How do I prove legal status while in AOS

[David And Katie 5]

I just realised something the other day. I am not sure if I have anything that proves my legal status.

My I-94 ran out, my visa "expires" in December (we all know the K1 was voided the moment it was used). My AOS NOA's don't have an expiry date on them.

If LEO stops me (a cop) and want to ask me any difficult questions what do I have?

I use my UK drivers licence since Indiana won't give me one until I have my LPR / GC in hand, and while the insurance agent and the BMV decided that was enough to insure me and let me title my car respectively, the BMV won't issue a new licence/ID card.

Should I be carrying my passport with me, or at least a copy? My NOA1s?

Thanks.

[jlisakay 2]

carry your papers from USCIS I put in for my AOS in Oct and walked in when I got letter for biometrics and have work auth back also we must be lucky wentfor written drivers test past ad they said as it was icy out there tey had spaces for road tests so I got it there andthen just waiting formy G/Card now god luck on you journey

[David And Katie 5]

My papers... my NOAs? I-797C?

I guess you're not in Indiana.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

I just realised something the other day. I am not sure if I have anything that proves my legal status.

My I-94 ran out, my visa "expires" in December (we all know the K1 was voided the moment it was used). My AOS NOA's don't have an expiry date on them.

If LEO stops me (a cop) and want to ask me any difficult questions what do I have?

Thanks.

If a cop stops you and inquires about your citizenship and immigration status tell him that it's none of his f*cking business as he's not a federal agent and thus overstepping his authority. He can go and hug himself. But that will never happen. Stop watching crazy movies, mate.

[David And Katie 5]

The cops in my town aren't the enemy but it would be nice to prove I'm legal. They can look me up on the in-house database with my SSN and the wife comes up at my address and my last name so...

[VanessaTony 3,567]

The cops in my town aren't the enemy but it would be nice to prove I'm legal. They can look me up on the in-house database with my SSN and the wife comes up at my address and my last name so...

You are SUPPOSED to carry your passport at all times (I personally didn't, that seemed silly seeing how important it was) until you get your greencard (and even then I only carry a copy of that and my Iowa drivers licence).

It's unlikely you're permitted to get a state drivers licence until you're an LPR (this is state dependant), though some state laws require that you get a drivers licence after a certain period of being a "resident" of that state (CA for example is 10 days). Here's where it gets sticky. You're a "resident" in that you reside in that particular state, but you're not a "legal resident". So if asked you're a visitor, not a resident (using the CA example - admitting you LIVE in CA, rather than visiting, and have for longer than 10 days would result in a fine for driving without a valid licence, they don't make the "resident" vs "LPR" distinction). This should mean you're permitted to drive on your UK licence.

Then you have the issue of your legal status. Your AOS NOA1 proves you are in a period of "authorized stay" however local LEO's won't know this, which is why Bob is telling you that them asking about your legal status isn't their business. Even some ICE officers don't know that an AOS NOA1 gives you temporary protected status (you think they would). So you can still be detained by ICE, put in immigration jail until you go before an immigration judge who throws the case out and says you just need to wait until AOS is adjudicated.

[TBoneTX 45,536]

"It's nothing personal, Mr. LEO, but if you intend to detain and question me, my lawyer says that he must be present. Am I free to go?"

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

To other posters:

Please don't tell anyone to try to be a smart person by talking against a police office with non-sense lawyer stuff. It won't help anything.

Local law enforcement doesn't have the right to ask for your immigration status (except in AZ, police has right to ask for it - Google AZ Senate Bill 1070 - The Arizona Act additionally makes it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents, requires that state law enforcement officers attempt to determine an individual's immigration status during a "lawful stop, detention or arrest.")

If you want to play safe, then you can carry you copy of your AOS receipt, EAD card.

[David And Katie 5]

You are SUPPOSED to carry your passport at all times (I personally didn't, that seemed silly seeing how important it was) until you get your greencard (and even then I only carry a copy of that and my Iowa drivers licence).

It's unlikely you're permitted to get a state drivers licence until you're an LPR (this is state dependant), though some state laws require that you get a drivers licence after a certain period of being a "resident" of that state (CA for example is 10 days). Here's where it gets sticky. You're a "resident" in that you reside in that particular state, but you're not a "legal resident". So if asked you're a visitor, not a resident (using the CA example - admitting you LIVE in CA, rather than visiting, and have for longer than 10 days would result in a fine for driving without a valid licence, they don't make the "resident" vs "LPR" distinction). This should mean you're permitted to drive on your UK licence.

Then you have the issue of your legal status. Your AOS NOA1 proves you are in a period of "authorized stay" however local LEO's won't know this, which is why Bob is telling you that them asking about your legal status isn't their business. Even some ICE officers don't know that an AOS NOA1 gives you temporary protected status (you think they would). So you can still be detained by ICE, put in immigration jail until you go before an immigration judge who throws the case out and says you just need to wait until AOS is adjudicated.

Thank you.

I don't intend on being pulled over but these things happen.

I had a ride along with a cop the other day and he didn't know about my DL issue, and the brother in law is a cop either and he didn't know. The BMV didn't seem to know either. BMV states you must get a licence when you become an _Indiana_ resident. They don't specify how long after you become an IN resident though. For visitors I have a year's grace. I asked the ladies at the BMV when they declined to give me an IN DL how long I can drive. They said a year.

Maybe I'l go back and get them to write me something on headed BMV paper that says I can drive on my UK licence

I'm hoping the GC will come soon so I can apply for the IN DL without having to take the written test again - it's valid for 6 months from when I took it.

I don't want to have to drive to and from work with my EAD and no IN DL and be pulled over. I generally always feel guilty around cops and especially when I'm not "legal"

Edited December 8, 2011 by David And Katie

[HeatDeath 430]

State definitions of residency vary greatly from state to state. Many states' definitions of residency are very vague, and some make no reference to the federal "residence" indicated by a GC at all (this is particularly common in states that depend on a large population of illegal migrant agricultural workers, like Utah and California).

I PoE'd on my K-1 in July 2009. I married and filed my AOS papers in September 2009, my EAD arrived in mid-November, and my GC was issued on December 1, 2009. My Canadian driver's license, registration and insurance were good until December 13 2009, so I used it until mid-November, when I started looking in to how to get the Utah DL.

This was actually probably illegal. According to Utah law, someone who enters the state with the intention of being a resident is supposed to get a DL immediately. But of course, they wouldn't have given me one until I had an EAD to show them anyways, which just goes to show a very common pattern: it can literally be impossible for an international immigrant to comply with a state's DL residence laws - which are really mostly written with inter-state transferring US citizens in mind.

At the Utah DMV, you prove state residency by bringing in, among other possible documents, bank statements or other official mail to you showing a Utah address. Part of the verbiage of the state residency definition includes "making use of services that are typically limited to state residents, such as receiving a drivers license or registering a vehicle". So in their minds I might not have been provably a state resident until I actually registered my car and went to get a Utah DL. The state residency and DL laws can interact with the federal residence laws in such a complex way that it would take a lawyer to sort it out.

The general principles to follow, that get most people here through with a relative minimum of fuss are A ) try to get your car registered, insured locally, and get a local drivers license as soon as possible after getting an EAD (most states won't even let you apply without one, no matter when their laws say you technically have to), B ) drive like a grandma before that to avoid getting pulled over in the first place, and C ) if you do get pulled over, deny being a state resident on the grounds that you are still becoming a federal resident. This may be incorrect, depending on the state's definitions, but it's at least a plausible mistake to make and they're unlikely to hold it against you.

And to answer your original question: you don't need to carry your entire AOS packet with you, but carrying a colour double-sided photocopy of the I-485 NOA1 should be enough to show any inquisitive law enforcement officer that you are in the process of solidifying your status in the US. Your passport with K-1 and a copy of the marriage certificate would complete the picture.

Edited December 11, 2011 by HeatDeath

[TBoneTX 45,536]

Please don't tell anyone to try to be a smart person by talking against a police office with non-sense lawyer stuff. It won't help anything.

Poppycock. The claim and exercise of a Constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime.

If you want to play safe, then you can carry you copy of your AOS receipt, EAD card.

This part is good advice. Also, for those who intend to break the law by NOT carrying their actual green card but instead carrying a color photocopy of it, attorneys recommend making an enlarged photocopy (>100% of original size) so that you won't run as high a risk of being charged with falsifying an official document. Edited December 12, 2011 by TBoneTX

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Poppycock. The claim and exercise of a Constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime.

Where did you find in my sentence that it is a crime to talk back a police officer? I was just saying that "big mouth" people like you shouldn't tell someone to do what wouldn't help the situation, for example to tell someone to be a law Einstein. Instead of trying to be a genius, let's find information for him/her because the fact that local police doesn't have that right to ask for your immigration status (except Arizona, please google AZ SB 1070 to improve your missing knowledge, police here does have the right to ask for your immigration proof.)

Assuming you are not a big mouth, then can you tell me how many people in the US have a family lawyer ready (someone you call right away when you are pulled over not someone your relative finds for you when you claim your butt in jail.) Then don't try to drag US Constitution Bills of Right here to claim your ignorance.

PS: Yes I might be a poopycock, but who are you? I bet you just a bigmouth guy after keyboard, trying hard to be Einstein. It's sad for you though.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Where did you find in my sentence that it is a crime to talk back a police officer? I was just saying that "big mouth" people like you shouldn't tell someone to do what wouldn't help the situation, for example to tell someone to be a law Einstein. Instead of trying to be a genius, let's find information for him/her because the fact that local police doesn't have that right to ask for your immigration status (except Arizona, please google AZ SB 1070 to improve your missing knowledge, police here does have the right to ask for your immigration proof.)

Assuming you are not a big mouth, then can you tell me how many people in the US have a family lawyer ready (someone you call right away when you are pulled over not someone your relative finds for you when you claim your butt in jail.) Then don't try to drag US Constitution Bills of Right here to claim your ignorance.

PS: Yes I might be a poopycock, but who are you? I bet you just a bigmouth guy after keyboard, trying hard to be Einstein. It's sad for you though.

Poppycock" is another way of saying "rubbish". He wasn't calling you a poppycock. They weren't telling you to be a smart-#######, they were trying to put a humerus spin on it (often helps you to remember). I doubt anyone would actually be a smart-####### to a police officer on purpose.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Poppycock" is another way of saying "rubbish". He wasn't calling you a poppycock. They weren't telling you to be a smart-#######, they were trying to put a humerus spin on it (often helps you to remember). I doubt anyone would actually be a smart-####### to a police officer on purpose.

What on earth does he think he is to tell someone bs? So you think everyone here is English master like you? Can everyone understand the way he "puts a humerus spin" or whatsoever on it? Be straightforward to help.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

What on earth does he think he is to tell someone bs? So you think everyone here is English master like you? Can everyone understand the way he "puts a humerus spin" or whatsoever on it? Be straightforward to help.

You are right. It would have been best to make it obvious he wasn't saying to be rude (and that such behaviour would be foolish) but you are being WAY too aggressive and people are less likely to listen/read when you're being irrational. So if it makes you happy:

Most police officers have no right to ask about your immigration status. Be aware of your state laws. If a police officer asks about your status you are within your rights to tell the officer that he has no authority to ask about your status. Also be aware they are also within their rights to lock you up for a perceived crime while they contact ICE to come and check you out. Being a smart mouth will not get you anywhere. Be polite but firm.