Avoid surrendering US driver's license for an Ontario one

[nazgul86]

Hello,

I recently became a PR and I moved from US, WA to Canada, Ontario (Toronto). I found out that I would need to surrender my US driving license in order to exchange to an Ontario one, however I do not want to do that since I need to keep my US one for immigration purposes, since I've applied for my wife's green card and I need to show my domicile is in US, my lawyer suggested I do not invalidate it or loose it.

I asked to ServiceOntario and was told that I can sign a form saying my driving license was lost/not available and the reason why I don't surrender it, however that the old one would become invalid (they would invalidate somehow).

Does anyone know if they are actually going to invalidate the previous driver's license? if so, what's the timeframe? I would imagine if they did wouldn't be really "immediate" and probably process those in a batch, sending to US those details, if they ever get to do that...

Does anyone know a better alternative to maintain a valid US driving license and getting an Ontario one? Alternatively could I just apply for a completely new one without declaring the previous ones and doing the driving test?

Thanks,
A

 

[lampbreaker]

Are you a US Citizen? If you are actually living in Canada and telling the US Immigration officials that you are living in the US, then that is fraud. They will find out irrespective of your driver's license and you will get into much bigger trouble. You should consult with a good attorney to get better advice.

 

[nazgul86]

I'm both a US permanent resident and PR holder. I have been in US for the past 5 years, and recently switched to PR. I have been doing lots of back and forth between US and Canada in the past 2 years when I was living in Seattle (where my permanent residency was) and Vancouver (where my wife resided). I have been paying two rents and being on 2 leases (in Canada and US), so technically I am a dual resident, I just don't know if there's a term for that officially.

 

[Buletruck]

It’s illegal to hold more than one drivers license in Canada. You either need to surrender your US one for an Ontario license, or keep driving on your US license and face the issues that will bring (vehicle registration, insurance, traffic fines).
As for invalidating the old one, they do confirm validity with the authorized department and return the old one to them to cancel once it is exchanged.

 

[nazgul86]

It’s illegal to hold more than one drivers license in Canada. You either need to surrender your US one for an Ontario license, or keep driving on your US license and face the issues that will bring (vehicle registration, insurance, traffic fines).
As for invalidating the old one, they do confirm validity with the authorized department and return the old one to them to cancel once it is exchanged.

Thanks, so for example I have one driver's license from US as well as one from Italy, should I technically surrender both?
If I don't surrender the US one and say it was lost, would they still go ahead and send the info the the authorized department to cancel it?

 

[Buletruck]

I'm both a US permanent resident and PR holder. I have been in US for the past 5 years, and recently switched to PR. I have been doing lots of back and forth between US and Canada in the past 2 years when I was living in Seattle (where my permanent residency was) and Vancouver (where my wife resided). I have been paying two rents and being on 2 leases (in Canada and US), so technically I am a dual resident, I just don't know if there's a term for that officially.

“MTO spokesman Bob Nichols said in an email statement. "Under provincial legislation, the penalty for making a false statement may include a fine and/or imprisonment and/or a driver's licence suspension."

 

[Buletruck]

Technically, you should surrender both. I wouldn’t go as far as to lie about loosing it...that creates all sorts of other issues. And they would likely want to see the police report saying you lost it. That and if you don’t have a license to exchange, you start from scratch with a learners permit.

 

[nazgul86]

Technically, you should surrender both. I wouldn’t go as far as to lie about loosing it...that creates all sorts of other issues. And they would likely want to see the police report saying you lost it. That and if you don’t have a license to exchange, you start from scratch with a learners permit.

That's not what I was told from ServiceOntario, it sounded like I could just declare it lost, without any police certificate and still get the full license if showing the driving record. I would prefer not having to do that, but I just wanted to see my options.

 

[canuck78]

It is all ID fraud. You are declaring that an ID is lost knowing that it is not. You and your wife seem to be collecting permanent residencies and/or citizenships. At some point you can’t have everything you want. You may also not qualify for MSP if you are actually living in the US as your primary address.

 

[despacito2017]

Most Canadian provinces along the border with the US share data and information. Your scheme will only put you in legal jeopardy. Lying to officials that you lost your licence is a crime. Once your US licence is invalidated and you drive using it, it will not only invalidate your insurance but you will be in trouble if you ever get pulled over.

Either you have a really bad lawyer or you are trying to have your cake and eat it too. Bad idea all around as multiple people have pointed out.