Nevada DMV

I moved to Nevada under TN Status, and am having trouble getting a drivers license, they say that my I-94 does not allow me to get a license as I am only a "visitor", I have tried explaining my status to the people in Carson City, but am not making much headway. Has anyone had trouble with TN Status in Nevada, and are there any reccomendations?

Wow, it's like déjà vu!

Basically, their statute sucks and I've already written to the Nevada AG about it. Write to the AG in Carson City and lend your voice to the chorus. The law says you must have an I-94 to get a licence, but it's written too tightly. They never took into account the entry categories that are unique to Canadians that either don't require an I-94 or the I-94 doesn't really indicate much.

The problem is that the Nevada legislature only meets once every two years, so it will take forever to get sorted out, they have some power to fiddle with it by regulation but the legislation itself is quite tightly drawn. It's a new law, so I suspect they are prepared for the fact they will have to amend it.

It's largely the fault of the Dept. of Homeland Security who issued silly legal advice to States on how to comply with the Real ID Act.

Some States (e.g. Florida) actually bothered to read the federal legislation, so in Florida you can get a DL valid for a year just by presenting a Canadian passport, and New Mexico is the only State that used the "alternate" provisions of the Real ID Act which allow them to issue DLs that are purely that (i.e. they cannot be used at airports to let you on the plane) without all the other identifying paperwork.

So even though I have an I-94, and they have a copy of it, I am inelegable for a drivers license? I will be sure to write a letter to the AG today.this is messed up.

I am a bit surprised they won't issue you one at all, perhaps they interpret TN-1 as a visitor category because it is "temporary". The usual problem is if you don't have an I-94 at all or if it shows short-term status. These are the regs: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-483. ... C483Sec050

Bear in mind if you change your DL, this can cause problems with your TN-1 status as it becomes harder to show USCIS that you have "bona-fide non-immigrant intent" plus it can cause you tax problems, because the IRS takes a DL as an indication that you are resident in the US for tax purposes, but you may still have other ties to Canada that make you resident there for tax purposes.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p151/README.html

The DMV in Carson City is contacting INS (althoguh I suppose it would be Homeland Security now) to be sure that they are able to issue a drivers license to someone under TN Status.

In some states you can't even get a state ID or driver's license unless you have a green card. Which makes life quite difficult I'd imagine. Especially for those who entered on a fiance or spouse visa who are waiting for adjustment of status.

Gotta love that Homeland Security!

UPDATE - The DMV office in Carson City contacted immigration to review my status. Immigration confirmed I was correct we are elegible for Nevada DL until the expiration of our TN. They are going to contact our local branch and inform them.

I have had a ton of trouble finding any information about this online, so if anyone is going through the same issues in the future, don't hesitate to contact me, I will pass on as much information as I can.

How the law is written is that they can issue you a DL, the reason I wrote to the AG was:

(a) it's really stupid to only issue it until your I-94 expires because it means you have to leave and then re-enter before your DL expires in good time so you can keep your DL current and
(b) some immigration categories into the US (for Canadians) don't necessarily have an I-94 even though you can reside in the US for long periods, especially if the status is renewed in the US.

However in TN-1 status I'm not convinced it's a good idea to swap the DL over because of the tax implications. Although in Nevada you save a ton on tax because there is no State income tax, so it might be worth the reams of paperwork involved in moving your tax home to the US temporarily.