H4 Driver's License Renewal

[kcherrie 0]

Hi everyone,

I am a Canadian citizen living in Pittsburgh, PA with a H4 visa and would like to renew my license that will expire on 3/27/2017. I have been to 2 PennDOT locations in the Allegheny county and have been rejected. They state that I need my own I-797 and as of now, they've sent my paper work to Harrisburg and I have to wait 30 days for some type of additional screening and response. They have also flagged my drivers license account so I can't even go to another PennDOT (even in Philadelphia) to try to renew my license while this verification takes place.

The first time I got my driver's license in 2015, I used my husband's I797 and our marriage certificate and it was fine. As Canadians, the spouse of a H1B holder is not issued an I797 so I'm confused as to what is going on and why I cannot renew my license. This has been extremely frustrating and stressful, and the PennDOT staff are not the friendliest people in the world so this even builds upon my frustration.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[jshjx 0]

I’m also on a H4 Visa and went to get my drivers license. They told me I had to wait for the approval/denial letter in the mail that would come in 3 weeks before they would issue a drivers license. Apparently they couldn’t verify my immigration status through USCIS website though when I checked it said returned to PennDOT ( https://save.uscis.gov/CaseCheck/CaseCheck.aspx ) 

i called PennDOT 6 weeks after my initial visit ( that’s what was indicated on their website )to the driver license center at 717-412-5300 to check on the status. Apparently they have absolutely no access to their system cause they couldn’t tell me anything other than the processing time takes 30 business days and they wouldn’t be able to tell me anything other than what the letter will say. At this point, I’m just gonna let it be. This whole process is so stressful and a waste of time. I don’t think calling USCIS or PennDOT will provide any useful information. My fingers are crossed however and hopefully we get our letters soon.