Marty J

OK, I've make the jump to the States, yay for me and all that. Today I went to get an Arkansas learner's permit, but the woman I spoke to said that because I'm not a permanent resident yet, I couldn't apply for one as it would "run out before the visa does". No amount of discussion would convince her, and she insisted that when I applied to adjust my status, they would stamp my passport with a later date and I would be able to apply then.

What to do? I don't fancy waiting until I have a green card before I can get a driving licence.

Should I just go back and ask to speak to someone who knows what they're doing?

Bluegrass Lass

My hubby had to wait until he had his EAD. A lot of states accept that as a valid form that proves your status. The license expired when the EAD did, but luckily his green card was approved before then. I thnk there's a wiki here that links to all 50 states and you can then look up the req'ts for Arkansas.

ian-mstm

Well... you don't need a GC to get a D/L. You may have to wait until you have an EAD. Still, it wouldn't hurt to either go back and speak to a supervisor, or go to a different SSA office.

Ian

Noorah101

Here is what happened with DMV and my fiance, here in Arizona (for state ID):

1. DMV issued ID with expiration date of his I-94 (this is what I think your DMV should have done with your learner's permit).

2. By the time his I-94 expired, he did not yet have his EAD, so DMV issued a new ID with the expiration date of his K-1 visa (they made an exception here for us, as that visa date is really no good anymore).

3. When his 1-year EAD came in, DMV issued a new ID with the expiration date of the EAD.

4. When he got his 2-year GC, DMV issued a new ID with the expiration date of the conditional GC.

5. After applying to remove conditions, we never had time to go back to DMV, so he carried around an expired ID until he became a USC.

6. When he became a USC, DMV issued a new ID with a regular expiration date of something like 20 years that they issue to all USC's.

Rene

meauxna

Marty, the Ark DMV site does indeed say that a green card or equivalent is the requirement.
But down at the bottom of the document list, it mentions passport + INS documentation. You can try with this, but if your state simply didn't write the law to account for people in your temporary situation, you might be SOL.

You arrived as a K-1? You might not have any current proof of status, a temporary but not uncommon situation.
Looks like learner's permits are only for kids? I didn't read super closely..

BigBarry

Had one on a 6 month J-1 in New York!!!

meauxna

And?

Driving licenses are state-specific issues, so what worked in one doesn't apply to another.
FYI.

BigBarry

The whole system is a cluster fxxk if you ask me!

meauxna

When it comes to State's business, you're better off thinking.. say, Germany & France for oh, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
We're nearly that independant from each other. So in that way, perfectly organized!

chartreuse

That seems to be how it works in TX. My reading of the law was that there was no upper age restriction on learner's permits, but when I went to get mine they gave me a regular class C drivers license, with a "licensed operator over 21 in the front seat" restriction.

It cost 20 bucks more, but at least I can truthfully say that I have a d/l on application forms.

Kar98

Why?

chartreuse

Because I'd yet to take the driving test in TX and had no out of state license to exchange.

Kar98

But I wasn't even asked about a foreign license, just US or Canadian (nope, never had one) and they've let me take all tests right there. Passed, received paper license, and a real plastic card a month later.
Can't you just take the tests?

ian-mstm

When I moved from Nova Scotia to Kentucky, I handed in my NS driver's license and received a Kentucky one in exchange - no written test, no driving test, and no restrictions on the license. When Sheila moved from Michigan to Kentucky, she had to sit both the written test and the driving test.

She's a great back-seat driver though, because everytime I do something she doesn't like she says, "you wouldn't have done that if you'd taken a driving test! You'd know better..."

I find that quite amusing!

Ian

chartreuse

Well, obviously I could (sorry Mo ), but given that the last time I drove was 20-something years ago on the other side of the road, I thought it might be a good idea to have a bit of a warm-up, so to speak.