“I am adjusting status (marriage-based) from an expired F-1/STEM OPT. My I-485 and I-765 have been pending for four months and I have the receipt notices. The BMV told me they cannot renew my driver's license without an approved EAD or green card. Can I renew my driver's license with just my pending I-485/I-765 receipt notices, or do I have to wait for approval?”
You may not need to wait if your license is from Maine or Indiana; both have an official route beyond showing an approved EAD or green card. Ohio is stricter, but the answer is still manageable once you match your documents to the correct state rule and complete SAVE verification.
Use the option for the state that issued your license; a receipt-only answer is not the same in every BMV state.
You do not have to wait for the EAD or green card. Maine Chapter 15 accepts a document indicating a pending Form I-485, including a C09/C9 EAD, and gives a two-year when the pending case has no defined end date. Your I-485 is the key document; the I-765 receipt is supporting evidence.
You do not necessarily have to wait for approval, but the two receipts are not enough by themselves. Indiana's checklist accepts an only when accompanied by other USCIS documents and allows other documents that DHS can use to verify lawful status. Bring both receipts, passport, I-94, expired EAD, prior I-20, Social Security proof or proof of ineligibility, and Indiana-residency documents, and request the DHS/ verification route.
Ohio's published employment route requires either a valid EAD, or a valid passport, visa, I-94, an I-797 with an acceptable employment case type, and Social Security proof. It also requires current USCIS documents and successful verification. Your I-485 and I-765 receipts alone do not meet that list; if you cannot produce the complete alternative combination, you must wait for an approved EAD or green card.
If your license is from a state other than Maine, Indiana, or Ohio, these BMV rules do not control that state.
These steps separate the state-document question from the federal verification step so you can make one complete renewal attempt.
Before returning to the BMV
Match the license to the correct state branch
Use Maine Chapter 15 if Maine issued the card; use Indiana's Real ID Documentation Checklist if Indiana issued it; use Ohio's Non-U.S. Citizens page if Ohio issued it. If another state issued the license, that state's rule remains unresolved here because the question did not identify it.
Requirements
Before the renewal transaction
Assemble the original document packet
For Maine, lead with the I-485 receipt as the document showing a pending adjustment case. For Indiana, the I-797 must be accompanied by other USCIS documents, and a foreign national must re-prove identity, lawful status, Social Security number or ineligibility, and Indiana residency at a branch. For Ohio, receipts alone are insufficient; present a valid EAD or the complete valid passport/visa/I-94/acceptable-employment-I-797 combination. The exact fee cannot be resolved without your state, age, and license term.
Requirements
At the issuing agency
Submit under the pending-case rule
In Maine, request the Chapter 15 pending-I-485 route and the two-year pending-case license. In Indiana, request review under the checklist's I-797-plus-other-USCIS-documents route. In Ohio, if you lack both listed document combinations, the published rule requires you to wait for a qualifying approved document; if the license has been expired more than six months, also expect a temporary permit and testing.
Requirements
If the first check does not verify
Request and track SAVE verification
Ask the agency to submit Additional Verification rather than stopping after the initial prompt, and to upload your documents if SAVE says ‘Resubmit with Docs.’ Obtain the SAVE verification case number and enter it in USCIS CaseCheck at https://www.uscis.gov/save/benefit-and-license-applicants/save-casecheck; CaseCheck tracks verification, while the state agency makes the license decision.
Requirements
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This answer is grounded in the Indiana, Maine, and Ohio BMV rules, USCIS SAVE guidance, the USCIS employer handbook, and 8 CFR 274a.13.
Indiana BMV Real ID Documentation Checklist
Indiana permits an I-797 route, but the notice must be accompanied by other USCIS documents and remain verifiable through DHS.
3 — Lawful Status
Present ONE original document to establish lawful status. More than one document may be required. □ I-797 Notice of Action received by DHS and accompanied by other U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) documents. □ Other USCIS lawful status documents that can be used to verify lawful status with DHS.
Indiana BMV Renewal Rules
Indiana foreign nationals must renew at a branch and re-prove identity, lawful status, Social Security number or ineligibility, and residency.
Foreign nationals with permanent or temporary lawful status must also visit a branch and provide documentation of identity, lawful status, proof of Social Security Number (or proof of ineligibility) and Indiana residency for each renewal transaction.
Maine BMV Chapter 15
Maine expressly accepts pending-I-485 evidence and provides a two-year card for a case without a defined end date.
§6(C)(4)
Document indicating a pending Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, including an Employment Authorization Document bearing the code C09 or C9; If the document presented indicates that the noncitizen has a petition, application, or case currently pending before immigration authorities, including any review by the appropriate bodies with appellate jurisdiction, that has no defined duration limit, any driver’s license or nondriver identification card expires two years from the date of issuance.
Ohio BMV Non-U.S. Citizens
Ohio lists a valid EAD or a complete passport/visa/I-94/acceptable-I-797 combination; the two receipts alone are not the listed route.
Employment: valid Employment Authorization Card (Form I-766/EAD) and proof of Social Security number (if ever assigned) OR valid passport, visa, I-94, I-797 with acceptable employment case type, and proof of Social Security number (if ever assigned) You must present current USCIS documents and proof of Ohio residency at each ID card or license issuance.
Ohio BMV Driver License Renewal
Ohio changes the renewal process once a license has been expired for more than six months.
A driver license that is current or expired less than six months can be renewed at any deputy registrar license agency or online at any time before the expiration date. If the driver license is expired more than six months, a driver must obtain a temporary permit and successfully complete all required testing before a new driver license can be issued.
USCIS SAVE Verification Process
A BMV prompted by SAVE must request additional verification and may have to upload the immigration documents before receiving a final response.
Additional Verification Process
If the user agency receives a prompt to request additional verification, they must submit the case for additional verification to receive a SAVE response. When submitting the additional verification request, the user agency may include more information and/or a copy of the applicant’s immigration document, if needed or as required. After completing additional verification SAVE will: Return a SAVE response, or Prompt the user to ‘Resubmit with Docs,’ which means the user must upload a copy of the applicant’s immigration document for verification. SAVE will then return a final response.
USCIS SAVE CaseCheck
CaseCheck lets you track the immigration-verification case if the BMV gives you its SAVE case number.
CaseCheck lets benefit applicants check the status of their SAVE verification case as part of an application for a public benefit or license. SAVE verification case number assigned to your SAVE case if provided to you by the agency you requested the benefit from;
USCIS Handbook M-274 §5.0
A timely I-765 filed after Oct. 29, 2025 generally no longer produces an automatic EAD extension.
5.0
Effective Oct. 30, 2025, unless otherwise provided by law or through a Federal Register notice, the validity period of an expired or expiring Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and/or employment authorization is not automatically extended by the timely filing of a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, EAD renewal application.
8 CFR 274a.13(d)(1)(ii)
Even where the automatic-extension rule applies, the renewal normally must use the same category shown on the expiring EAD; C03C and C09 are different codes.
(d)(1)(ii)
To be eligible for the automatic extension under this paragraph, the request must be: Based on the same employment authorization category as shown on the face of the expiring Employment Authorization Document or is for an individual approved for Temporary Protected Status whose EAD was issued pursuant to 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(19);
These are the official rules as published on the cited dates; rules change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice; SettleKit is not a law firm.
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