Think Your Driving License is Valid? Think Again!

It’s not uncommon for international students to get a car once they’ve been in the US for a few years. Although the expenses of owning a car here are quite steep, it’s sometimes nice to have a car and be able to just go places without having to wait for the bus or find a friend with a car who’ll give you a ride. So like my fellow international students, I too bought a car about a year after I came here. I drove my nice albeit old car everywhere throughout college without any incidents. I never got a ticket, I never even got pulled over.

Owning a car got me into trouble about seven months after I had graduated from college. I was on my OPT at the time. I was driving to my friend’s place with a couple other buddies when I got pulled over by a cop for doing 40 mph on a 30 mph. The policeman took my drivers license, insurance, went back to his car and did the usual routine check. When he came back, he asked me to step out of the car and move to the sidewalk. I was surprised by this, but complied. He told me that my drivers license was expired and I wasn’t supposed to be driving. This was news to me since my drivers license said my license was valid until 2011. The policeman disagreed with this and said he ran my license against the Department of Motor Vehicles database and it came back as expired. Anyways, long story short, he let me go with a $142 speeding ticket and a $170 ticket for driving with an expired license.

After speaking with friends and school officials, I later found out what had really happened. Apparently when the DMV gives you your driving license, they print something on it called “Status Check” which has a date next to it that corresponds to the expiry date of your visa. They also print an expiry date on the license. The ACTUAL expiry date of the drivers license is the status check date and not the expiry date that is printed on the license. So although the expiry date on my license was 2011, my license has actually expired on the day my visa had expired. Not knowing this, I had continued to drive without getting my license renewed.

The DMV told me that they usually send a letter reminding international students with status check licenses to renew their licenses when the status check date is near. But I had changed my address at least three times since the time I had gotten my license and never bothered to notify the DMV. So I never got the letter. I also learnt that not all states implement this system of status check, so all international students will not be affected by this. On a side note, although my visa was expired, my stay in the US was still legal because I was on my OPT.

I’ve scheduled a meeting with a hearing officer at the local court to contest this ticket. I’ll keep you guys posted on the outcome.

A word of advice to all international students. Check your drivers license to see when your status check date is, and renew your license before that date is past. Don’t get pulled over driving with an expired license and end up getting a big ticket like I did.

Happy driving!