American Driver's Licence on K1 visa

[maruska&chris 7]

Hi guys, I know there has been some topic like this, but I'd like to tell you my experience...

...as a K1 visa holder, before you apply for AOS, you CAN have American driver's license.

I recommend doing it as soon as you have SSN and changed name on the card to your married name.

I think it's so worth it, because you can finally have an American I.D. and also finally a first I.D. with your married name on it!! :-)

All you need for application is actual application, passport, I-94, proof of address where you live, marriage certificate and that's it.

Have a great day, guys! :-)

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from Fam.-based AOS to Moving to the US and Your New Life in America Forum~

~Similar topics are often discussed at this forum~

(mod hat off)

This forum is replete with threads from folks with differing experiences settling in different States. Since it is the individual States that have jurisdiction over DOL/DMV rules/regulations/licenses, it behooves a new immigrant to become acquainted with the rules and regulations of their individual states. YMMV.

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

Did you not get it just until your I-94 expires, though?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Did you not get it just until your I-94 expires, though?

I know in my state that's the rules

[maruska&chris 7]

Ok guys, I'm sorry! I should've known that every state is different... well.. for everyone in KY, it was that easy! Maybe the people had no idea what they're doing!

[S + E 1]

Hi Everyone,

I agree it is very much dependent on each individual state's legislation and even then you might be at a mercy of the particular government worker you are dealing with. I was going to wait for my EAD and then change SSN to my married name and get driving license but after reading posts on VJ I decided to give it a shot.

This is what I found out - the office I dealt with was in Cincinnati, Ohio and needless to say that after getting married I changed my last name to my husband's name and filed my AOS with my married name. My old name remains only as my maiden (I do not use it as middle or anything else) so basically until I get EAD I had no ID with my married name.

As for SSN I was not very successful changing it to my married name. As said several times it seems the USCIS needs to make that change first in the system and the lady explained she would need my I-94 to be at my married name (she did not care that it was after the 90 day period though). She gave me a contact phone # for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and said they are the ones who can change the name on I-94 for me, it's 859-767-7002, then select 0 to talk to Custom Officer, supposedly they should be able to walk you through I-94 name change over phone provided you will give them all your personal info as requested. I am guessing if this works, they will change your name from maiden to married on you I-94 and after you get that in the system you might be able to take that to the SSN office and then you should be able to change name on your SSN card no problem. I have not try calling the Border Protection number yet (and might just wait for my EAD at this point) so I can't speak as to whether it will work or not but wanted to mention it in case someone else might want to try.

As for driving license, I stopped by Ohio's BMV and found out that they will actually be able to issue me one. I showed them following documents: my SSN card (in my maiden name), passport (in maiden name), marriage certificate original, and my I-797C that I received as an invite for biometrics appointment and which has both my current US address and my married name on it. I was surprised myself it worked out and believe it was mainly thanks to that last document I provided. I am guessing if you provide the AOS initial NOA which too should have your married name on it (or whichever you put on AOS), then it would work the same way. One last thing - I did also give them my old Ohio driving license from 2013 when I studied in the US (and they kept it) and my new license has same #. I don't think this made much of a difference though. I would really guess it's the I-797C that helped to establish my name/residence as the lady even pulled out a hand out that was referring to I-797C and sort of walking her through processing my request.

Hope this will helps someone - good luck!!!

[yuna628 9,727]

You cannot get a federally compliant license without an EAD (so pretty much need to apply for AOS anyway) and SSN in MD (you can try on an I-94 but it's only good until that expires so that's pretty useless). They don't budge on that for sure down here at least. Every state will be different. We have federally compliant and non... and I'm pretty sure you'd want a federally compliant one as a legal immigrant.

Edited March 15, 2016 by yuna628