Before you start

California residency
Your original, unexpired foreign licence
Proof of identity and two proofs of California residency
A Social Security number, if you have one
A smog certification for most out-of-state vehicles being registered

Step-by-step

1
Expect to sit the written test — California exempts nobody
Unlike Arizona or Texas, California has no reciprocity arrangement with any country. Every foreign licence holder takes the knowledge test, and the DMV may also require the behind-the-wheel exam. The handbook is free and the test is genuinely failable on right-of-way and school bus rules; study it rather than assuming decades of driving will carry you.
OnlineWho: YouBefore your appointment
2
Book the DMV appointment across several field offices at once
Long Beach has its own field office and there are others within a short drive in Bellflower, Lakewood and Torrance. Appointment availability differs enormously between them week to week, and widening the search is usually faster than waiting for the closest.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
3
Register an imported or out-of-state vehicle inside twenty days
The twenty-day deadline runs from when you establish residency, not from when you get round to it, and late registration carries penalties calculated from that date. You will need the out-of-state title, a smog certification from a licensed station and a vehicle verification.
In personWho: YouWithin 20 days
4
Budget the Vehicle License Fee into the registration
California registration includes a Vehicle License Fee assessed on the vehicle's value, which depreciates each year, plus registration, a California Highway Patrol fee and county and district fees. On a newer car the total is a great deal more than the flat plate fee most newcomers expect.
In personWho: You
5
Sort out a residential parking permit before you move in
Much of downtown, Alamitos Beach, Belmont Heights and the areas around CSULB are preferential parking districts where overnight street parking needs a permit tied to your address and your registration — which you cannot get until the car is registered in California. Check whether the flat comes with an off-street space and whether the block is permit-controlled before you sign the lease.
OnlineWho: You
6
Try it without a car for a month first
Long Beach is flat, the beachfront bike path runs traffic-free from downtown to the peninsula, Long Beach Transit runs the local buses, and the Metro A Line goes from downtown Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles in about an hour. It is one of very few Southern California cities where a car-free month is a realistic experiment rather than a gesture — and a California car costs registration, a value-based licence fee, insurance at LA County rates and often a parking permit.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Original, unexpired foreign driver licence
Passport, visa and I-94
Social Security number, or proof of ineligibility
Two proofs of California residency
Out-of-state title, registration and a smog certificate for a vehicle

Things most newcomers don’t know

California exempts no country from the driving tests, which surprises people arriving from other states.

Arizona waives both tests for Canada, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan; Texas has its own list. California has none — every foreign licence holder sits the written knowledge test and may sit the road test too. Someone relocating within the US from Phoenix to Long Beach with a German licence goes from full exemption to a full examination, and the DMV appointment they need is weeks out.

Source: California DMV — new to California

The 710 freeway is the port's truck route and it shapes air quality across the west of the city.

Traffic from the second-busiest container port in the country moves up the 710 through west and central Long Beach, and the diesel exposure along that corridor has been the subject of decades of regulatory attention from CARB and the port's own Clean Air Action Plan. If asthma is a consideration in your household, the corridor is a real variable in choosing a neighbourhood, and it is not visible in any listing.

Source: California Air Resources Board

Long Beach is genuinely rideable, which almost no Southern California city is.

The city is flat, has a separated beachfront path running for miles, protected lanes on several downtown streets and a bike-share scheme. Combined with the Metro A Line to Los Angeles and the city's own bus network, it is one of the few places in the region where a household can plausibly run one car instead of two. In LA County, where insurance is expensive and a value-based licence fee is charged annually, that is a large sum.

Source: Long Beach Transit

Street parking in the central districts is permit-controlled, and the permit needs a California registration.

Preferential parking districts cover much of downtown, Alamitos Beach and the areas around the university. The permit is tied to your address and a vehicle registered in California — so a newcomer with an out-of-state plate can be legally parked nowhere near their new flat until the DMV process is done. Ask about off-street parking before signing, and start the registration immediately.

Source: City of Long Beach

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a foreign licence exempts you from the written test. In California nothing does.
Missing the twenty-day vehicle registration deadline and accruing back penalties.
Renting in a preferential parking district without an off-street space or a permit route.
Booking only the Long Beach DMV office when four others are within half an hour.
Buying a car in month one without testing whether the A Line and the bike path cover your week.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.