May I ask for advice on some strange occurrence regarding my Social Security Administration (SSA) and Massachusetts RMV appointments? Yesterday, I went to both offices; the SSA because I needed a replacement social security card (my original one got lost), and the RMV to apply for a Mass. ID.
For context, I have an invalidated STEM-OPT (invalid as I started a new program on F-1 status in August 2022) that expires on 06/06/24, but I thought that this would be completely immaterial to my current applications as I am on active F-1 status with a valid I-20. (Note though that my F-1 visa stamp is expired since June 2022 but I maintained continuous legal status.) Both the SSA and RMV, however, queried my information (I showed them my passport, original F-1 stamp, and I-94) via the DHS SAVE system, where my EAD then showed up with an expiration date of 06/06/24.
Based on this system response, the SSA office asked me for my EAD, which I showed and he said he can issue my card based on this. I clarified my whole situation with the SSA officer (and showed all I-20 forms) but he said that from the SSA's perspective I'm all set. The Mass. RMV office, however, has a rule that "lawful presence" documents need to be valid for at least 30 days from the date of application, so they rejected my application based on the EAD information. I told the officer about my whole situation, and I was told to retry the application after the EAD expiry date of 06/06/2024.
What's most unusual is that the RMV issued a denial notice with a line that says "Your authorized stay in the United States ends on 6/6/2024." So my main worry is whether this implies anything on the end of USCIS/DHS, such that, would I be in any sort of trouble by staying in the U.S. continuously after 6/6/2024, when in fact I am in valid F-1 status with an active I-20? Is there anything I'd need to do to notify USCIS/DHS about my change in status back to F-1, or is this completely handled through SEVIS?
