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Many Chinese in Los Angeles are facing delays in renewing their driver’s licenses and are temporarily unable to travel by car because their immigration status is pending or their system information has not been updated, highlighting the California DMV’s problem in linking Real ID and residence documents.
ExistenceCalifornia Driving is an essential part of many people’s work and life. However, when the application for extension or change of immigration status is still pending, whether the driver’s license can be renewed and whether one can still drive has also become part of the problem.Sugar Problems. Some people renew their license only to find that their driver’s license has been canceled for half the year. Some people spend hundreds of dollars a day commuting, and some successfully convert their license to a non-REAL ID driver’s license and beat the waiting period.
live inlos angeles Mr. Wang is currently in the STEM OPT extended internship period as an F-1 student. He said his driver’s license was originally scheduled to expire at the end of October this year, but when he went to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in Montebello to renew his license in mid-September, he was told that his driver’s license had been revoked by the DMV in April, but he did not receive any notification.
According to him, the reason was that the original legal residence documents in the DMV system had expired and the information was not updated. He had already passed the online learning course, but the staff said it would take 24 hours for the results to appear in the system. A temporary driver’s license could not be issued that day, and Mr. Wang’s old driver’s license and passport were also taken away.
When Mr. Wang asked how he could drive home without a temporary driver’s license, the other party matter-of-factly replied: “No worries. Your April driver’s license doesn’t matter anyway.” When he came to the DMV again the next day, he got his temporary driver’s license and got back the passport that had not been returned the day before. The staff searched around and found it on someone else’s workspace, leaving Mr Wang feeling helpless.
The DMV announced late last year that due to outdated system settings, the validity period of some REAL IDs did not correspond to the permitted period of residence. About 325,000 people had to follow the notice to renew their IDs, and the associated fees were waived. Mr. Wang guessed that he also belonged to this group of people.
Another Chinese, Ms. Lin, said she is currently applying for O-1 work status, but has not yet received a visa, and also needs to renew her driver’s license. Her attorney advised her to postpone renewing her license and not to drive, and did not recommend applying for an AB60 driver’s license.
According to the DMV, AB60 is a driver’s license issued in accordance with California’s law of the same name. It allows people to drive legally who cannot provide proof of legal residence, but can provide proof of identity and California residency, and meet other application requirements. Holding this type of driver’s license does not mean that the person does not have legal immigration status. However, some people believe that applying for AB60 will affect visa reviews or future green card applications.
For Ms Lin, the most direct impact of the driving suspension is commuting costs. She said that her workplace was far away, and although she did not have to go to the office every day, it still cost her more than 150 yuan to take a taxi there and back. To keep his job, he had to bear this expense, despite the heartache.
Like Ms Lin, Ms Liu is also waiting for approval of her new identity application. He said the original approval period for H-1B work visas has expired and the extension is still pending. He only has a receipt notice in his hand, and has not yet received any new approval notice. She was originally concerned that if she could not submit new documents, she would not be able to renew her driver’s license, which would affect her ability to drive to work every day.
Ms. Liu said that when she actually went to the DMV to apply, the staff told her that although she could not apply for a REAL ID, she could still apply for an ordinary driver’s license, and she was not asked to submit other documents. Whether it’s an AB60 driver’s license or not, she doesn’t know. She also confirmed with her lawyer that applying for a regular driver’s license would not affect her H-1B extension application and that she could get a new driver’s license soon.
Summary FAQ
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Because he originally thought his driver’s license would expire at the end of October, but when he went to renew his license in September, he was told it had been canceled in April. The DMV said that legal residence documents in the system had expired and were not updated, resulting in incorrect determination of validity period.
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The DMV announced late last year that due to outdated system settings, the validity period of some REAL IDs does not correspond to the permitted period of residence. About 325,000 people will have to renew their IDs, according to the notice, and related fees may be waived to save the public from bearing the application costs.
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Some people postponed license renewal under the advice of lawyers, while others chose to apply for a regular driver’s license or a non-REAL ID version to avoid having their application affected. If you can’t drive, you’ll have to take taxis or other means of transportation to get around, which increases the cost significantly.
