Driving License for H4 Visa holders in Illinois

[desi101chicago]

Hey!
I went to the bank and wanted to open up a checkingaccount and they told me that I couldn't do that since I didn't have a SSN, so they typed a letter for the SSN adminastration what the purpose was for and 3weeks later I had my SSN and then u can do whatever u want, go and get a drivers licence etc but u need a SSN in most situation in America if u r gonna survive, legally or illegally!
That's my best advice!
Good Luck!

I can't believe my eyes... is this for real?
Care to share more details about the bank, address, SSN office, etc?

[thrix]

Hey!
I went to the bank and wanted to open up a checkingaccount and they told me that I couldn't do that since I didn't have a SSN, so they typed a letter for the SSN adminastration what the purpose was for and 3weeks later I had my SSN and then u can do whatever u want, go and get a drivers licence etc but u need a SSN in most situation in America if u r gonna survive, legally or illegally!
That's my best advice!
Good Luck!

When was it. It used to work a couple years ago, but I don't think it will work now.

[desi101chicago]

Hey!
I went to the bank and wanted to open up a checkingaccount and they told me that I couldn't do that since I didn't have a SSN, so they typed a letter for the SSN adminastration what the purpose was for and 3weeks later I had my SSN and then u can do whatever u want, go and get a drivers licence etc but u need a SSN in most situation in America if u r gonna survive, legally or illegally!
That's my best advice!
Good Luck!

After reading the above comments, I decided to give it a try for my wife. Got the letter from bank that they require SSN to open bank account. Then went to SSN office in downtown chicago. They saw the passport - H4 visa and declined to give SSN right away saying "H4 visa person can't get SSN". She also advised to go to IRS office and to get ITIN to open bank account.

I guess I need to find some SSN office that is not smart enough to know H4 visa

Let me know if someone else was successful in getting SSN number on basis of opening bank account -recently.

[permorreg]

any sample questions for written test?

[vinita123]

hi all,does anyone know how long it takes to upadte computersied i-94 info to be updated in DMV illinois chicaho facility.i fot change of status from 4 to f1 and they say my data not updated its almost 2 momnths

[Joe Marciano]

Hi, i am just new in this forum. please give some inputs regarding international driver's license if acceptable in IL. can you give some tips on how we can easily pass the test either on behind the wheels or in theoritical exams. i am new immigrant & will be going to IL this coming January next year. I really appreciate ur comment on this, thanks!

[sabrina1960]

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To Protect and Serve Whom?
December 24, 2006 by Maya Harris, The San Francisco Chronicle

When my husband got his driver's license at age 16, in addition to a congratulatory hug from his father, he was given a lecture about the cold realities of Driving While Black: Never take your hands off of the steering wheel when you're pulled over by an officer; always end your answers with "Sir;" ask for permission before reaching for your license; and don't ever talk back -- even if you know you haven't done anything wrong. Now one of a handful of African-American partners at a prestigious law firm, my husband still follows those rules of the road.

So when I read last Sunday's story in The Chronicle about African-American arrest disparities, I could not feign astonishment. Racial bias in the criminal-justice system is not new. Across the country, study after study reveals that if you are black, you are, as compared to your white counterparts:

-- two to three times more likely to be pulled over and searched, yet no more likely to be engaged in any criminal activity;

-- more likely to be sentenced more severely for less serious crimes, especially those involving drugs or property;

-- and, in some jurisdictions, more likely to receive the death penalty.

The disproportionate targeting of African Americans is especially acute when it comes to drug enforcement, creating overwhelmingly black prison populations that reinforce the false perception that African Americans are primarily responsible for the drug problem in this country. More than two decades after the crack epidemic swept through our nation's cities, most people still believe the myth that most crack users are black, while studies document that the majority of drug users -- including crack users -- are white.

And each time new statistics remind us that we are far from the colorblind society we often tell ourselves we are, there rises a familiar chorus that denounces the disparity, calls for more studies and promises redoubled efforts. Experts will be retained, data will be dissected, and tired debates about the extent -- or even the existence -- of a problem will ensue. Yet, those who comprise a fraction of San Francisco's residents will still be overrepresented in the criminal-justice system and subject to disproportionate police force.

The real question is: This time, will we chart a new course? Faced with numbers that San Francisco's sheriff said reflected "institutionalized racism," are we willing to confront the difficult but fundamental challenge of changing the way we police San Francisco's African-American community?

Too often, low-income African-American communities are presented with an impossible "choice": Safe neighborhoods or civil rights. Get-tough, zero-tolerance law enforcement strategies we would find intolerable in affluent communities -- aggressive stop-and-frisks, suspect "sweeps," frequent use of force -- are measures freely deployed in neighborhoods such as Bayview-Hunters Point. In the face of broken promises for community policing and the absence of alternative, preventive responses to crime, such punitive approaches seed community resentment against law enforcement. Moreover, the effectiveness of these intrusive, overbroad measures is questionable, at best.

Take, for example, the city's recent implementation of video surveillance cameras that record residents' activities 24 hours a day. The justification: Crime deterrence, although studies show that surveillance cameras do not significantly reduce crime, especially violent crime in city centers. Still, in the last year, San Francisco has expanded a "pilot" program of two cameras to more than 30 cameras, with immediate plans for 20 more.

Now, the city is trying to pursue curfews and "gang injunctions" (initially, without notifying the vast majority of individuals subject to them) -- measures that control when, where and how people can associate with one another based upon police suspicions about who might belong to a gang.

We know how to do better. "Best practices" abound in how to improve policing and public safety, such as: better street lighting; foot patrols. real community-centered policing, instead of ad-hoc, add-on programs. Several specific proposals for police reform have already been advanced in this city but not fully implemented. In the ACLU's March 2003 report, "Roadmap to Reform" we recommended better data tracking through an improved early warning system, as did the San Francisco controller. In February 2006, The Chronicle reported that Mayor Gavin Newsom said he will "run roughshod" over the San Francisco Police Department to create, by the end of the year, a computerized tracking system capable of identifying problem officers. To our knowledge, the system has yet to be implemented.

The need for a comprehensive public-safety strategy in San Francisco's communities of color is evident. Will these latest revelations move us to actually meet that need? Or will complacency and complexity allow us to assuage our discomfort with rhetoric that masquerades as response?





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Home > Press Room > Documents Show Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Pessimistic on Implementation of Driver's License Law
Documents Show Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Pessimistic on Implementation of Driver's License Law

Real ID Act Poses Expensive Logistical Problems
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 12, 2006

(Philadelphia) Newly obtained documents reveal that Pennsylvania officials are concerned that federal legislation called the Real ID Act will require extensive changes to existing practices at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Those changes will be difficult to implement by the Act’s deadline and carry heavy expenses that will have to be absorbed by Pennsylvania taxpayers and license applicants. The Real ID Act, passed by Congress last year, imposes federal regulations on the design, issuance and management of state driver’s licenses –turning them, for all practical purposes, into federal identity papers.

“Civil liberties groups, conservative groups, immigration groups – we’ve all been saying that Real ID will be a real disaster and needs to be revisited by Congress,” said Larry Frankel, Legislative Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. “These documents indicate that PennDOT officials – the people actually responsible for carrying out this ill-conceived law – also have serious problems with Real ID.”

The documents are part of a national survey of state motor vehicle officials’ views on complying with Real ID that was conducted by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). The documents were first reported today by the Associated Press. A copy of Pennsylvania’s response to the survey was obtained by the ACLU.

“Pennsylvania officials are right to be concerned,” said Frankel. “Real ID not only means a national ID, but it will also mean higher taxes and fees, longer lines, repeat visits to licensing centers, bureaucratic snafus, and, for a lot of people, the inability to obtain a license. To top it off, it will do little if anything to prevent terrorism.”

Frankel noted that the national survey responses showed that the concerns expressed by Pennsylvania’s officials are broadly shared by motor vehicles administrators around the United States. For example, no state that responded to the survey seems to believe it is possible in the near future to link all the motor vehicle information databases between all states, as the statute requires. And 3 in 4 states reacted with “medium” to “high” concern to Real ID’s extensive new document-verification requirements, which they said would involve major systems changes and increased hiring – and that is assuming that AAMVA or the federal government will build electronic systems for verification.

“Last summer, Governor Rendell warned that implementing REAL ID would cost more than $100 million just to meet this new federal mandate,” said Frankel. “Fortunately, the opposition to this bill is so broad – and is becoming broader as more people figure out what it means to them and what it would cost – that there is a very good chance that we can force Congress to take it up again.”

“Congress needs to do this right and actually hold hearings, listen to all the different interests and real-world practical difficulties, and give it an up-or-down vote, none of which happened when it was rammed through last spring,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the national ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. “Pennsylvanians need to join with others around the country and help block this disastrous law before it’s too late.”

Pennsylvania’s response to the AAMVA survey along with other documents is online at www.realnightmare.org.



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[permorreg]

Hi,

My wife's 1st temporary license is expiring tomorrow. I have currently applied for my H1b extension beyond 6th year. I have a receipt from

INS (I797 / I539) which states that we applied for extension. the approval has not come in yet. I called DMV in chicago west to expain the

entire situation. we need my wife's DL renewed as she drives my kids to school and also at times she drives in case of any emergency (to

doctor etc). The rep at DMV told me that the license cannot be renewed on the basis of the receipt notice from INS. we'll have to wait till we

get the approval (which may take months) and also get it stamped in the passport (means we'll have to travel outside USA).

Anyone have success getting the D/L renew in a similar situation , maybe in a different DMV office Or even a different state. I'll appreciate if

someone can suggest a way out. My wife still has a valid DL from home country (India). can she use that License in IL?

Somehow, I have my license till 2010, even thought my visa was expiring in this month.

Thanks
Prem

[sankneel]

Hi,

Can anyone guide me about the Road test at Rockford,IL? Any tips or guidance would be a great help.

[deepa.vicks]

Hi rahulp1 and mjdala...

did ur spouses get a license yet? or are you still waiting on the letter from Department of Homeland Security? whats the deal... why cant they just simply issue a license...
please let me know.... thanks!

Hello,
I am in the same situation? Please tell me in how many days does the approval letter come? My license is expiring in 2 weeks. Please help.

[farhodshams]

Can someone suggest how a H4 Visa holder can drive in Illinois. Currently H4 visa holders are denied SSN and DMV doesn't issue license without SSN. IDL is not valid in Illinois either.

You don't have to have SSN to get Dl in illinois now. they passed a new law last year. just go and take your permit test.

[ligiahag7902]

Hey Rahul,
you need to take the SSN Denail Letter, passport showing that you atleast have 6 months left on the passport, utility Bills showing your current address as proof for Illinois Residency(better on H4 person's name). If you don't have any Utility bills on H4 person name take utility bills on your name and keep Marriage certificate handy(though they might not ask)
When you go for Drive test make sure the H4 person has insurance on the car they drive. They are asking for a Insurance card on H4 person's name. but if you don't have time. Ask you insurance guys to fax those cards to you. would also be advisable if they can issue a letter that H4 person is an added driver on the card(though not compulsory just as a proof). Thats what I did and it worked for me. Finally a lil bit of freedom for H4s
Best of Luck

Thanks you for the post.