PatSquared

Hi everyone, My husband is encountering some difficulty with renewing his driver license. His EAD/AP combo card expired this past Wednesday, and his Texas DL expired along with it. He sent his renewal applications for the EAD and AP back in May. He has IOE receipt numbers (which I thought were supposed to process quicker!) Apart from receiving his I797 Notice saying that his EAD would automatically be extended for an additional 180 days after it expires and another notice stating that USCIS would re-use his biometrics taken last year, it has been radio silent. He had an appointment to renew his DL last week at the DMV in Fort Worth and brought his I797 extension letter along with his combo card that was about to expire. As expected, the DMV employee AND the employee’s supervisor were not familiar with immigration law. My husband had to explain over and over again that his extension letter is proof from US Immigration that his work permit will remain valid beyond its expiration date. He showed them the pages we printed out from the USCIS website that explained the nature of the extension in length, but they wouldn’t budge because all they were seeing in their system was that his work permit was about to expire. They said they couldn’t issue a new license based on that information. Thankfully, my husband knew to ask them to run a “second verification,” which is when the DMV contacts Homeland Security to inquire about a person’s immigration status and driving eligibility. It usually takes 3-5 days to run this check. We just received a letter from DPS dated Sept. 16 - the day after my husband came in for his DMV appointment. It stated that DHS was not able to verify his documents. We are at a loss because we know of other people here in TX who were able to successfully get their documents verified during this second stage. DPS stated that they have forwarded the documents to USCIS for a THIRD verification. Apparently it can take USCIS up to 20 days to respond… Has anyone in TX encountered a similar outcome? Was the third verification stage successful for you? I’m wondering if we are facing these road blocks because we went in and tried to renew the license BEFORE his EAD expired. The other posters who shared their experiences stated that they went in after their cards expired. This is such a hassle, as my husband has to drive regularly around our city for his job. I just checked with USCIS and they said that all looks good with his application, but it’s still pending….