i'm an international student who just moved to Washington last month. Because my school is quite a distance from my home, i decided to buy a car for convenience. I bought the car in September 23rd, went to licensing office on 24th to transfer the title. Unfortunately, my driver's license is international, so i had to retake the whole driving test to get a washington license. I had to do that to transfer the ownership, then to change my plate and stuff. I had to do this within 15 days to avoid penalty. So i went to a local driving school and took the theory test on 26th September, and booked the driving test on 5th october( 1 week waiting time). Then, i got a infraction ticket for expired license plate today. Is it possible to contest this? There is no way for me to even renew my plate even if i wanted to.
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It's odd that they would have insisted that you have a Washington driver's license in order to title a car. AFAIK it's legal to own a car even if you are completely unlicensed - it just means you can't be the one to drive it. I would guess this happens with some regularity; for instance, a person who can't drive due to age or disability can still buy a car and be driven around by a family member, chauffeur, etc.– Nate EldredgeOct 5 at 4:23
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1Is it possible this was a misunderstanding? Could it be that the issue was just that you needed to present identification, and your foreign license wasn't acceptable for that purpose? But they might have accepted your passport, student ID card, utility bills, or some combination of those.– Nate EldredgeOct 5 at 4:24
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@NateEldredge thank you for the reply. Nope, the staff in the licensing office said that i specifically need a washington driver license. My friend who is from China had to retake the whole driving test too. She said i have to get that, then transfer the title of ownership, then get a new license plate and everything.– RuiruOct 5 at 7:28
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Since the vehicle was, in fact, not registered or licensed then it is not unreasonable that you were ticketed. You should not have driven it until it was registered. Yes, that would be inconvenient. I'm also wondering why the previous owner left the plate on the car.– Jon CusterOct 5 at 13:09
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@JonCuster: In some states, the plate stays with the car when sold, rather than remaining with the previous owner. I know California is like that, maybe Washington is too?– Nate EldredgeOct 5 at 13:45
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