I-751 Extension Letter - Can't renew Driver's License?

[Éclair 0]

Hi,

 

My wife's Driver's License expired but the DMV won't renew her temporary driver's license because her 1 Year Extension Letter is expiring in less than 60 Days, so they can't issue her a renewal because she would have a Driver's License with an expired temporary green card status. Also we can't even get the I-551 sticker because her Green Card isn't expiring within 30 days! So all this is a mess because the expiration dates are all off sync. So now my wife can't drive to work (she works 90 miles away from home). Starting today she's staying at a friends house near her work for the time being. But it's not very ideal since we now have to be apart for the whole month and we have to pay additional rent to our friend. Does anyone have any experience with this?  We talked to the USCIS when we first tried to get the interview for an I-551. They said there was nothing they could do and that we have to wait till the Green Card extension is within 30 days of expiring...

 

Side now we applied for I-751 last August and it says it is in our local office as of March 3rd. So I hope we can get the green card soon. But regardless, if there is a way for her to drive again, that would be amazing. Thanks! 

[drosha 23]

I don’t understand why her driver’s license expiration date is before the expiration date of the extension letter. Is that because DMV extended it one year from the letter date and not the card expiration date?

 

Also this whole thing is stupid, each state seems to have a different interpretation of the real ID act. Some states give a full term license to the 2 year green card, some give only to the card expiration date even though your status doesn’t expire when card expires.

 

also some states give people drivers licenses without immigration status. You can look into that but I don’t know how you can switch back to the regular license after doing that once the 10 year card comes in.

[jxn 86]

This can be really dependent on each unique DMV location and worker, regardless of their actual policy.

 

In our case, the timing ended up working out fine (the ten-year green card was approved right before her driver license expired, but I was nervous since they gave her her license for one year from the date of the extension letter, not the green card, essentially creating a two-and-a-half-month difference), but I was able to escalate the issue via the DMV's social media (which then led to email exchanges with the appropriate people). That worked out a lot better, strangely, than asking to speak to a manager at the local DMV branch.

[Amadia 711]

Is it possible for you to make an INFOpass at your local USCIS office and explain the issue in person?