Obtaining driver's license while in ROC

[ManuFred 10]

Frankly, I'm not so concerned about the ROC process. What does bother me is the hassle it has been to get my driver's license renewed.

Here is mine:

* Got my first US (Utah) driver's license in Feb 2006 while being here on J1 VISA. At that point no body seemed to bother about VISA expiration so was issued 5-year license through March 2011

* Left US for about a year to return to my girl friend (now wife) on K1 VISA. She had moved to Missouri at the time.

* At MO license office in Sept 2008 I was told they could get me a license up to the expiry date of my VISA (K1) which was Oct 2008 (1 month). No thank you! They didn't care for AOS letter at the time. Fine I'll keep driving on my old license. Sure, that's fine, the lady said.

* Went back after conditional GC received in Dec 2008. I was told same thing so they were able to issue me a license till December 2010. My thought: By that date most likely my ROC will not be approved so what am I gonna do at that point. They had no clue about AOS letter the first time so will they care for extension letter. Probably, maybe not?! Kept the old license.

* Now, we have moved to Arizona few months ago and tried to get it renewed over here. Same thing so was able to get a new license upto Dec 2010. Kept the old license again.

* It is Dec 2010 so beyond expiry date of conditional GC and not approved so far. My status is in crappy condition for which a service request is being processed now. So my case could take little longer than march 2011, the date my drivers license expires. Will probably be hard to get it renewed.

I'm interested to know what your experiences are with this. Sounds familiar?

Edited December 23, 2010 by ManuFred

[YuAndDan 153]

Not an issue for my wife here in NY state. NY simply issues 8 year licenses if shorter then they could not collect as much revenue, so 8 years it is to get the maximum revenue.

One thing that helps is a SSN card WITHOUT the DHS auth notation on it, you can get this after getting a 2 year or 10 year green-card.

[Nimaan 27]

ManuFred,

Same here in GA. The license expiry date is the same as the 2 yr conditional GC expiration date. Once you get the 10 yr GC, then they only issue you 5 yr licenses, For US citizens, they get 10 yr licenses.

I was somehow lucky because mine expired in July 2006 and at that time I was able to get a 10 yr license (the law was not in place yet). I guess I will in worry in 2016.

Edited December 23, 2010 by Nimaan

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If your DL expires before you receive your 10 year green card, you can renew your license using your green card and the extension letter. If the extension letter expires (more than a year to do ROC) you can get an I-551 stamp placed in your passport providing proof that your PR status is extended for another year. You can then use this to get your DL renewed until the date on the immigration document. I had to go through that as well renewing DL every year until I got my 10 year card in hand. Even then Georgia only allows a maximum of 3 years for a non-citizen. So, yeah, it is frustrating, but you do have options to keep renewing your DL until you get your 10 year card.

[dolphin1 5]

I live in Arizona, and i was able to extend my drivers license using the ROC extension letter. They know about the extension letters immigrants get.

[woodenshoe101 2]

ManuFred,

St. Louis MO, here. I had to renew my DL, because the one I had was valid until the expiration of my conditional GC. MO is a backwards state in many ways, but they are insanely strict (compared to Illinois anyway) when it comes to DL renewal.

I took my NOA1 letter and was issued a new DL with expiration of 1 year after the expiration of conditional GC (well... they mail the DL to you after you drive around with a paper printout for a few weeks :S). The thing that bugs me about this: expiration of GC is not the same as being out of status... employers cannot consider GC expiration dates in making hiring decisions for this reason, but a DL office apparently can make that interpretation. As a result, I have to apply for a DL 3 times in 2 years (with associated costs and hassle).

So, in MO, they will accept the NOA1 as valid for a DL extension, but indeed only for 1 year. I would imagine other states do the same... Although AZ may be worse than most with their renegade immigration law bs.

[ManuFred 10]

Yeah, I think nobody really thought about these things when these new laws came in to place. I'm gonna give it another shot in few months. Hopefully ROC will be approved by then.

Thanks for your responses!

[Ann 26 1]

Frankly, I'm not so concerned about the ROC process. What does bother me is the hassle it has been to get my driver's license renewed.

Here is mine:

* Got my first US (Utah) driver's license in Feb 2006 while being here on J1 VISA. At that point no body seemed to bother about VISA expiration so was issued 5-year license through March 2011

* Left US for about a year to return to my girl friend (now wife) on K1 VISA. She had moved to Missouri at the time.

* At MO license office in Sept 2008 I was told they could get me a license up to the expiry date of my VISA (K1) which was Oct 2008 (1 month). No thank you! They didn't care for AOS letter at the time. Fine I'll keep driving on my old license. Sure, that's fine, the lady said.

* Went back after conditional GC received in Dec 2008. I was told same thing so they were able to issue me a license till December 2010. My thought: By that date most likely my ROC will not be approved so what am I gonna do at that point. They had no clue about AOS letter the first time so will they care for extension letter. Probably, maybe not?! Kept the old license.

* Now, we have moved to Arizona few months ago and tried to get it renewed over here. Same thing so was able to get a new license upto Dec 2010. Kept the old license again.

* It is Dec 2010 so beyond expiry date of conditional GC and not approved so far. My status is in crappy condition for which a service request is being processed now. So my case could take little longer than march 2011, the date my drivers license expires. Will probably be hard to get it renewed.

I'm interested to know what your experiences are with this. Sounds familiar?

I am in the process of ROC. I took my 1 year extension letter with my green card and they renewed my license for 1 year. After 1 year I have to renew my license again and pay $ 22 fee. I live in Nevada. I don't know Arizona laws (they seem to be tough there ).

Good luck