PassporterAlert!
February 14, 2008
Michigan Senate and House Pass New Driver's License Bill;
Gov. Granholm Expected to Sign Tomorrow
New Legislation Will Permit Foreign Nationals Legally In U.S. To Obtain Michigan Driver's License
Finally, some good news in the Michigan Driver's License fiasco. Today, the Michigan Senate and House passed a bill that would allow legal foreign nationals temporarily living in Michigan to resume getting driver's licenses. Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to sign the bill as soon as tomorrow, and it appears the new law will take effect immediately.
As mentioned in our previous Passporter Alert, Michigan's Secretary of State implemented a new policy on January 22, 2008 that stated that Michigan driver's licenses would only be issued to individuals who were legally and permanently residing in Michigan. Foreign nationals in a legal temporary status (such as H-1B, TN, or L-1) were not eligible for a license under the new policy, and in fact, we heard from many individuals who had already been rejected in the past few weeks. This policy change drew harsh criticism locally and nationally from businesses, universities and others due to it's negative impact on individuals living in Michigan in a legal immigration status.
Under the bill passed by the Senate and House, foreign nationals who reside in Michigan and can prove they are legally present in the U.S., will again be allowed to obtain a Michigan driver's license. Illegal immigrants, however, will still be unable to get a Michigan driver's license under the new law.
Ellis Porter is pleased that the Michigan legislature has passed this important legislation to restore Michigan's ability to attract and retain foreign national employees, students, and other individuals here legally in a temporary immigration status. We offer special thanks to all of our clients who worked with us, and otherwise supported our efforts, to reverse this bad policy decision by the Secretary of State.
Just as we urged you to contact your legislators to request prompt action to fix this issue, we now urge you to send them a note of thanks for getting this done.
Click here to contact your Michigan State Senator.
Click here to contact your Michigan State Representative.
As always, if you or your employees have any questions about these latest immigration law developments, please do not hesitate to let us know.
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Special Client Alert:
THE H-1B CAP FILING DATE IS APRIL 1, 2008. ARE YOU
READY?
Click here for H-1B Cap information and resources from
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