I am renting a condo and working in Georgia, but my permanent residence is in NJ at my parents house. Do I have to change my address, license info?
(I have a 1 year lease in Georgia. I have a job in Georgia. I plan to come back to NJ at end of year.)
Under Georgia law, person is a "resident" and must get a Georgia license if he
has a permanent home or abode in Georgia to which, whenever such person is absent, he or she has the intention of returning.
However it also says that
For the purposes of this chapter, there is a rebuttable presumption that the following person is a resident.
(A) Any person who accepts employment or engages in any trade, profession, or occupation in Georgia or enters his or her children to be educated in the private or public schools of Georgia within ten days after the commencement of such employment or education; or
(B) Any person who, except for infrequent, brief absences, has been present in the state for 30 or more days provided, however, that no person shall be considered a resident for purposes of this chapter unless such person is either a United States citizen or an alien with legal authorization from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
By being in the state for more than 30 days and accepting employment in Georgia, the law can now presume that you are a resident. You can rebut that presumption with counter-evidence, that is, doing various things that establish residence in NJ including maintaining / renewing your driver's licence in NJ, paying NJ state income tax, using your permanent NJ address for your federal income taxes, voting in NJ (and definitely not voting in GA).
