• Hello Members, This forums is for DV lottery visas only. For other immigration related questions, please go to our forums home page, find the related forum and post it there.

POE stamp and Driving license

S

sagamihara_boy

Registered Users (C)
Hello guys,
I am a DV2008 winner and I entered US on late march 2008. I am in a little problem and I would be extremely thankful if you guys could educate me on this matter.
I went to Denton, Texas (Department of Public Safety) to apply for the driving license. But the lady looked at my visa and said that she cannot accept my application because the date on my visa is less than 6 months. Now the problem is, all the DV visas are valid for 6 months and when you enter US after getting a visa, your visa would be always less then 6 months. At POE, they stamped "admitted" and in the visa itself it is written "upon endorsement it is valid for 1 year". So basically it is valid for a year and I have no problem with that. However the lady there is not buying it and says I can apply only after I have a GC. I will get a GC within a few months, but that also means, I can't drive till I get the GC and literally in US, it also means I cant get a job because I can't commute to work.
I would be thankful if anyone who came to Texas faced similar problem or what it is like in another state. I would like to belive that the lady here is wrong, because it does not make sense, but I would like to hear your comments on it.

Thank you
Sagamihara_boy
 
Yes, that lady is wrong but unfortunately that's not a unique case. You should also have a date stamp on the visa or on the page next to it. I also applied for the driver's licence before I had the "real" card, and at first they gave it to me for a year from the date when the visa was issued, but when I showed them the date stamp and pointed out that it's valid for a year upon endorsement, they gave me the driver's licence for a year from that date. You should go back there and hopefully you will get to talk to someone else.
Good luck!
 
well just went to the DMV in VA today and even I got my GC already (I think I lost it in a bar on saturday) they said that the Welcome notice letter also helps so that's what I'll do, BTW GC are arriving after a month of the arrival I think you should wait a little bit.
 
Thank you for the advice guys,
Well, I went to another City Department of Public Safety and the guy there also told me the same thing. They said "For verification purposes in TEXAS, they want the date in your visa stamp to be more than 6 months. I tried explain them about all the facts of "upon endoresment....", but they were not going to buldge. So sad, but I once again returned empty handed.
Has anyone this kind of experience in Texas or in any other state?

Thanks
Sagamihara_boy
 
wait and they need SSN and your statuse to process.
after all you must need to pass both general and road tests first to have DL
 
you can choose to talk to their supervisor and explain to them that it is an IMMIGRANT visa, and its validity is irrelevant. Or, you can drive with your foreign license.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top