Registration in Pennsylvania

Homeland Security is tightening up and making it difficult to move between states. When I moved to Pennsylvania I knew at some point I'd have to get a Pennsylvania driver's license. It turns out you also have to transfer your car registration to Pennsylvania, and I had no idea the process would be so complicated, difficult and time consuming.

The state seems to recognize the difficulty in one sense, since they give you 60 days to get your driver's license. The catch is that you need your PA driver's license as one of the documents required to register your car, and you're supposed to register your car within 20 days of your arrival. So if you have a car you only have 20 days to get your license or dispose of your car.

Getting a driver's license requires three types of documentation, in addition to my Indiana driver's license. The first is proof of birth, which can be a birth certificate with a raised seal or a valid passport or some rarer documents. I do have a birth certificate, but they weren't doing raised seals back in the Midwest in the 40's, or at least they weren't in my town. Fortunately I'd renewed my passport recently, or I'd be desperately trying to get a new birth certificate from my natal town.
The second is two documents proving your residence. This can be some types of bills sent to your new residence, chiefly utility bills or a mortgage or rental agreement. This is obviously difficult to get within 20 days, and even more so if you are staying with someone who owns the house and pays the utilities. I did have some car insurance, bank bills, and letters from Social Security and insurance agencies, but wasn't clear if this would be adequate. In fact I think they specifically rule out bank statements and telephone bills as proof of residence. There is a backup possibility: you can have the person you are living with bring in their state ID and proof they are living at the same address to vouch for you in person. This is obviously very inconvenient for that person, so I thought first I'd try my documentation substitutes first.

The third type of document is your Social Security card. I think I still have my Social Security card packed away. Now that I think it's odd I still have it, since no one else has asked to see it since I first got it in 1960, 49 years ago. Fortunately I am something of a pack rat, and keep all sorts of useless stuff. But rather than try to find it in all my boxes, I decided to try some other documents, like letters to me from Social Security and my newly acquired Medicare card, all of which show my SSN. The letters even showed my new Pennsylvania address, and I thought they might do double duty as proof of residence.

Having assembled all my documents, found the nearest PennDot office that can transfer licenses. The website is a little confusing at this point. I'd put in my zip code and ask for the nearest agency that could do titles and licenses, and would get back zero. I finally asked a local and got a nearby one. Much later I figured out that the PennDot centers only do licenses; titles are outsourced to private title agencies, so I would have needed to search for the two of them separately. Having gotten all that, I was relieved when the staff at PennDott passed over my "proof of residence" documents with a cursory glance.

After all that, getting the car title transferred was relatively easy. And once the title is registered in Pennsylvania you have 10 whole days to get your car inspected. I didn't quite make it on time, but that's another whole story.