Things we learned about Texas - Driver Licences

When we first arrived, we went to get our TX driver licences. We showed up at the Department of Public Safety (DPS) office and were first of all pleasantly surprised that their hours of operation for that day were 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM (now, that is only on Thursdays, but still, that is better than the office in NC which closes at 5:00 PM everyday). We then waited in a short line to be informed that since we own a vehicle, we needed to get our vehicle registered BEFORE we could get our driver licences (I'm not sure what you do if you do not have a vehicle). THEN we could come back, and provided we brought our old driver licences, social security cards, and birth certificates or passports (in my case my green card), we could get a new licence without having to take a written or practice test (and the people rejoiced greatly, for I hate to study for those written tests).

So, we headed to the Tarrant County Tax Assessor Office to get our vehicle registered. After waiting a few minutes for our number to be to called, the lady kindly informed us that we needed to have our vehicle inspected BEFORE we could register our vehicle. When we mentioned that it would have been nice if the lady at DPS had told us that, the lady at the Tax Office answered that unfortunately the DPS always tells people to go see them first.

We then headed to get our car inspected. It passed, praise God, but by the time they were done, it was too late to get any of the rest done.

Here is the lesson: when you move to TX, FIRST get your car inspected, SECOND get your car registered, and THIRD get your driver licence.