Here... Not yet Married - But now what?

[feli114 65]

Welcome to the land of enchantment

[Chris921 13]

i would apply for my drivers licence once married but before the i-94 runs out, because you end up stuck waiting for ead or gc to then get a licence :S but it is upto you if you apply for the SSN. if you apply for it now you will have to go back and get the name changed after you're married, but if you wait till you're married make sure you do it with more then 2 weeks of validity left on the i-94

[bigdog 376]

Do what you can do, AZ your DL will expiere when your I94 expires, get your SSS two weeks after entry. You will have to reup your DL when you get your I797 showing you filed for AOS. Good Luck..

[SF2007 48]

but if you get a New Mexico license and it expires, you are in the system as "license to operate a motor vehicle expired" and that's something that would prevent you from driving (lawfully) with your British license as well.

I understand your point but I do not understand how her driver's license would expire. I got mine for 8 years with my SSN and proof of residence. No need to adjust with a green card later.

It is true that on paper, NM allows you to obtain a driver's license without a social of proof of legal immigration. But in reality, they require you to make an appointment for that and they don't book them anymore. The state is currently being sued because when they realized many illegal immigrants used their legally obtained driver's license without proof of residence, they tried to recall hundreds of thousands of them. Most of the letters they sent to recall them have bounced back and they realized they were in deeper than they thought... So right now in NM if you got no social, you got no license.

[MIDUVIL 34]

Hello,

Like somebody else told you.

If you need a SSN, you need to go to the SSA, before the term of your I-94.

I don't know for other states, but for NYS, you can apply 10 days after your arrival with a I-94.

Be aware also that they can tell you "you can't apply for a SSN", so check on the SSA, and print some informations.

My husband and me we had to convince the manager that what she was reading was true, that you can apply for a SSN with a valid I-94.

Check on the SSA site of your place of residency, if you want to have your driver licence or other "benefits", it's better to have the SSN, early, WITH A VALID I-94, if not you will have to wait for your EAD (around 6 months minimum).

It seems me that I didn't reply your question -sorry.

Edited October 8, 2011 by MIDUVIL

[newlyweds2010 208]

I thought the whole point was that NM does not require lawful presence to issue a DL. Therefore, you can go there whenever you want, and they will issue a DL which is valid for the normal amount of time a DL is valid for (here in CA it's 5 years, I don't know in NM). At that point, you're good to go. I wouldn't keep driving around with a foreign license. There is no reason to do so. And when your NM license expires (in some years from now), you will go back to the DMV and renew it. By then you will also have a green card, but nobody will want to see it, unless they change the law in the meantime.