No Green Card yet and driver's license is about to expire

[Vin75 0]

My wife still hasn't recieved her green card yet and her Driver's License is set to expire in February. The immigration office claims they mailed the greencard to us back in September. We've actually filed paperwork I-90(without fee) for this in November claiming the green card was never recieved. The immigration office stated that since there is no receipt for the I-90 paperwork there is no way to track the status of this application. The immigration office is no help at all and they say getting the green card could take another 6 months what's the point of that so they can lose it in the mail again? With out a DL my wife will not be able to get to work. The NJ DMV says they will not renew her license with out a green card. The stamp on her passport is also about to expire. Isn't there someone I can escalate issues like this to? I wish they would let us just pick up the green card somewhere to avoid these issues. Anyone have any suggestions on how I should go about this?

[Dakine 26]

My wife still hasn't recieved her green card yet and her Driver's License is set to expire in February. The immigration office claims they mailed the greencard to us back in September. We've actually filed paperwork I-90(without fee) for this in November claiming the green card was never recieved. The immigration office stated that since there is no receipt for the I-90 paperwork there is no way to track the status of this application. The immigration office is no help at all and they say getting the green card could take another 6 months what's the point of that so they can lose it in the mail again? With out a DL my wife will not be able to get to work. The NJ DMV says they will not renew her license with out a green card. The stamp on her passport is also about to expire. Isn't there someone I can escalate issues like this to? I wish they would let us just pick up the green card somewhere to avoid these issues. Anyone have any suggestions on how I should go about this?

Have your senator check into it!

[HC09 0]

I agree with the above! You need to get these issues heard, and quickly. Have you scheduled an infopass appointment to speak in person at your USICS office or were you told over the phone? I would keep on them. It seems you were legitimately mucked about, which is unfair.

Here's the link to write to your relevant Congressman, should you choose this option: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

I am writing to them currently aswell over the licence issue. The Motor Registry are extremely difficult to deal with and they don't seem to be in sync with immigration policies because they kept feeding me the wrong facts. I can't get a licence at all because i had less than 60 days remaining on my K1 visa the second time I applied for a licence (the first time, I was knocked back because I needed a SSN. Go figure, by the time I got the SSN, it was less than the 60 days left amd they refused me again). Because I can't get a licence, I have no official NJ photo ID. WIthout that, I can't get fingerprints to work as a substitute teacher from the NJ Dept of Ed (they won't accept USCIS fingerprints). So, I'm literally finsihed until I get permanent residence. Can't work, can't drive (well, I can, on my international licence, but I won't get insurance!). To make matters worse, my first set of Biometrics were "unreadable", so I am back there again a second time, and wasted another 4 weeks of waiting.

Good luck!

[Udonboy 0]

I agree with the above! You need to get these issues heard, and quickly. Have you scheduled an infopass appointment to speak in person at your USICS office or were you told over the phone? I would keep on them. It seems you were legitimately mucked about, which is unfair.

Here's the link to write to your relevant Congressman, should you choose this option: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

I am writing to them currently aswell over the licence issue. The Motor Registry are extremely difficult to deal with and they don't seem to be in sync with immigration policies because they kept feeding me the wrong facts. I can't get a licence at all because i had less than 60 days remaining on my K1 visa the second time I applied for a licence (the first time, I was knocked back because I needed a SSN. Go figure, by the time I got the SSN, it was less than the 60 days left amd they refused me again). Because I can't get a licence, I have no official NJ photo ID. WIthout that, I can't get fingerprints to work as a substitute teacher from the NJ Dept of Ed (they won't accept USCIS fingerprints). So, I'm literally finsihed until I get permanent residence. Can't work, can't drive (well, I can, on my international licence, but I won't get insurance!). To make matters worse, my first set of Biometrics were "unreadable", so I am back there again a second time, and wasted another 4 weeks of waiting.

Good luck!

My wife is exactly in the same boat as you. She went to the CA DMV today to take the written test and they wouldn't let her take it because she has no green card and there's less than 60days on her K1. The problem they told us was that they can't verify her birthdate. They don't accept a foreign passport or birth certificate as evidence and will only accept an INS document with her birthday on it, and the one that she does have from the INS with her birthdate is set to expire next month, so they won't accept that. They say they can only let her take the test if A) She has a green card or B) She has a document from the INS with her birthdate on it that's more than 60days away from expiration. We just filed for the AOS so we won't be getting a green card anytime soon. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[HC09 0]

See, this is what is so ridiculous! They tell me in New Jersey that I can't get a licence because my visa has less than 60 days expiry left on it. When on my third visit (and denial) i requested to speak to a supervisor, she told me that I need to wait until I get an I-551 stamp (ie. green card proof) in my passport as evidence of my legal residency. You won't get the I-551 stamp (if you get it at all) in your passport until (if/when) you are called for the AOS interview. If you're not called for an interview (which in some cases, you're not because they may process without it), you won't get the stamp at all. Hence, waiting until the green card actually arrives.

Meanwhile, you're told in California that your wife can't have a driver's licence because they can't verify her brithdate??? See, in NJ, that was not an issue, handing in my foreign passport and birth certificate never brought a mention.

Now I discover that I can infact get a licence here in NJ once I get the Employment Authorization card in hand , but no-one official at the Motor Commission told me that, not even the supervisor! I had to discover it for myself via their 6-point ID verification brochure on the nj website. When I called to make sure this was the case, they had to put me through to 3 different people to get an answer. The last person I spoke to was plain surly, but she confirmed what I read. I asked for her name so I had proof to back me up that someone told me this. I've highlighted the section of their PDF brochure that states that having an EAD and social security number make me eligible.

You have to rely on yourself to get the truth, unfortunately. I would suggest scrutinizing the website for any info (this is what I did) and print whatever you find off and take it as proof. Don't let them tell you that you have to wait until she gets a green card in order to qualify. This is what I believed too until I took a closer look at the relevant website and found that an EAD is also valid (with an SSN). It's still a wait, but not as long as for the green card at least! I'm waiting on the EAD now and then I am going straight into their office!

I've copied the birth date verfification documents for you for the CA DMV below, or you can view yourself at: http://dmv.ca.gov/dl/dl_info.htm#BDLP

Valid foreign passport with a valid Record of Arrival/Departure (form I-94)

Employment Authorization Card

Notice of Action (I-797 Approved Petition)

Hope this helps and good luck!

I agree with the above! You need to get these issues heard, and quickly. Have you scheduled an infopass appointment to speak in person at your USICS office or were you told over the phone? I would keep on them. It seems you were legitimately mucked about, which is unfair.

Here's the link to write to your relevant Congressman, should you choose this option: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

I am writing to them currently aswell over the licence issue. The Motor Registry are extremely difficult to deal with and they don't seem to be in sync with immigration policies because they kept feeding me the wrong facts. I can't get a licence at all because i had less than 60 days remaining on my K1 visa the second time I applied for a licence (the first time, I was knocked back because I needed a SSN. Go figure, by the time I got the SSN, it was less than the 60 days left amd they refused me again). Because I can't get a licence, I have no official NJ photo ID. WIthout that, I can't get fingerprints to work as a substitute teacher from the NJ Dept of Ed (they won't accept USCIS fingerprints). So, I'm literally finsihed until I get permanent residence. Can't work, can't drive (well, I can, on my international licence, but I won't get insurance!). To make matters worse, my first set of Biometrics were "unreadable", so I am back there again a second time, and wasted another 4 weeks of waiting.

Good luck!

My wife is exactly in the same boat as you. She went to the CA DMV today to take the written test and they wouldn't let her take it because she has no green card and there's less than 60days on her K1. The problem they told us was that they can't verify her birthdate. They don't accept a foreign passport or birth certificate as evidence and will only accept an INS document with her birthday on it, and the one that she does have from the INS with her birthdate is set to expire next month, so they won't accept that. They say they can only let her take the test if A) She has a green card or B) She has a document from the INS with her birthdate on it that's more than 60days away from expiration. We just filed for the AOS so we won't be getting a green card anytime soon. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[KasAla 0]

You have to rely on yourself to get the truth.

Welcome to America.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

To the original OP - if your greencard was sent and never arrived, you can make an INFOPASS appointment and get the I-551 stamp placed in your wife's passport. That will help her with the DL and work issues. Definitely contact your Senator's office as well to track down the missing greencard. While on INFOPASS you can also have them verify that they have your correct address on file. Good luck.

[Old Dominion 26]

Make that the senior Senator from NJ.