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Posting on behalf of a friend who is in this position...
She is currently between J-1 and F-1 status -- her J-1 status expired in April and is currently pending F-1 status change approval (application for change was submitted in Jan/Feb of 2015). Her current J-1 based drivers license expires this month (in May).
She took a copy of her I-20 to the Virginia DMV (currently holds a MD DL but moved) with a bank statement proving residency in order to get her drivers license. The DMV told her that the I-20 must be signed by USCIS and must be the original copy. Meaning she has to wait for the status to be approved, which could be months from now. That seems a little ridiculous given the circumstances -- she's been driving here legally for over two years, is currently legal, and has documentation. If her current DL were to expire, she would not only not be able to drive for at least a few months, but also have to repeat the whole DL process as if she was new to the country.
Other friends of hers in similar situations were able to get new DLs without the signature and with a copy of the document. What is the CORRECT answer to this? How should she proceed? I don't trust any ONE representative at the DMV, and this is really hard to find information on.
Thanks in advance!
She is currently between J-1 and F-1 status -- her J-1 status expired in April and is currently pending F-1 status change approval (application for change was submitted in Jan/Feb of 2015). Her current J-1 based drivers license expires this month (in May).
She took a copy of her I-20 to the Virginia DMV (currently holds a MD DL but moved) with a bank statement proving residency in order to get her drivers license. The DMV told her that the I-20 must be signed by USCIS and must be the original copy. Meaning she has to wait for the status to be approved, which could be months from now. That seems a little ridiculous given the circumstances -- she's been driving here legally for over two years, is currently legal, and has documentation. If her current DL were to expire, she would not only not be able to drive for at least a few months, but also have to repeat the whole DL process as if she was new to the country.
Other friends of hers in similar situations were able to get new DLs without the signature and with a copy of the document. What is the CORRECT answer to this? How should she proceed? I don't trust any ONE representative at the DMV, and this is really hard to find information on.
Thanks in advance!
