just received my California driver's licence

[bluebird80 4]

Hi all,

so I finally just received my CA driver's license, and it is valid beyond my conditional permanent resident expiration date (I got the 5 year and not the limited term one). Is that okay or is it an error?

I am wondering because before we lived in Pennsylvania and the PA DMV only issued me a limited term one. In addition, the California DMV is very messy. I never received my original driver's license and I had to apply for a duplicate to get anything at all, so it's not unlikely that they messed the forms up. Not only that, but when applying for the duplicate the system printed out a voter registration receipt (to my complete horror, I know I can't vote, I checked the "I don't want to register to vote" box and I obviously did not complete the voter registration form). We had to ask the clerk to delete the DL form and fill a new one, just in case (and at that time no voter registration receipt came out), but I am wondering whether they had messed something up and that's why I got an unlimited DL.

I mean, I'm so happy I finally got the DL, I don't want to rock the boat unnecessarily, but I also don't want to somehow get in trouble on account of that. I also know states differ and some states issue unlimited DLs to conditional permanent residents. I just couldn't find any specific info about CA.

Thanks!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The Driver License or Identification Card should expire when your legal presence document expires. Maybe the state legislature decided California would no longer subscribe to the requirements of the REAL ID act. Strange things happen in Sacramento.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl32.htm

[bluebird80 4]

I looked at the REAL ID act (epic.org/privacy/id_cards/real_id_act.pdf , read Section 202.2.B and 202.2.C). What it says is that temporary driver's license should be issued to certain non-immigrants, and it specifically does not include the conditional permanent resident (which is also an immigrant category). Therefore based on this document only, the dmv can issue regular driver's licenses to conditional permanent residents.

But I do not know what they actually do in CA. What I am worried is that they could have somehow written the wrong immigration status for me, so I was wondering what other people's experience with them is.

Also, if this is indeed an error, how should I correct it? Their customer service does not answer legal presence questions and there is no way to get in touch with people who can answer such questions...

Edited September 7, 2013 by bluebird80

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I have talked to the legal presence person in Sacramento. She alone verifies all the documents submitted to show legal presence. The Permanent Resident card is a listed document.

[bluebird80 4]

Yes, the conditional permanent resident card is listed as proof of legal presence, but it is not listed under the subdivision of documents which require that the DL is limited term one (such documents are all non immigrant visas).
How would you reach that woman? Is there a phone number or some way at all to talk to her?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Yes, the conditional permanent resident card is listed as proof of legal presence, but it is not listed under the subdivision of documents which require that the DL is limited term one (such documents are all non immigrant visas).

How would you reach that woman? Is there a phone number or some way at all to talk to her?

There is no such thing as a "conditional permanent resident card". There is only a Permanent Resident card. The difference, and the only difference, is that yours was issued for two years only, and will not be reissued unless you meet certain conditions.

I called the main Sacramento office, and was switched to her office. Of course, she wasn't there, but I left a voice mail message. She returned my call next day. The DMV "lost" our renewal packet, so I faxed a copy of the new card to her, and she expedited a new CA ID card to us.

[bluebird80 4]

Well I was just wondering what other people's experience with CA dmv has been. Maybe depending on the dmv office they sometimes issue a limited term and sometimes a regular DL for permanent residents under the conditional clause?
Again, there's nothing in the REAL ID act that says they have to issue the limited term ones in the case of permanent residents under the conditional clause (the restrictions ONLY apply to non immigrant visas), so it must be a matter of practice.

[bigdog 376]

No matter what I would straighten out the voter issue as you are not a USC,

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

(the restrictions ONLY apply to non immigrant visas)

Not true.

[bluebird80 4]

We checked online and I am not registered to vote (California has a website where you can check that with your day of birth and address). But that does not mean there isn't some other error.
Going by the REAL ID act phrasing permanent residents do not fall under the category that requires states to give them limited term drivers (read the document carefully). But that does not mean that states do not do that anyways. I tried to find any regulations which were specific to CA, but there weren't any (the CA DMV website does not state anything specific for permanent residents under the conditional clause).
Hence again, I'd like to ask if anyone in California has had experience with getting a CA DL, and if so, was it a limited term one or a 5 year one.
Thanks!

Edited September 7, 2013 by bluebird80

[AnotherLostSoul 167]

Bluebird: I have came to the US when I was a kid on a visa. I have changed/renewed visas thousand times throughout the years. I've got my first CA DL when I was 15 years old. I was at that time specifically on J2. Then later on I got to be H4, then later on F1 and then later on married and got a conditional GC like you. Throughout all these years since I've got my first DL CA DMV never ever asked for my actually status (I easily could have been illegal I guess) and they never ever followed up if I was still J2, or what just happened. I've been renewing my DL every five years online with my 15 years old photo on my license. I think CA does not check status, or only checks if your 'legal' or not. They don't care if your on a non-immigrant visa that expires a year from now, or if you have a dual intent visa that expires 3 years from now, or if you have a green card that happen to be expiring in about 2 years. And once you have your DL they will never ever check your status again, you just renew it online...I'm not saying this is how it will go for you and maybe I just fell through the cracks, but I never had any problems renewing my license that I would have to do every 5 years. This is just my humble opinion. If you want, you can call them, or go back to DVM and ask them if they have paid attention to the expiration date of your GC when issuing your 5 year DL. Good luck with whatever you do!

[bluebird80 4]

Hmm...I wonder if this is what happened in my case too! See I never received the original license and so I had to go to the DMV and ask for a duplicate, which I received in the mail. They did not ask to see documents again, only that I filled out the form. I assumed the duplicate would have the same expiration date as the original one, but maybe it doesn't and they just issue a 5 year one...

[missicy 87]

I applied for a driver license last year with my 2-year green card. It expires on my birthday in 2016 so my experience was same as yours (except that mine is valid 4 years, not 5 - apparently they're not consistent with that either, strange).

[bluebird80 4]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience!

missicy: the fact that someone else in my immigration situation received the "regular" DL and not the limited term one is encouraging. Maybe there isn't an error after all, and sometimes they just issue a regular license.

AnotherLostSoul: thanks for sharing your story! I do feel that in past years DMV offices cared little about immigration status and were willing to issue the same documents to everyone, with less dependance on their immigration status, and they have become more strict in recent years. It's funny but before I became a CR I was also on an F1 visa, and then I could get a regular ID card and DL. If anything, it seems like the DMV offices are more strict and restrictive when they see a CR than when they see someone with an F1 visa...(the CR was supposed to give me more freedom, and in some respects I feel it gives me less freedom to do things and to be more restrictive than the F1 visa).

I'll try and call the sacramento people on Monday and ask what they have put down as my legal presence (if they can tell me at all). If they have the correct status or if they can't tell me I'll leave it at that, and if they somehow have something else written down I'll take it from there.

It's funny because I really try to be responsible and do the right thing, but it's incredibly hard to do that when the DMV clerks can't do their own job and follow their own rules! Uh..(frustrated...)

Edited September 7, 2013 by bluebird80

[Akwunomy 4]

My conditional Residency card will expire this September but my driving license which was issued on June 2012...will expire on Feb. 2016. I am from California. So i think you are ok with that.