elgringo

No use abogado. Solo quieren dinero, a ellos no les va a importar nada tu caso.....

Es mejor hacerlo solo.

We went last week and got the driver's license.

They gave us a temporary one, like I expected. It says "Temporary License" on it and is set to expire when her GC expires, which is in June of 2009. I hope when I go to remove conditions the dumbasses at the DMV dont give me any problems renewing the temp license with just the letter that USCIS sends you extending the GC for another year.... I have some sneaking feeling that the retards at the DMV here arent gonna know what to do with it....

We are gonna go down there on Oct 16th, which is the next day that both me and my wife will be available to go somewhere together on a weekday. (I hate working and going to school..... )

I called the 1-800 number and it said that she will only be eligible to get a temporary license though, so we'll see what happens. I would be a LOT happier with a temp license tho than with a CFD. A temp license is exactly the same as a real one (can be used as ID etc) except it expires when her GC expires instead of lasting the full time like mine does..... Still, way better than a CFD tho and almost not discriminatory.

My question is, how/if/when can their son petition for one or more of his parents to become legal here? I am guessing that if and when he does that they'll have to go back to Mexico and file for a waiver?

Waiver is based on proving extreme hardship to qualifying family member. For I-601 waivers (needed here for overstay), child is NOT a qualifying family member. Only USC/PR spouses and parents are.

So that means that they are out of luck then??

Just curious ... why would they want to become legal now when they've already been here illegally for 20 years?

I would guess that they are tired of all the hassles being illegal brings. It was really hard for them to get a loan for their house, for example.

Plus, they own their own business, but since neither one of them is legal it isnt really legal either. Also, they pay their taxes every single year (they both have ITINs) but since they are illegal they dont really get any benefits from that.

But mainly I guess they are just tired of living in the shadows you know? If they get pulled over one time for speeding or something then BAM! it could all be over and they might get deported.

They are the kind of immigrants that we need in the US. They both learned English and are committed to being Americans and making their life here. They arent like your average Pedro who doesnt know a lick of English and sends all his money back to his wife and 7 kids in Mexico.....

He can file for both of them once he is 21 years old... he will have to have sufficant income to be able to meet the 125% rule for the number of people in his household... son, mom and dad and any others...

His parents' income can also be used right?

What does "He needs to be able to sponsor them" mean? Are there other requirements besides just being 21?

Also, can one child file for both parents or only for one of them?

My wife's aunt and uncle are here in the US illegally. As far as I know they entered without inspection about 20 years ago or so.

Their son was born here in the US and thus is a USC. Right now he is 17 years old.

My question is, how/if/when can their son petition for one or more of his parents to become legal here? I am guessing that if and when he does that they'll have to go back to Mexico and file for a waiver?

Here, have a bacon butty and some fish and chips.........

As you say, the federal government leaves the issuance of drivers licenses to state law.

The USCIS statement that a Green Card can be used when applying for a state drivers license falls far short of being a federal law that requires the states to issue a drivers license to a conditional LPR who has passed the required tests for a license. The states set their own requirements for the issuance of drivers licenses and for what they consider to be acceptable documentation (except when a federal law says that certain items of documentation cannot be used).

Yodrak

Well if a green card isnt good enough to get a license, then whats to stop them from saying that a US birth certificate or passport isnt good enough? Next thing you know nobody in TN will be able to get a DL.

They just don't understand that the interpreter's job is difficult and exhausting.

I know what you mean. My parents visited us in Mexico last summer and after a day of interpreting literally everything that was being said I was just totally exhausted and had a splitting headache. It really is hard work interpreting. I dont think most unilingual (is that a word? ) people understand that.

Don't have time to read this entire thread, but a certificate of driving is the same as a license EXCEPT you can't use it for ID purposes. I don't get what all the fuss is about.

Like Dr_LHA said, the "fuss" is that there are several things that you CANT do with a CFD, as he mentioned. Also, the main thing that makes me want to "fuss" is the fact that its just downright discriminatory to offer a legal permanent resident, who has all the same rights as a citizen (except the right to vote) a 2nd class document.....

Thanks reach.

Well, I thought it was going to be relatively simple also. We took my wife to do the knowledge portion of the test back in May when she got her EAD. I could understand why they gave her a CFD then. An EAD doesnt confer any type of residency status or anything like that to its holder. That was fine, whatever. But I was always thinking, "As soon as she has her green card we can go and get a real license." In fact, she waited way longer than necessary to go and get her DL specifically because we were waiting for her GC to arrive. She could have passed the driving part and gotten a CFD to drive back in freaking June if I would have known that a GC wouldnt let her get a real license.

I'm gonna try and gather all the information thats available about this and go back down there on October 1st and DEMAND that they give my wife a real license and stop the discrimination. (I hope I dont get thrown out of the DMV, hehehe.)

Well I sent an email yesterday to the TN immigrant rights coalition which is based in Nashville, and they sent me back this email today:

Thanks for your email, and I certainly understand your frustration. The short answer is, the TN General Assembly eliminated the certificate for driving program this legislative session. Starting in October, your wife will eligible to receive a regular driver's license. It will be only be valid for as long as her conditional green card is valid.

When the governor initiated the certificate program in 2004, our coalition advocated against issuing these second class documents to immigrants who are lawfully present, but "temporary." In fact, there is a pending civil rights lawsuit against the governor on your wife's behalf (which is now probably moot). In the years since, we have introduced and advocated for legislation that would have corrected the situation for lawful residents. Unfortunately, the legislature chose instead to eliminate the program altogether, which means that tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants now have no access to any driving safety document or accident insurance. We feel this has made our roads less safe.

The upside, of course, is people in your wife's situation will no longer be forced to carry a second class document.

Best,

Stephen

Stephen Fotopulos

Policy Director

Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition

So it looks like that they will be doing away with the CFDs in October. So according to this guy my wife should be able to get a real driver's license then. Yippeee!

The problem you are seeing is Federal Law v. State Law. Again by nature of what we are - the United States of America - the federal government is limited constitutionally as to its power over laws within the States. The founding fathers set it up that way on purpose. If you remember they were very pissed off at a certain British king.

Thats not true. Federal law ALWAYS trumps state laws. But there are some thing that the Federal govt leaves up to the states to decide, such as issuing driver's licenses.

I believe that Tennessee's refusal to issue a driver's license to conditional residents would not stand up in a court of law. Read this on the USCIS website:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Note that it says, "Some of you may be CONDITIONAL RESIDENTS. This page applies equally to you while you are in conditional resident status. The difference between you and an unconditioned permanent resident is that your permanent resident status will expire in two years from when it was given, unless you successfully petition to have the condition removed."

Also: "The Permanent Resident Card (either unconditioned or conditioned) can be used to prove employment eligibility in the US when completing the Form I-9 for a new employer. It can also be used to apply for a Social Security Card and a state issued driver’s license."

I should print that out and carry it back down to the DMV.... heh.

I can easily translate Spanish to English, but like Gabacha said, going the other way isnt usually encouraged.

I would like a job where I can talk to Spanish speakers, but I would definitely NOT want to have to translate/interpret ####### all day. I love speaking Spanish, but I hate translating or interpreting it for other people.

I'm seriously thinking about applying for a job with USCIS, or maybe the Border Patrol.

Check out this that I found on the website. You have to do some digging, but if you dig long enough you'll find that it does say that a conditional I-551 is only enough proof to get a CFD.... Like I keep saying, I find it ludicrous that the state of Tennessee considers a valid conditional Legal Permanent Resident card to be the exact same thing as just having an I-94 as far as driver's licenses are concerned. I just cannot get over that. How stupid can they be? We jumped through all the immigration hoops, paid our $1200, did all the paperwork, drove 8 hours for a 10 min interview, got the LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT card, and then the State of TN is gonna tell us that she's not a "real" LPR. What a crock.

http://www.tennessee.gov/safety/driverlice...ltemporary.html

I'm really confused now. So they are going to do away with the CFDs in October? It sounds like a "temporary" driver's license could be just as bad though.

I still believe that the only thing that should be offered to a LEGAL permanent resident is a full driver's license that would be offered to a citizen. As I said before, (and I think everyone knows except for the dumb Tennessee state legislators), a LPR has the exact same rights as a USC. If they can deny my wife a driver's license, next time they could be trying to deny me one.......

elgringo, I don't think that's possible. Unless TN specifically allows people to drive in TN without auto insurance, then it can't be as you're suggesting. There must be a way for CFD drivers who live in TN to obtain auto insurance if TN requires all TN drivers to have insurance.

Do you have a "Department of Insurance" or an Insurance Commissioner in TN? You should contact that department to ask about this. I can't imagine TN's department of insurance not requiring all insurance companies who are allowed to offer insurance in TN to offer insurance to all, including those with only CFDs. That would absolutely be grounds for a lawsuit. You can't be legally required to purchase insurance, and yet at the same time be excluded from being able to purchase insurance. That's not possible.

Check out this article that Dr_LHA posted earlier in this thread:

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/0...ent_ID=64110024

Notice this segment:

People seeking car insurance with their driving certificates also are having trouble, said David Lubell, state coordinator of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

''There are a lot of insurance companies who will not accept a driving certificate, and others are charging extremely high rates,'' he said.

State Farm is among the companies that won't insure certificate holders.

''In order to obtain insurance through State Farm, you must have a valid U.S. driver's license (and) a Social Security number,'' State Farm spokesperson Louann Burkeen said.

Elivic Gomez, 19, a student at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, said the certificates are worthless if the driver can't buy legally required auto insurance.

While it may be annoying to carry both a CFD and a passport or GC, your wife has a valid permit to drive and she has legal proof of ID in the form of passport and GC, so once again I don't see the need for this big fuss. The practical goal is achieved--which is for her to drive.

Supposedly you cant get insurance with just a CFD...... I'd say thats enough reason for a big fuss....

I also found the phone numbers for some reporters for the Tennessean. I'm gonna be calling them tomorrow too. I want to get the word out about how discriminatory this is. I just cant get past the fact that they are discriminating against LEGAL RESIDENTS with LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT CARDS!!! It makes me mad just thinking about it. I'm gonna be freaking writing emails and making calls all day tomorrow about this. I've got the 1-800 number to the governor's office too. Something tells me that wont do much good though, because according to what I've read he's one of the ones thats been trying to get this piece of ####### repealed.

If you have a driver's license you could probably register to vote and whatever else you wanted. Here in the US it pretty much means you are a citizen. I can see the reasoning behind giving CFDs to some classes of immigrants, but NOT to LPRs. (Even conditional ones.)

Just found this. Apparently TN is the first state to have passed this stupid CFD law #######. And also I found where they introduced no less than 3 different laws to repeal the CFD law this legislative session, but all 3 failed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Nation watches implications of Tennessee driver certificate

"'This is a disaster, potentially,' said Tyler Moran, an analyst with the National Immigration Law Center, which advocates for the rights of immigrants. 'I really think it's created a bit of a mess.'"

"For once, Moran is in agreement with state Rep. Donna Rowland, a conservative Republican from Rutherford County. Rowland said she would 'absolutely not' advise other states to follow Tennessee's lead."

"'I hope states learn from our mistakes,' she said. 'The certificate of driving will become exactly what the driver's license has become, which is a de facto national ID.'"

"Tennessee's experiment is being scrutinized by numerous states trying to balance road safety against federal immigration policy and homeland security."

Well a quick look around the net shows that there are class action lawsuits filed against this law.

Can you point me to where you found that info?

I'm not really opposed to having CFDs per se. Its cool if they want to give a CFD to someone who is here on a temporary visa or to someone who just has an EAD, because those things are temporary and dont really confer immigrant status.

However, I find it TOTALLY STUPID that TN wont accept a conditional green card as proof enough to get a real driver's license. As I stated above, a far more reasonable thing to do would be to issue the real driver's license but have it set to expire with the conditional green card. There's really no reason not to do it that way. Giving someone a CFD thats here LEGALLY with a PERMANENT RESIDENT CARD is just plain dumb. I've made up my mind, I am gonna be emailing my state rep and state senator tomorrow. I dont know how much good it will do, but I feel I have to at least make an effort to let my elected officials know how stupid this is....