AOS and Banking in Calif.

[JohnL 4]

After Digna and I got married, we applied for a Calif State ID card, which was apparently good for only 3 months while we were going thru the immigration process. We opend joint accouts with her passport and CA ID card. She got her Permanent Resident Card on 4/5/07. Her CA ID expired on 3/31/07. Now, I find out that her Permanent Resident Card, her passport and her social security card are not good enough for us to open an account in the State of California. She needs to have valid Calif ID. A Resident Alien card would suffice, but not a Permanent Resident Card, which is the 2 year caard that she now has after going thru the K-1 process. So, I guess the moral of the story is to keep the state ID current.

John

[hcj 0]

A ten year card also has the words "permanent resident card" (not "Resident Alien") at the top. There is no difference between how a conditional GC and a ten year GC looks, except for the expiration date. I think your bank's personnel are just confused -- their procedures probably say they can accept a "resident alien" card and they don't realize that is the same as a "permanent resident" card. Try the manager or try a different bank.

[JohnL 4]

A ten year card also has the words "permanent resident card" (not "Resident Alien") at the top. There is no difference between how a conditional GC and a ten year GC looks, except for the expiration date. I think your bank's personnel are just confused -- their procedures probably say they can accept a "resident alien" card and they don't realize that is the same as a "permanent resident" card. Try the manager or try a different bank.

I saw the book issued by the Gov't and a Permanent Resident Card is different than a Resident Alien Card and it was dated 2007 and had glossy pictures. A Resident Alien card is acceptable but a Permanent Resident card must have a State ID to back it up.

[walls1010 3]

My husband and I moved here in California from Alabama and we never encounter any problem opening a bank account here. My husband used his Alabama driver liscence and mine was SS card only before coz' I'm still waiting for my GC that time, and the California won't issue a state ID due I'm not yet a LPR by then. I am wondering what bank you went to?

[hcj 0]

I saw the book issued by the Gov't and a Permanent Resident Card is different than a Resident Alien Card and it was dated 2007 and had glossy pictures. A Resident Alien card is acceptable but a Permanent Resident card must have a State ID to back it up.

If you ask me, your bank is making a distinction where none exists. The resident alien card is the older form of the "green card" and is no longer being issued. USCIS/INS replaced it with the current version, the "permanent resident card", in 1997. I don't see why a more current version of the green card (which is more sophisticated and harder to fake) should have to have a state ID to back it up, whereas an older version of the card does not. Both are "green cards" and both prove your right to live and work in the US. No one's getting a "resident alien" card unless they have it from the 1980s to the early 1990s.

See this link for history of green cards and when each form was issued:

http://apmp.berkeley.edu/APMP/refdocs/travidentdocs.ins.pdf

IMHO your particular bank's procedures are completely illogical. I would try a different bank.

[Dr_LHA 3]

If you wife has a SS number just go into a bank and open an account for her without telling them she's a "alien". I never got asked for any proof of residency by a bank since I came here 8 years ago. All they ask for is SS number. I've never even been asked for the SS card. If it doesn't work, go to the next bank and try again.