Court Halts Texas Driver License Policy

On April 9, a Texas court issued a temporary injunction blocking the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) from enforcing rules that limit the issuance of driver licenses to temporary visitors and non-citizens (such as H-1B workers). However, the rules will remain in effect while an appeal filed by DPS is considered. DPS announced that it would be appealing the decision and enforcing the existing rules in an April 10 press release.

As noted in the November 2008 issue of the Immigration eAuthority, the new driver license standards initiated by DPS on October 1, 2008 created problems in the driver license acquisition and renewal process for many legal U.S. residents. Government processing delays of immigration applications, such as an H-1B extension petition, caused problems for individuals seeking driver license renewal since proof of the extension of one’s lawful immigration status was required before the new driver license would be issued. For a review of the DPS rule and requirements, see DPS’ website.

Note: This article was published in the April 2009 issue of the Immigration eAuthority.