Driving license as per REAL ID act 2005

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gr8myth

Registered Users (C)
I found from the National Conference of State Legislatures that Mississippi is REAL ID compliant state since December 2013. And as per the statute of this 2005 law, (Section 202. C.2. B. IX) persons with pending adjustment of status cases can be issued the DL.

Should I not be able to renew my driver's license on the baiss of this statute? has anyone in any other compliant state used this provision?
My H1B renewal, EB1B and AOS are pending.
Thanks
 
It doesn't say that states must issue DLs to those people, just that states must make sure that people they issue DLs to are one of those people.

Plus, 6 CFR 37 lists the actual documents that states must use to verify identity and status, and none of those documents are for "pending adjustment of status cases" in general.
 
newacct said:
It doesn't say that states must issue DLs to those people, just that states must make sure that people they issue DLs to are one of those people.

Plus, 6 CFR 37 lists the actual documents that states must use to verify identity and status, and none of those documents are for "pending adjustment of status cases" in general.
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Thank you for the comment. I do see your point , but what seems confusing is : as per REAL iD statute
TEMPORARY DRIVERS' LICENSES AND IDENTIFICATION CARDS-
(i) IN GENERAL- If a person presents evidence under any of clauses (v) through (ix) of subparagraph (B), the State may only issue a temporary driver's license or temporary identification card to the person.

and (ix) of subparagraph B is an evidence of lawful status : has a pending application for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States or conditional permanent resident status in the United States.

So how is that person not eligible to receive the temporary DL?
 
newacct said:
It doesn't say that states must issue DLs to those people, just that states must make sure that people they issue DLs to are one of those people.

Plus, 6 CFR 37 lists the actual documents that states must use to verify identity and status, and none of those documents are for "pending adjustment of status cases" in general.
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Also, as per 6 CFR 37

Lawful status : A person in lawful status is a citizen or national of the United States; or an alien: lawfully admitted for permanent or temporary residence in the United States; with conditional permanent resident status in the United States; who has an approved application for asylum in the United States or has entered into the United States in refugee status; who has a valid nonimmigrant status in the United States; who has a pending application for asylum in the United States; who has a pending or approved applicatio n for temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States; who has approved deferred action status; or who has a pending application for lawful permanent residence (LPR) or conditional permanent resident status.

Is there a different interpretation, or am I reading it wrong? Please advise.
 
gr8myth said:
Also, as per 6 CFR 37

Lawful status : A person in lawful status is a citizen or national of the United States; or an alien: lawfully admitted for permanent or temporary residence in the United States; with conditional permanent resident status in the United States; who has an approved application for asylum in the United States or has entered into the United States in refugee status; who has a valid nonimmigrant status in the United States; who has a pending application for asylum in the United States; who has a pending or approved applicatio n for temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States; who has approved deferred action status; or who has a pending application for lawful permanent residence (LPR) or conditional permanent resident status.

Is there a different interpretation, or am I reading it wrong? Please advise.
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6 CFR 37, subpart B, 37.11, part (c)(1) lists the identity documents that can be used. If you don't have one of these documents, then you cannot prove your identity. Part (g) says a DMV can only issue a REAL ID card to someone who has presented satisfactory evidence of lawful status. Then it lists two cases, but in both cases the status must be proven using a document from part (c)(1) (the identity documents).

So a state cannot issue a REAL ID card to someone without one of those documents.

Anyway, the REAL ID requirements only say who a state cannot issue a REAL ID card to. It does not force a state to issue it to anyone.
 
Do you have an EAD? If not, get one based on the pending AOS application. The EAD will serve as the ID document for DL and is not tied to I-94 date.
 
newacct said:
Anyway, the REAL ID requirements only say who a state cannot issue a REAL ID card to. It does not force a state to issue it to anyone.
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I agree. I am not trying to get REAL ID per se. I am just trying to renew my DL, so as to come to work. DMV offered to renew on till the validity of I94 date, which is till tomorrow!!! I was just exploring other rules that can be looked into as last resort. DMV said my lawful status would finish when I94 expires. However, by 37.3 (DHS Definitions) one who has a pending application for lawful permanent residence (LPR) is a lawful resident. And a temporary DL can be issued to a lawful resident. I agree it is still at their discretion, and is not mandatory for them to issue one.

Apparently, checking on SAVE/VLS only returns my I94 date.

If you are a lawyer, do you think this is a point that can be made to DMV while seeking the renewal? Or should I just wait for the EAD, which my university messed up by sending OPT codes, asa opposed to AOS ones.
Thanks.
 
nkm-oct23 said:
Do you have an EAD? If not, get one based on the pending AOS application. The EAD will serve as the ID document for DL and is not tied to I-94 date.
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I was planning to do the same too. As for the EAD, my university admin messed it up by sending OPT codes, as opposed to AOS ones. Got to know in an INFOPASS meeting last week, about this blunder!

So am waiting to get the 2nd RFE letter on it, to submit a fresh 765 with the correct codes. I do not know how many days after the receipt of the response to RFE would the actual approved card reach me!

Thanks.
 
gr8myth said:
I agree. I am not trying to get REAL ID per se. I am just trying to renew my DL, so as to come to work. DMV offered to renew on till the validity of I94 date, which is till tomorrow!!! I was just exploring other rules that can be looked into as last resort. DMV said my lawful status would finish when I94 expires. However, by 37.3 (DHS Definitions) one who has a pending application for lawful permanent residence (LPR) is a lawful resident. And a temporary DL can be issued to a lawful resident. I agree it is still at their discretion, and is not mandatory for them to issue one.

Apparently, checking on SAVE/VLS only returns my I94 date.

If you are a lawyer, do you think this is a point that can be made to DMV while seeking the renewal? Or should I just wait for the EAD, which my university messed up by sending OPT codes, asa opposed to AOS ones.
Thanks.
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What the DMV accepts does not correspond to what Immigration considers to be legally present. Yes, not all people who are legally present in the U.S. are eligible for a driver's license or state ID. It's just a sucky part of how the system works. States handle IDs and cannot be expected to understand how immigration law works, which is a federal thing. For example, for fiances who come in on K1, it really sucks for them, because the K-1 status expires in 90 days, and most states will not issue a driver's license for a duration that short, and then after they get married and file AOS, it will take at least 80 days after that to get an EAD or GC, so they will have at least several months where they cannot drive. One just has to live with it.

I don't think it has anything to do with "codes" that a university sends. If you don't have one of the documents the DMV accepts, then you are out of luck. Also, if you're F1 (since you talk about OPT), there shouldn't be a date on your I-94. They should go by your I-20.

(Also a side note: Technically, after your F1 status expires, you don't have "legal status", but you are not deportable while you have a pending AOS. Also, technically, if you're F1, you have a 60 day grace period after the I-20 expires, but DMVs also do not consider this.)

According to this document, 13 states have passed laws for driver's licenses without proof of legal status, and it should already be effective in 6 states (IL, MD, NM, NV, OR, VT) by now. So if you are in one of those states, you can get one of those driver's licenses.
 
gr8myth said:
Yes. They refused to renew my license beyond my current I94 date, which is of jan 10th , 2014. So I am looking at other legal ways to seek the renewal.
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Go back (or preferably, a different DMV office) and don't show your I-94. When you show them multiple documents, they tend to go by the one that expires first, even if other later documents show that your status extends beyond the earlier expiring ones. I had that problem when showing my I-94 and EAD; I-94 expired first so they made the license expire with the I-94.

So next time, show your SS card, I-485 receipt and EAD, don't even bring your I-94 there. If they ask for your I-94, tell them it's not relevant now because you have applied for adjustment of status to permanent resident. If the clerk gives you a problem, insist on seeing their supervisor. If the supervisor also gives you a problem, tell them you know you have legal status and that all you are asking is that they take a copy of your documents and verify your status with the Immigration authorities before issuing the license.
 
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