the hell that is the DMV

In order to officially start our lives in the great state of California, it is necessary to get California driver's licenses and register our Camry. It sounds simple enough--fill out some forms, pay some money, and receive your new stuff.

Wrong.

Issue #1: Upon moving to California, you need to get a driver's license within 10 days of moving here, and you need to register your car within 20 days. Driving in California with out-of-state plates is risky because many people try to screw the system. Since registration is so expensive in CA, many people register their cars in other states. If they get caught, it's a huge fine. However, since it's such a big problem, police officers have been known to pull you over simply because you have out-of-state plates. If this occurs, you somehow need to PROVE that your car has been in the state for less than 20 days. If not, you can also be subjected to a huge fine.

Issue #2: Before Jamie could get a driver's license here, he needed either his passport or birth certificate, both of which were traveling with me across the country. So, like a good husband, he patiently waited until I got here so he could have his necessary information.

Issue #3: Before we could register the Camry, we needed to get a smog test (emissions test) done on the car. Again, it sounds simple enough--take it to any service station that does smog inspections, pay the money, and get the certificate.

Again, wrong.

I first took the car to the service station connected with the dealership where we bought our Highlander. This was Friday. They told me that they were too busy, and that I should come back on Tuesday. Ok, fine. But in the meantime, I found a car wash/smog inspection station that issued $10.00 coupons via the internet. So, in an effort to save money, on Tuesday morning I drove into downtown Sacramento to get my smog test done. However, after waiting in line for 10 minutes, I was told that their smog testing machine was broken and it would be broken indefinitely. Now, I'm a little frustrated. I decided to take the car back to the dealership, and they happily put my car in line to be tested. It would take 2 hours with the wait. After about 20 minutes of waiting, one of the service people approached me and told me that they would not be able to perform the smog test today because they ran out of the necessary forms. This nice service person suggested that I go to another place in West Sacramento. So I went there, and after about a half hour wait and $50, I was holding the necessary certificate. I had officially used my entire Tuesday trying to get a test done that took 20 minutes, but I was happy.

Issue #4: In order to get your name changed on your passport, you need to first send your old passport to Harrisburg, and in 8 weeks they send you an updated one. Again, this sounds simple enough; however, I had to get the new passport mailed to my dad since I knew I would no longer be living in Pittsburgh by the time the passport arrived, and I didn't yet know where we would be living in California. It is now August, and I am still passportless. That being said, in order to get a driver's license in CA, I needed to use my birth certificate. However, since my birth certificate says my maiden name, I also needed my marriage certificate proving my name change.

Today, Jamie and I went to the DMV armed with his passport, both of our birth certificates, our marriage certificate, the smog test, PA registration, insurance, and our checkbook.

Issue #5: Since the marriage certificate was issued in the state of Pennsylvania, it must've looked different than the ones that the DMV employees usually see. They felt that it would be necessary to call the Registry of Wills of Allegheny County to verify that the certificate is accurate. But, since we waited in line for an hour before getting assistance and because of the 3 hour time difference, the PA office was closed for the day and no verifications could be made.

In an effort to keep us happy, they instead issued me a temporary license in my maiden name. After they call PA tomorrow to verify the marriage certificate, I get the pleasure of going back to the DMV to get my information changed, my picture retaken, and my signature re-written.

I feel bad that I'm leading you to believe that getting a driver's license in CA is easy. It is not. Jamie and I both had to endure both vision tests and a written exam before being allowed to receive a piece of paper saying that we will eventually receive our driver's license in the mail. Lucky for Jamie, since he was also getting a motorcycle license, he had to take 2 written tests.

Issue #6: Since we are leasing the Camry, we were not allowed to sign the application form without a power of attorney from Toyota Financial Services saying that it is OK to register the car in California. Again, because the DMV wants their customers to be happy customers, they issued us a temporary registration in order to give us enough time to figure out how in the hell we're going to go about getting power of attorney from a financial institution.

When it was all said and done, we spent 3 hours at the DMV today and only had Jamie's piece of paper acting as a temporary license to show for it.