Driver's licence: IMPORTANT

S

Sylvia23

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I post this also here, because it could help some
peole in similar situation (or who will be soon).
This is a story of interest to anybody legally here
who want to renew his/her DL.

I got my PR (I140/I485) approved recently ,
and wanted to renew my driver's licence to have a longer
validity date (I will have to travel abroad for an extended
period, and my DL will expire before I come back).

Since I could not find information on the web if I can renew my
DL even if it is not expired, I sent an e-mail to the dept. of
motor vehicles, throught their web site. Big mistiake.

My e-mail to them was:

Hi,
Have been here on a H1B visa.
Got a driver's license with limited validity.
I became permanent resident of the US as of March, 2005. I wish to renew my driver's licence, so the change get's known at DMV and I have a DL with normal validity.
Let me know if I can go to a DL office to do the change.
Thank you in advance.

Their response:

Thank you for your recent inquiry.

Your driving privilege was cancelled, effective June 20, 2003, for failure to present documentation from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service showing your current legal immigrant status. It will be necessary that you present these documents before the cancellation can be removed from your driver history record. You may contact the Document Validation Unit at (850) 488-2637 or (850) 488-2189 for assistance.

We hope this information will assist you.
:eek:


For the record, I did renew my DL in December 2004 because
of an address change....
I took an appointment at the local DL office at that time,
because I did not want to wait for hours. Luckily, so I have proof.

Have been here legally, and driving (of course), since 2001.
In addition, my husband is a US citizen (he will be happy to learn
about the problem this evening !).

So, tomorrow I will go at my local DL office, and try to fix this mess,
THEIR (DMV) MESS.

It is really unbelievable what we, legal people in the US, have to go
through, for eveything, every day. We are treated like crooks !
Try to do it the honest way, and you will be f#.
Well, will this psychological harassment ever stop ?!?! ,
Not even when you are LPR ?
Ridiculous, unefficient bureaucracy, nothing else
to expect. Honest people get it all, it seems.
We welcome you to the US as a LPR, yeah, right !

Bottom line: do not try to e-mail or make any request to the
department of motor vehicles: they will f# U up, if they can.

I will post here my follow-up experience at the DL office.

What a welcoming country for hard-working LEGAL immigrants !

:p :p :cool:
 
Sorry to hear about your continuing GC saga..
So what are your suggestions to us, those who recently became PRs?
I understood from your posting that we should not email/write DMV as you did. But what else?

My dv license expires in early July, and my case has recently been approved.
Are you suggesting that I wait till just before the expiration date and have it renewed?

Of course, DL policies vary a lot across states, but still, keep us updated on this. Tell us exactly what *their* problem was in your case..
 
Will post it here

Dear "hanging in here",

Thank you for your support.

I got a second e-mail (15 minutes after the first one) that tells:

"Thank you for your recent inquiry.
You may visit any Florida Driver's License office, present your Permanent Resident card and apply for a six year license. You may contact the Document Validation Unit at (850) 488-2637 or (850) 488-2189 for further assistance.
We hope this information will assist you."

I called the numer, and similarly to the 800 BCIS customer service,
they are useless.

I will go to the DL office tomorrow, will take the e-mails
in case there is an issue, and see what happens.
Will post my experience in this thread.

Sick of it, really.
 
Here is my experience, and not a good one.

Be prepared:
I went to the DL office, did wait an hour,
and when my number was called they took my
old driver's licence, my green card, photocopied it,
and... gave me a temporary driving permit for 30 days !
They told that now they have to verify, and that I will
get my new DL in the mail within 30 days. It's Florida.
Having all documents, I-797D, original I-485
approval, passport with I-551 stamp, does not
help. Ridiculous.
I've been here legally since 2001, stayed with same
employer all the time, paid my taxes,
had no traffic ticket, no cerdit card debt, nothing....
Why the h### do they bother us, even after
becoming legal permanent residents ???
And with the new bill that will be signed soon by GWB,
it's not going to be better.
 
Thanks for the update..
Oh, dear, I feel sorry about the trouble you went through! I just checked my state's driver licensing bureau's web and it says PRs need to show either i-551 or the PR card for renewal. I'll find out what it's actually like in July..
I've been in the US for over 15 yrs, came here as a student and then started working.. I'm probably more accustomed than you to the bureaucracy jungle here.. Ah well.
 
It doesn't bother you to be considered like a crook
whatever you do, wherever you go ?
I felt really bad when everybody else got their DL, and
I got a f# piece of paper and being looked at like
the next terrorist...

I am in Florida :p . Lucky me. Before I moved here, I was told
that if something really screwed happens in the USA,
it's in Florida (confirmation came soon after with the first
GWB election and Florida's famous butterfly ballots).

Meanwhile I found out that if you have an unexpired
driver licence in FL, even if you are a LPR, they do
not renew your licence right away but give you a 30 days
"temporary permit" (a piece of paper) and the DL is
mailed to you (when they have checked it with BCIS ?).
This gives BCIS a new opportunity to screw it up...sure.
:D :D :D

How about you guys ? Is it a FL thing ?
Has it already spread ?
:eek:
 
That is depressing to read indeed. When my DL will expire in coming few months, I will have only 3 months left on my EAD & will have receipt for renewal EAD application. God knows what will happen!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps I will get only 3 months renewal. What a joy!
Sylvia: thanks for the info. My is TSC.
 
RAK67,

Sad to hear that.

May be there is another solution for you:
What is the validity on your I-94 ?
If it is longer than your actual EAD,
I suggest you take passport with I-94
to renew your DL.

You may wish to check the shmw web site
of your state concerning the documents they
accept as proof of legal presence.

Good luck !
 
I recently got my driving licence in Indiana. They took my EAD photocopy for verification and gave me 90 day temporary permit. I got a permanent licence within 2 weeks which is valid for 5 years. Even though they check the validity of the documents they are not tying up the licence duration to the validity of that document.

crk321
 
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