Words of advice for people flying in to do this. There is no wifi at the department of motor vehicles if you don't have a US phone plan (I flew in from Germany for the weekend to do this). The car rental agent told me it was way cheaper to take the shuttle to my hotel and use Uber/Lift than to rent a car. The staff at the DMV there were super kind and called me a taxi when I couldn't use my phone for it to get back to the hotel. I used South Dakota Residency Center for my mailbox and no complaints. The got back to me super fast with questions and were super friendly :)
Great walk through. We full time RV in the US right now and see so many SD license plates. Every time we ask we get the same answer "it's our domicile"
For those who are relocating somewhere and plan to get a license in another country as well, check the country you're moving to because sometimes they will accept licenses from some states and not others. For example, France will exchange a Texas licence but not a South Dakota address.
Did this 5 years ago. Works great. When you shop Medicare supplemental plans we found plans were less expensive in SD vs. FL, TX, & NV. We went with a competitor to Americas Mailbox in Sioux Falls.
First thing I did when we became full time travelers this year. However, I did just get a jury summons already and don’t know what will happen with that yet. We got our DL in 10 min as nobody was there, it was amazing!
We are full time Rvers changed our domicile in 2020 from Florida to South Dakota. We also are with America's Mailbox..they are a great outfit. We also have all our vehicle registrations, insurance and medical coverage in SD. We also vote in SD. Also we are exempt from jury duty. All insurance rates are based on location and SD is much more reasonable than Florida. We renew all online. We order our mail from America's Mailbox maybe once a month.
Why if FL more expensive? I live in FL. Is it due to the medical? What happens if you get sick overseas? This is totally wild that their tourism is up due to this .
Florida more expensive for everything due to more retirees residing in Florida. The you tubers have their own video on their medical I surance. We are full time Rvers staying in the US so our Medicare and supplement cover is in all 50 states.
I googled America's Mailbox and got got mixed reviews. The negative reviews seemed to largely from people who had unrealistic expectations, or did not fully understand the America's Mailbox business model. Thanks for the info 👍
I did this 18 months ago and have been using South Dakota Residency Center - no complaints, the staff there are super friendly and helpful. Love that I get to vote as SD this year too :)
Escapees mail in TX might be better because it is just an hour away from Houston airport, which is a big international hub for many airlines that have nonstop flights to many parts of the world.
@@asinglewomanontheloose5590 It is a good idea to visit at least once a year and maintain a connection in case your previous state challenges your residency and domicile in court. This happened to a lot of people.
@@WandererBell You can sign up for Anytime Mailbox and use that address to get your address in Dallas or many other cities in TX and use that to get your DL. Then you only have to renew every 8 years and I think it can be online until you reach a certain age.
Wow!!! I had no idea. This was a thing!!! my only wishes that you had visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites in South Dakota on the way and done a Vlog. Especially since you’re now residents of South Dakota too!!!
You have to come back every five years as a caveat. My end destination will probably be France and I’d lose being able to swap out my MI drivers license for a French one if I did that. That is hard to do and expensive. I also prefer to vote in my home state.
@Angela-ne9cy I was just looking into TX as they have driver license reciprocity with France. I didn't do a deep dive, but it did say there's a 30 day residency requirement BUT if you're surrendering a valid DL from another state that requirement is waived.
Great vlog! Regarding getting a receipt from your hotel, IHG hotels don't provide a receipt when using your points. Do they have an exception for South Dakota, or did you pay for your stay? Thanks
So we already live in Texas and have Texas drivers licenses. You mentioned Texas has been one of the states you were deciding from. May I ask what made you decide on South Dakota over Texas? We were just wondering if it’s beneficial for us to make any kind of change once we can travel full-time.
Is your new SD address your official address for all your financial dealings, such as your taxes and credit cards? Thanks for sharing. I never thought of this angle. Robert in NYC.
@@ManhattanRats there are a lot of reasons to do this if you no longer have a physical residence in the US. Most people use it as a mail forwarding service and it has the added benefit of allowing you to keep a US driver's license with no physical address. Also, if you're interested in voting, you can get a voter registration card and vote in that state.
If you are traveling full time - banking, taxes, etc. require a permanent address. That assumes that you plan to keep US citizenship (you will need a passport from somewhere if traveling abroad). South Dakota has no state income tax and as others have mentioned here some services (perhaps including medical insurance) are cheaper in South Dakota. Also as they mentioned most state services (like DL renewal) can be done on line. So you may not need to return to the state for several years, And the big topper is that you can get all of your paperwork done in only one or two days of residency in the state. Other states require you to stay a month or more before you can get permanent residency (make it your offical domicile). So a sort of nomad support industry (for services like mail forwarding) have sprung up in the state.
Other than America's Mailbox, is there any others you've research that you'd mention or recommend. Especially FL since it is state tons of people overseas use as a 'residency". Other than the mailing and no state tax, any benefits to ND or other states??
So what's difference in SD, then making a docile in any other state? I use traveler's mailbox with a Texas License and street address. I can renew my license online, vote and everything is forwarded to me. Traveling mailbox you don't have to go in. They do tele appointment for verifying your information. I'm probably going to switch to Nevada next year.
there are eight states with no income taxes, but South Dakota is the only one that doesn’t require at least 30 days of being there, and maybe more importantly, lets you use a hotel, or campground as your address instead of a house or apartment
And did you also register your business/corporate address there and with America Mailbox? I went with iPostal1 because they have corporate accts and I could transfer my LLC registration to my virtual mailbox.
@@stevec9669some people carry insurance because they rent cars, or just to avoid the very large insurance premiums if they haven’t had insurance for a few years. Insurance on a driver is much less than insurance on a car. It just depends on if you plan to drive in the US in the future, and how often whether it’s worth it or not
Residency not citizenship. They make it up by charging ridiculous sales and property taxes. Also, they spend less funding for essential public services, such as education and infrastructure.
Is this only allowed if your going to live outside of the United States? I live in a state that has an income tax on earned income and long term capital gains in a taxable brokerage. Do other states besides South Dakota do this if so; South Dakota makes the most sense because of no state income tax and lower rates on insurance. I would think to do this in Florida since I still have family there; I would get breaks on a cheaper annual pass for Disney World and Universal Studios with a Florida id
South Dakota is a red state. Their governor shoots puppies. Recently citizens of South Dakota became worried about a lot of nomadic people getting residency and then voting, but I haven’t heard of any changes to the process yet