QUESTION
DMV of georgia is not ready to renew a DL for a legal immigrant working on H1B with current visa expired 10th aug 17. I797C present for extension
Asked on Aug 12th, 2017 on Immigration - Georgia
More details to this question:
I am currently working on a work VISA[H1B]. My visa expired on august 10th 2017, two day prior to writing this email. As per your website . On providing an original I797C along with the petition and I94/Current passport with visa stamp, My DL should be renewed till December 10 2017. As per DMV[Georgia] they require a stamped passport in order to renew a license, which never happens since the extension of of the VISA comes as a new petition and not as a stamped VISA in the passport. So now even though I can legally remain withing the country for 240 days[as per USCIS because of I797c]. I cannot drive legaly. Please let me know why the rules made by DMV and USCIS are contradictory.
1 ANSWER
Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney serving New York, NY
Partner at
Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law
3 Awards
The reason for the disparate treatment of your situation by U.S.C.I.S. and DMV is that U.S.C.I.S. does not control local DMV's. Some local DMV's will respect the language on the I-797C of automatic extension of work authorization so long as the extension request is in the same class previously granted. However, it is left up to the local DMV's as to whether they wish to respect the language.Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.
Answered on Sep 10th, 2017 at 5:57 PM