US drivers license / Virginia DMV for H4 visa holder (attorney, deal)

[kevbros]

Originally Posted by fairfax_user

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.. what ever options i discussed with DMV.. they just keep coming back to the email they sent and say this is what is the current status in their system.. and I need to provide the second ID only from that list and nothing else would work..

I would first plead with the embassy to sign the translation. That would be the easiest thing to do. You could also file for a replacement i-94. USCIS would eventually issue you an I-797. That should work. But the DMV could even deny that and it might take a while.

If that doesn't work you have few options. You will probably need to get a lawyer. I wonder if you could remarry your husband in Virginia. This would generate a US marriage certificate, which should qualify as a secondary form of ID. Or maybe you could get and drive on an international license. You are only supposed to do that for six months, but if you are unable to get a license even after trying so hard, a court would likely be sympathetic. Make sure you get written denials at all steps, from DMV and the embassy. Finally, your lawyer could seek a writ of mandamus to force the DMV to issue the license. DMV has set up a system whereby it is almost impossible for an H4 holder to get a license, even though they require you to have one to drive. H4 status is rough, but this is ridiculous.

[mrskay662000]

Originally Posted by fairfax_user

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.. what ever options i discussed with DMV.. they just keep coming back to the email they sent and say this is what is the current status in their system.. and I need to provide the second ID only from that list and nothing else would work..

VADMV will only issue you a license with a minimum validity of one year. Which means you must show that you are in lawful status for at least one year. You are an H4, a dependent of an H1. You said that you entered April of last year. H1's are usually stamped in for at least two or three years upon their initial entry. Meaning you still have at least one more year of validity, minimum.

With the Virginia DMV, you are your own advocate for making them abide by their own rules. So you need to use their own online system for determining what documents are required in order for you to get a license. Print each page out and bring everything with you.

As an H4 your issue is page two:

1. Unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired or expired visa and I-94

2. USCIS form I-797 displaying applicant's name (depending on the nature and purpose of the form, the I-797 may not be accepted - an I-797 issued for an I-765 petition/work authorization is not acceptable).

*The employer should have provided you with a 797 approval notice showing both you and your husband. You need this document and are entitled to it. This is document will show your initial approval. Although extensions are shown on I-797s, your initial approval notice will also be on a 797. It will show you, your spouse and any children.

3. lease agreement/utility bill

4. I do not have a social security card. [because I am an H4 and not employment authorized ]

5. Marriage certificate (same-sex marriage or civil union documents are not accepted)

*Note, Virginia can not legally reject same sex marriage certificates issued by a state which recognizes such because of the full faith and credit clause/privileges and immunities, but that's a whole other forum and a law suit waiting to happen*

Anyways... back to your issue.

Once you get that original 797 (and please don't say you don't have it, you must have it or pay USCIS for a replacement and it will take at least 3 months). VA DMV may tell you to go the USCIS field office on Prosperity Ave. and get a note from an ISO saying you were there. Don't fall for it. There is no "official" document an ISO can give you from the field office. Don't tell them that though, just nod and smile and act like the idiot they are.

The verification electronic "system" they're referring to is the SAVE program. Google it for more info.

They will send your documents to Richmond, and Richmond will send your documents to USCIS to have them verified. It will take about one month for Richmond to send them to USCIS and another month for USCIS to verify them because VADMV never submits the information correctly the first time around. They always have to send it three times because they don't pay attention.

Ever since some illegal alien ran over a nun a few years back, VADMV treats everyone like an illegally present person. And because licenses are a privilege and not a right, they can do that.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by mrskay662000

Ever since some illegal alien ran over a nun a few years back, VADMV treats everyone like an illegally present person. And because licenses are a privilege and not a right, they can do that.

I thought it was due to some legal aliens who flew airplanes into buildings.

[mrskay662000]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I thought it was due to some legal aliens who flew airplanes into buildings.

Nope. But that was part of it no doubt.

9-11 directly resulted in some changes for some States. Florida for one, cracked down on issuance of licenses because a number of the hijackers were there learning how to fly and they had no status. NY however remains a sanctuary city. In VA this kid who wasn't just an overstay, he was illegally present with several previous violations, including public intoxication and driving with a suspended license. Google Carlos A. Martinelly Montano.

Since we've had so many Presidents with drinking problems, no administration to date has treated DUI's as serious as they should. A deportable offense. So many states decided to do what they could to alleviate this problem because people are flat out tired of elected officials refusing to enforce the will of the citizens they claim to represent.

VA stopped taking USCIS employment cards because a large number of people with employment cards are actually TPS people who have no legal entry and are not over stayers, but we don't deport them because their country sucks. (El Salvador, Honduras etc) A large number of people used to file bogus applications to get an EAD that was valid for two years, only to have the underlying petition denied within days of the EAD issuance. They keep the EAD because no one is going to bother hunting them down for it and USCIS had no readily available/reliable/cheap system in place for state agencies to check the validity of the documents. (pre-9/11)

USCIS only issues employment cards for one year now, but SS issues numbers to anyone who was ever employment authorized at any time in their life with that "Valid for work only with DHS authorization" tag on it, absolving themselves of their responsibility to properly issue their own documents. So basically a dead moose can get a SS number. Previously, a person could show a SS card and an EAD and they got a DL in most states.

Not so in VA anymore.

Which means non-immigrants (in lawful status) must have two bits of DHS issued documents in order to get one. And when they do issue one to a non-immigrant like an H4, there's very little chance the person is unlawfully present. However, an H4 applying for State ID with under a year left in their stay and nothing pending with DHS, is likely the dependent of someone who's been fired for cause and thus... illegally present but not deportable just yet.

It's a pain in the rear for citizens, immigrants and non-immigrants. We all must suffer for the misdeeds of those present without authorization.

You can split hairs by differentiating between someone who is an overstayer versus someone present without inspection. You can further split hairs by saying that someone who is present without inspection but has TPS is actually present with inspection, yet still without a legal status.

But the bottom line is that unless they have at least two bits of unexpired DHS documents, they're likely present in the U.S. illegally because there's no non-immigrant status that has less than two pieces of DHS documentation.

Regardless, all this is off topic.

The bottom line is that the OP needs that original letter from USCIS showing her initial H4 approval.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by mrskay662000

Since we've had so many Presidents with drinking problems, no administration to date has treated DUI's as serious as they should..

I can only think of two in my lifetime: LBJ and GW Bush. The latter wasn't a drinker while president. That statement doesn't make much sense to me.

[mrskay662000]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I can only think of two in my lifetime: LBJ and GW Bush. The latter wasn't a drinker while president. That statement doesn't make much sense to me.

I accept that I got off topic.

OP, you need the 797 approval notice.

[fairfax_user]

Thanks a lot everyone for your detailed responses .. Let me try the lawyer and the replacement option.. Dear mrskay .. The I797 we got was only for my husband H1 with only his name and not mine or my kids name.. H4 just got visa stamped on passport abroad ..

[mrskay662000]

Originally Posted by fairfax_user

Thanks a lot everyone for your detailed responses .. Let me try the lawyer and the replacement option.. Dear mrskay .. The I797 we got was only for my husband H1 with only his name and not mine or my kids name.. H4 just got visa stamped on passport abroad ..

I don't mean his I-94 and visa.

I mean the original 8X11 document printed on secure paper which shows his original approval. If you are not on that, then you have your own petition that was approved.

I would contact his employer if neither of you received it.

Perhaps they have it.

[f.cerberus]

OP, I'm wondering if you're missing something somewhere.

It's true that the I-797 is issued to the primary visa holder (your spouse in this case) and I agree it does not have your name in it (I know, because my wife's name is not mine). Are you sure you cannot go to the DMV with your spouse and his original 797, your passport with the H4 and I-94 on it?

If not, it should be that many other H4's should have faced the same issue - check the forums that have Indian expats and someone might tell you how to go about it.

In our case, in NJ, the DMV experience was terrible as usual but once I accompanied my wife (yes, I had to, kind of felt like I was in a Saudi Arabia) along with our passports and I-94's, it was not an issue. Of course VA is not NJ but I'm wondering if you're mis-interpreting something somewhere.

H4 was designed my sadistic idiots, but this DMV situation sounds unusual.

[fairfax_user]

Originally Posted by mrskay662000

I don't mean his I-94 and visa.

I mean the original 8X11 document printed on secure paper which shows his original approval. If you are not on that, then you have your own petition that was approved.

I would contact his employer if neither of you received it.

Perhaps they have it.

Mrskay.. Yes I fully understand the document you are feeing too.. And i797 approval notice we received was only for my husband h1.. For me /h4 no i797 was issued or needed to get my h4 visa stamped. As f.Cerberus mentioned above.. I will ask him to check again with employer..

F.Cerberus I think issue is mainly at VA .. NJ looks to be more considerate I believe,,

Dear all, I did take all other documents of my husband .. Visa , i797 , i94 etc.. With my husband .. Nothing works..