Jury Duty

Daniel12345

New Member
Hi guys, I'm a permanent resident ("green card" holder I guess) of the US and I got a jury duty summons last week. Do I have to go? There is a "I am not a citizen of the United States" option in the "Not qualified" portion of the questionnaire. Do I just check that and mail it back to them (and not go)? Just don't want to get in trouble!

Also, it asks for a "Passport/ Alien Reg. Card Number" -- is that just the number on my "green card?"

Thanks!
 
do you have any receipt of N400/ any form DHS, in every form, you can see Applicant Number and your name. That number start with AXXX XXXX XXX. that is Alien Registration number. or check your I-94. at the back side, there will be your alien number too.
 
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You do not. You can just call them up and tell them you're not a citizen. They get your information from state ID databases so they don't know if you're a citizen or not.
 
You do not. You can just call them up and tell them you're not a citizen. They get your information from state ID databases so they don't know if you're a citizen or not.

You are right, but an interesting thought. The state (at least CA) gives you so much hassle to prove your residency. They do not give you a license which will go beyond your legal status. If you extend your I-94, you need to go back to DMV and extend your license. In that case, should not DMV already have a person's status and know they are not citizens? Even in CA (which I know better than others), I have received Jury Duty notice twice when not a citizen, so I am sure they know my status but still ignore it for sending out the summons.
 
In that case, should not DMV already have a person's status and know they are not citizens?
People could have become citizens since getting their last license. And the driver's license/state ID database is not the only source of names for jury duty; they also look at other government records such as property taxes and vehicle registration.
 
You are right, but an interesting thought. The state (at least CA) gives you so much hassle to prove your residency. They do not give you a license which will go beyond your legal status. If you extend your I-94, you need to go back to DMV and extend your license. In that case, should not DMV already have a person's status and know they are not citizens? Even in CA (which I know better than others), I have received Jury Duty notice twice when not a citizen, so I am sure they know my status but still ignore it for sending out the summons.

In Illinois my license has always been a regular license with no distinction from a citizen, even when I was a GC holder. So I don't think all states issue different licenses based on status. The reason I said they don't know is because when I used to be a GC holder, they used to send me these invitations almost every three months and then when I forgot to reply to one of them, threatened me with legal action.

I called them up and I said: listen, I'm not a citizen and these threats are laughable. How come you're threatening me with jail when you know perfectly well that I'm not a citizen and thus not eligible for jury duty? She then said that they don't know that since they take those lists from state agencies in charge of licenses and that there's no way to remove yourself from the list, unfortunately.

Now that I'm a citizen I haven't received an invitation yet. The irony...
 
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On the matter of DL for non-citizens, most savvy officials (police, etc) can identify a non-citizen from the DL since the expiry date is different than the birth-date. But this would not show up in a court dB of course, and is not universal.

Tick to Not-Qualified box and move on.
 
On the matter of DL for non-citizens, most savvy officials (police, etc) can identify a non-citizen from the DL since the expiry date is different than the birth-date.

I am not a citizen and my expiration date is on my birthday.

Z
 
On the matter of DL for non-citizens, most savvy officials (police, etc) can identify a non-citizen from the DL since the expiry date is different than the birth-date. But this would not show up in a court dB of course, and is not universal.

Tick to Not-Qualified box and move on.

Me too. I mean, I was not a citizen a few months back, and the DL I have from CA expired on my birthday.
 
On the matter of DL for non-citizens, most savvy officials (police, etc) can identify a non-citizen from the DL since the expiry date is different than the birth-date.
For permanent residents, most states give the license the same length of time for permanent residents* and citizens, so looking at the expiration date is not a useful indicator to distinguish between LPRs and citizens, although it helps for flagging those with nonimmigrant status who normally get just one or two years.


*some states will make the license expire when the green card expires, if the GC has less years of validity left on it than the standard 4 years/6 years/whatever. So for LPRs in those states who have a lower number of years left on the GC when they renewed their license, looking at the license expiration date could flag them as being a noncitizen.
 
For permanent residents, most states give the license the same length of time for permanent residents* and citizens, so looking at the expiration date is not a useful indicator to distinguish between LPRs and citizens, although it helps for flagging those with nonimmigrant status who normally get just one or two years.


*some states will make the license expire when the green card expires, if the GC has less years of validity left on it than the standard 4 years/6 years/whatever. So for LPRs in those states who have a lower number of years left on the GC when they renewed their license, looking at the license expiration date could flag them as being a noncitizen.

Indeed, that is obvious. My response was to the separate question about DMV somehow maintaining records of immig status (they don't). The person may have thought this due to some experience they had with an officer mentioning that they were foreign after looking up ther DL. I was merely stating how an officer might make this inference on his own, while seemingly extracting it from some ersatz database of foreigners.

I should have more corrrectly used the term "non-immigrant". Most GCers spend some time in US before getting GC, and their recollections may not always distinguish between the two periods.
 
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I second that. When I moved to IL in 2003, I was still an AOS applicant. My licence and my USC wife's licence were the same, barring the photo and personal details :)
More than 6 years in IL and yet to receive jury summons. I am so keen to get one :)

In Illinois my license has always been a regular license with no distinction from a citizen, even when I was a GC holder.
Now that I'm a citizen I haven't received an invitation yet. The irony...
 
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