10% sales tax, fyi.

When I moved out there to AZ last year they required an ORIGINAL birth certificate at AZDOT. They tried to tell me that my NY birth certificate wasn't the real one, lol. It had the stamp and seal and all. You should have seen some of the older people whose birth certificates were inaccurate or just lost to time, they were just getting so frustrated. I ended up taking my birth certificate to one of those third-party AZDOT places, was in and out in 30 min. I got a plain syate id card, no Real ID, as NY didn't require me to surrender my NY license and my car was still registered in NY.

They will ask for proof of residency, a bill or lease in your name at an AZ address.

Best of luck!

 

[bullfrog]

Coolworks.com has most of the seasonal jobs for Arizona.

 

[user 423]

Arizona has cracked down on driver licenses and vehicle registration.  they used to be real easy not anymore.  they made my buddy jump through all kind of hoops.  the people at DMV said the feds had made them crack down.  a hotel or motel will not cut it.  they made him get a real ID so he had to prove residency.  just giving them a address won't cut it.  highdesertranger

I believe all states have to comply with Real ID now. The OP has a passport and that fills the requirement, so he'll just need a regular license. Still will need an address though.

Unsettled: Research the pros and cons for the 3 major states that many nomads use.

South Dakota, Texas and Florida.

There are quite a few sites (and threads here on CRVL) that explain residency/domicile and what each state has to offer. It's confusing but check out Escapees. It's a good place to start:

https://www.escapees.com/

 

[Unsettled]

Thanks, I've tried to access that site a ton of times.
For some reason they block access to other countries. 

"[font=Arial,]Block reason:
Access from your Country was disabled by the administrator."    

Maybe it's because it would give terrorists and other foreign agents ideas on how to operate in the US?

I'll keep looking to see if their info is reposted elsewhere, because this organization really interests me.[/font]

 

[user 423]

Here's a link to a mail service in S. Dakota that I used a couple of years ago. Lots of info on residency and registering a vehicle. SD makes it pretty easy to do all that. There are several mail forwarding services in SD to choose from and I wouldn't necessarily recommend this one. I only used their mail service:

https://yourbestaddress.com/sd-residency/

 

[Unsettled]

Thank you.  I can't get most of those sites to work, like Escapees and America's Mailbox cuz their servers block access to the country I'm residing in (KSA.)  I seriously think this has something to do with national security and terrorism now. 

I'm reading the site.  SD is now really starting to interest me because I read about their retirement policy for school teachers, which could be a solution to my problem of having no retirement figured out and squat to look forward to.  There are quite a number of other appealing factors as well, like no property tax. Might just be worth investing in a good heating system for the van.

If I can make it through the year at the job I have (highly unstable) I would come back with more than ample money to buy the vehicle in Florida and set it up there with enough buffer money to get through the steps of obtaining a state teachers license for SD.  My dream of reaching the lower middle class before I die may be achievable after all.  

And I would have enough time and money to fly off to Asia for R&R in the summers.  Teachers make 40K USD in SD, so I could live like a King in Cambodia or Vietnam for the summer with that kind of money.

 

[jacqueg]

And keep in mind - people travel/move all the time. Just because you are registered in SD, doesn't mean you have to spend winters there.

Each state has its own standards as to how much time you spend there in order to be counted as a resident.