Drivers License issue with pending AOS

T

thirdrocker

Registered Users (C)
PA department of Transportation (PENNDOT) will not issue drivers license if you cannot provide documentary evidence of your legality of stay in US for atleast one year.

They are not willing to accept the pending AOS plea nor the EAD, if expiry is under a year.

I was told to get a letter from INS/BCIS saying that I'm legal in the country for the next 365 days!!!...they dont do that !!

Has anyone encountered this problem?
Please advise.Greatly appreciated.
 
yes PA and NJ are worst states for DL. Seems u are from bay area and i hope u hold CA DL. Keep using that and renew that if possible. Those states suck after 9/11 for issueing DL.
 
Apparently, it is the official policy in PA. Check this out:
http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms/misc/Pub_195.pdf

"Non-immigrants granted entry for less than one year are not eligible for a PA Driver's license, Learner's permit or ID cards"

However there are no details w.r.t documentation needed for AOS applicants. If you have a visa like H1 or H4 valid for more than a year, you could use it instead.
 
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Yup, use CA DL, PA/NJ are just too damn difficult. You only have to read the horror stories on other 485 forums.

Interestingly my experience with CA DMV has been excellent. I got a letter in the mail asking me if I wanted to apply for my renewal by mail. I sent them a 24 $ check and within 2 weeks received a DL valid for 5 years. Hopefully this 485 process should be resolved by then, and I won't have to change states. In which case, don't have to worry about DL till 2009.
 
Nj

Totally agree - in a lot of ways they are worse than USCIS. NJ DMV accepted the I-485 receipt however in the end. They asked a LOT of questions about how our visa status and what my husbands job was, what he was doing, what I was doing - were the kids born here etc...

We stayed there 6 1/2 hours --- it was a nightmare...:(
 
its like money minting for NJ MVS now just like INS. your DL get suspended and then you have to pay 100$ to get it back and that too for the lenght of your EAD or iEAD. this sucks. I was planning to move to NJ but then decided to stick in CA till my GC because of those horror stories.
 
I agree and dis-agree about PA.

I'm from PA, and believe me, it depends on county to county. My colleague's wife got kicked out Huntington Valley PendDOT center. So next day he drove six miles to another DL center and his wife got the license.

In my case, my wife got license without any problem from the same center my colleague got kicked out of... so it usually is dependent on the person when you go to the DL center.

As far as 'theories' about PA and NJ are concerned, most are just that.

Best is to use your good old street smarts and just go to another center without wasting 6 hrs trying to reason with the idiot you are unfortunate enough to deal with. Now Thats really stupid.

PS: No offence meant to Anyone!!!!!.. This is just meant to be helpful advice rooted in long and hard experience!
 
Originally posted by 140_takes_4ever
Yup, use CA DL, PA/NJ are just too damn difficult. You only have to read the horror stories on other 485 forums.

Interestingly my experience with CA DMV has been excellent. I got a letter in the mail asking me if I wanted to apply for my renewal by mail. I sent them a 24 $ check and within 2 weeks received a DL valid for 5 years. Hopefully this 485 process should be resolved by then, and I won't have to change states. In which case, don't have to worry about DL till 2009.
Click to expand...

maybe you should try AZ - I got a license valid for 33 years for $10.
 
How about VA?

Is there any problem in Virginia getting DL?

I am moving there so please share.

ganshm
 
well...

"As far as 'theories' about PA and NJ are concerned, most are just that.

Best is to use your good old street smarts and just go to another center without wasting 6 hrs trying to reason with the idiot you are unfortunate enough to deal with. Now Thats really stupid.

PS: No offence meant to Anyone!!!!!.. This is just meant to be helpful advice rooted in long and hard experience!"


Just because you say "no offence" does not make the statement inoffensive.

"Theories", no ---- "experience" I think you would call it. Is everyones experience the same? No, it isn't, but that is why there are boards like this to offer help and support. Otherwise there would be a page posted with rules and absolutes when going through the immigration process.

You gave excellent advice - no need to make us all sound like lesser beings for not knowing it.
 
toonarmy, I sincerely apologize for sounding rude. I did not mean it that way.

What I was trying to say was not to waste too much time arguing with someone at the DL center. It makes more sense to find another DL center and go there. Many people, I believe, do not know that they Can go to another center in the same state.

Ironically, the worst thing you can do is being over-sincere when it comes to dealing with stupid officials.
 
you are so right

unless you get the rare individual with a heart behind the counter, some seem to delight the more you squirm!
 
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