Renewing Driver's License in Virginia (required documents)

[danaandjeremy 0]

So I've had my VA driver's license since 2007 when I started school, and since then I have graduated, started working on an OPT, and currently have a green card application pending with the interview in a few weeks.

I saw that my license was to expire on July 15, and walked into DMV today to renew my license, with just my license, because that's what all my American friends and family do.

Of course, they sent me back. Even if you already have a license, a conditional license for non U.S citizens cannot simply be renewed, they need to check your documents for legal presence again. (It turns out July 15 happens to be the date my student visa expires.) After a search here in visajourney, it looked like in Virginia an NOA (not for EAD) is acceptable, but I did some research to make sure that would be enough, and found this link from the Virginia DMV website that fellow VA residents on VJ may find helpful:

Acceptable Documents by Legal Status [to establish legal presence]: http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/pdf/accept_doc_status.pdf

I will be going back with my passport and the I-797 receipt for my I-485.

[Caryh 5,206]

So I've had my VA driver's license since 2007 when I started school, and since then I have graduated, started working on an OPT, and currently have a green card application pending with the interview in a few weeks.

I saw that my license was to expire on July 15, and walked into DMV today to renew my license, with just my license, because that's what all my American friends and family do.

Of course, they sent me back. Even if you already have a license, a conditional license for non U.S citizens cannot simply be renewed, they need to check your documents for legal presence again. (It turns out July 15 happens to be the date my student visa expires.) After a search here in visajourney, it looked like in Virginia an NOA (not for EAD) is acceptable, but I did some research to make sure that would be enough, and found this link from the Virginia DMV website that fellow VA residents on VJ may find helpful:

Acceptable Documents by Legal Status [to establish legal presence]: http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/pdf/accept_doc_status.pdf

I will be going back with my passport and the I-797 receipt for my I-485.

I'd get a printout from the DMV of your state, rather than a third party web site. It might be accurate, but it may not be viewed as official unless it comes from the DMV of Virginia.

Opps sorry, that is from their site, I thought is was from DMV.org a third party site.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Caryh