Georgia DL/ID with EAD, AOS, ROC experience

[EatBulaga 385]

My foreign spouse had a chatmate in Georgia who reported the DDS did not grant them a DL or state ID because they did not recognize the ROC 48-month extension letter. 

So this is more of a PSA (public service announcement) for those looking for a report of successes with the Georgia Department of Driver Services (Georgia DDS) after getting the EAD, AOS, or ROC extension letter. We have experience with all three. This complements our USCIS-related events in our Timeline or at our Profile->Our Story. 

 

Each state has its own DMV or DDS requirements which may differ from Georgia.

https://dds.georgia.gov/

But for Georgia, the requirements for foreigners are listed at

https://dds.georgia.gov/information-non-us-citizens

 

Our first experience after my K1 beneficiary POE was to get her a state ID (2022-06). Right after the I-94 became available online, we took the I-94 with her foreign passport to apply for her SSN. It took about a week to get her Social Security card in the mail, and we then took that along with her I-94 and foreign passport to the DDS to get her Georgia state ID.

 

Georgia only offers the state ID valid to the I-94 expiration. But Georgia DDS will extend with a one-time card extension of 120 days with an I-797C Notice Of Action with the expired immigration document.

 

So with a state ID expiring in less than 90 days, we sent off the AOS I-485, I-765, and I-131. While waiting for the AOS I-797C, my newly wedded foreign spouse was preparing for her written test for a driver's permit. After we received the AOS I-797C, we went back to the DDS to extend the state ID near the end of her I-94 expiration and to take her written test (2022-09). She passed the written test. So she got a state ID AND a driver's permit for another 120 days. Yes, we paid for 2 cards and both cards had the same license number and expiration date. In retrospect, we just need the driver's permit as that qualifies for the REAL ID as well.

 

My foreign spouse then passed the driving test for her driver's license in 2022-11, but Georgia DDS only granted her DL to the end of the 120-day state extension which was 2023-01.

 

So nearing her 7-month mark in the US (90-days I-94 + 120-days I-797C state extension) and no I-485 approval in sight, we filed for an I-765 expedite (2022-12), and received the EAD/AP combo card (2023-01). The EAD/AP combo was for 2-years and Georgia DDS then extended her DL to 2025-01.

 

The AOS was approved in 2023-04, and back we went to the DDS with her conditional green card to extend her DL to 2025-04.

 

The ROC was filed 2025-01, and we received the 48-month extension letter in 2025-02. We took the soon-to-be expired green card and DL along with the 48-month extension letter to extend her DL to 2029-04. Since my foreign spouse had a chatmate who experienced difficulties with the DDS with the 48-month extension letter, we went to the Norcross DDS, which serves many immigrant communities to renew her DL with the ROC 48-month extension letter. They recognized it as no problem, but the wait was long (about 1.5 hours).

 

In all our applications for the ID/permit/DL, we made it very clear to the DDS to opt out of voter registration. 

 

So this isn't exactly an AMA (Ask Me Anything).

But if anyone has questions, I'll try my best to answer based on our experience?