For all VA Green Card applicants: READ

[Al Southner]

Guys,

If you live in VA and are planning on filing for a green card, BE AWARE effective immediately, Employment Authorization Document WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AS PROOF OF LEGAL RESIDENCY for the purpose of obtaining a driver's license or identity document. There is a looser who killed a nun and had a EAD, even though he was facing a deportation proceeding for previous DUI offense. As a result, VA is cracking a huge whip on all immigrants...

See the story on the Washington Post, and even if you don't live in DC Metropolitan area, such a step isn't a far fetched step by many conservative states.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...9/07/ST2010090707009.html?sid=ST2010090707009

 

[TheRealCanadian]

It makes sense. An EAD has never been proof of legal status, and lazy/stupid DMVs were using it as such to boost their revenue since it meant they could restrict DLs to a year at a time.

 

[Jackolantern]

What a stupid knee-jerk reaction. What makes this reaction extra dumb is that the guy didn't even have a license. All he had was a state ID which doesn't grant a right to drive anyway, so if the DMV rejected him it wouldn't have prevented the accident.

What next? A citizen who used a naturalization certificate as proof of legal status drove at 90mph through a residential street and killed some babies, so the naturalization certificate will no longer be acceptable!

So now what will they accept as proof of legal status for somebody with a pending I-485 whose visa and I-94 have expired? Many states don't accept the I-485 receipt.

 

[Jackolantern]

It makes sense. An EAD has never been proof of legal status, and lazy/stupid DMVs were using it as such to boost their revenue since it meant they could restrict DLs to a year at a time.

The EAD is a useful tool for proving status, if verified with USCIS before issuing the license or ID. It has multiple items of information that make it easy for USCIS to identify the individual and determine their status.

 

[Al Southner]

Jack,

Remember that VA is one of the most conservative states in the union. Fortunately, the growth of Northern VA has neutralized what could have been an extremely conservative state, because a lot of immigrants has settled in the suburbia there, obtain US citizenship and vote. I am not sure how familiar you are with VA, vast majority of the state is rural, all the way to the TN/KY border areas. The new Gov and AG seem to be on a mission to become an extreme red state. It is an overreaction, but it is now law in VA.

 

[f1study]

An EAD has never been proof of legal status, and lazy/stupid DMVs were using it as such to boost their revenue since it meant they could restrict DLs to a year at a time.

Completely agree, and now it's even more stupid of them to stop doing that just because of this ONE guy (who didn't have license anyway). I'm not in VA, but I can imagine how people there feel when dealing with all these twists and turns.