“Building A Strong Foundation For Our Students' Driving Future”

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING LEGAL PRESENCE AND HOW IT AFFECTS OBTAINING OR RENEWING A LICENSE – Effective November 15, 2008

Effective November 15, 2008 you can not obtain or renew a driver’s license or non driver identification card unless you provide acceptable valid documentary evidence of legal presence in the United States. To establish evidence of legal presence you must present a legible, unexpired, valid document from the list as follows:

Birth Certificate - must be a certified copy from a State Office of Vital Statistics or equivalent agency showing the individual was born in:
1. a State of the United States,
2. District of Columbia,
3. Puerto Rico after January 12, 1941,
4. Virgin Islands after January 16, 1917,
5. Guam after April 11, 1899,
6. American Samoa after February 15, 1900,
7. Swains Island after March 3, 1925, or
8. Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands after January 8, 1978;
Passport or Passport Card from the United States
Consular of Report of Birth Abroad, Certificate of Report of Birth or Certification of Report of Birth
Certificate of Naturalization,
Certificate of U.S. Citizenship,
United States Citizen Identification Card,
Identification Card for Resident Citizen in the U.S.,
American Indian Card, or
Northern Mariana Identification Card.

Acceptable alternative documents for a person born in the United States may include:

1. A certified letter from a jurisdiction listed above stating that no birth record exists. The letter must include the person’s name, date of birth, the years covered by the search for a birth record, and that there is no birth record on file; and
2. A document issued by the United States or a jurisdiction listed above, showing the name, date of birth and the birth occurred in a jurisdiction listed above, including military discharge records, census records, and school records; or
3. At least one of the following:

   1. baptismal certificate, religious record or tribal record showing name, date of birth and the birth occurred in a jurisdiction listed above.
   2. hospital birth certificate showing name, date of birth and the birth occurred in a jurisdiction listed above.
   3. doctor’s record of birth showing name, date of birth and the birth occurred in a jurisdiction listed above, or
   4. newspaper or insurance files showing name, date of birth and the birth occurred in a jurisdiction listed above.
      

Persons born outside the United States claiming citizenship through one United States citizen parent may present:

1. person’s foreign birth certificate,
2. proof of citizenship of parent, and
3. evidence of the applicant’s legal relationship to parent.

Persons born outside the United States claiming citizenship through two United State citizen parents may present:

1. person’s foreign birth certificate,
2. parent’s marriage certificate or evidence of the applicant’s relationship to the citizen parents, and
3. proof of citizenship of parents.

Non Citizen. A person not claiming citizenship may present the following documents to establish evidence of legal presence in the United States:

1. Permanent Resident Card or Resident Alien Card,
2. Memorandum of Creation of Record of Lawful Permanent Residence,
3. Arrival/Departure Form I-94 or foreign passport with the notation “Processed for I-551” or I-551 Alien Documentation and Identification System (ADIT) stamp,
4. Temporary Resident Card,
5. Reentry Permit,
6. Employment Authorization Card,
7. Travel Document or Refugee Travel Document,
8. An Arrival/Departure card, Form I-94 stamped or endorsed.
9. Notice of Action or other official notification showing the period of admission,
10. Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) (Form I-20) or (DS-2019) properly endorsed or stamped,
11. Letter, order, appellate decision, Arrival/Departure Form I-94 or foreign passport stamped with Section 207 – Refugee, Section 208-Asylee, Section 212(d)(5) – Parolee, or Cuban/Haitian Entrant, Section 243(h), Section 241(b)(3), or Conditional Entrant,
12. Arrival/Departure Form I-94 or Canadian passport coded S13,
13. Letter or tribal document establishing person is an American Indian born in Canada,
14. Letter, order, appellate decision or Arrival/Departure Form I-94 showing a grant of asylum,
15. An approved or pending application for asylum,
16. An approved or pending application for temporary protected status, or letter or order granting temporary protected status or deferred enforced departure,
17. Letter, order, appellate decision or Arrival/Departure Form I-94 showing a grant of withholding of deportation, withholding or removal, suspension of deportation, cancellation removal, deferral of removal or Convention Against Torture relief,
18. Pending application for status as a special immigrant juvenile,
19. Letter or notice acknowledging person as victim of crime pursuant to Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, certification letter from United States Department of Health and Human Services in accordance with the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, or letter or notice showing person has a prima facie case as a self petitioning spouse pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act,
20. Letter, notice, or order of the Board of Immigration Appeals or a federal court granting a stay of deportation or removal,
21. Letter or notice showing a grant of deferred action or Order of Supervision or similar status,
22. Any other documents issued by the United States Department of Justice or Homeland Security, including predecessor or successor federal agencies with responsibility for implementation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which indicates legal presence in the United States.

A driver's license or non driver identification card issued to a non-citizen may be issued for a period of time less than the terms described in statute.