Nigerian-American Afrobeats singer Davido startled his social media followers by driving in Puerto Rico. Could he drive legally in Puerto Rico — “a foreign country”?

Here are some facts that his fans apparently didn’t know:

  • Since he was born in Atlanta, Georgia, Davido is a U.S. citizen.
  • Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and not a foreign country at all, U.S. drivers licenses are valid in Puerto Rico just as they are in any state.
  • Puerto Rico allows tourists to drive with a valid license from their home countries, so Davido could legally drive even if he had a Nigerian license.

International driving permits

There is such a thing as an international driving permit. Every country makes its own laws about driving and driving vers licenses, and there are quite a few countries that require U.S. drivers to have a n international driving permit along with their U.S. drivers licenses. Bulgaria is one, as are Germany, Italy, and Japan. American tourists cannot just pick up a rental car in Estonia and drive off.

People who hold a drivers license from any state — or from Puerto Rico — can legally drive across the tire country. If you move to a new state, you are usually required to get a local drivers license within about 30 days, but you can drive wherever you want to in the United States without having a license for the particular state or territory you’re in at that moment.

Documents in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. People in Puerto Rico have a U.S. drivers license, a U.S. passport — the documents are valid throughout the United States just as the documents from a state are valid across the United States.

Drivers licenses in Puerto Rico now say “USA” on the front. This 2023 decision followed some high-profile cases in which Puerto Rico licenses were not accepted by ignorant people in the states. In one case, a car rental desk refused to allow a customer to pick up his pre-paid rental car because they thought a Puerto Rico drivers license meant that the customer was not a U.S. citizen.

The bottom line

Here’s why all this matters: there is a widespread false belief that Puerto Rico is a foreign country. It isn’t. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. People born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens by birth.

When the U.S. government assisted Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, many Americans wondered why they were going to so much trouble to help foreigners. The Hill recently published an article about Puerto Rico under the International News section. Individuals from Puerto Rico have even been threatened with deportation — a ridiculous threat but in one case the deportation actually took place. The cases of Puerto Ricans being denied car rentals or being asked for their passports look like individual cases of ignorance or stupidity, but in fact it is a frequent source of confusion.

Statehood will end the confusion, but in the meantime it is worth trying to share the information. Since we do not have full representation in Congress, we have to rely on people living in the states to make statehood a priority for Congress. if they do not realize that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and eligible for statehood, they ae less likely to reach out to their representatives.

Speaking of which, have you reached out to your representatives yet? Do it now, while you’re thinking about it!

 

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