You do not need to wait for your green card: use your pending-I-485 I-797C for SAVE verification, but expect a limited-term Texas license rather than a permanent eight-year license.
“I came to the US on a K1 visa and have a pending I-485. My I-94 is about to expire. I tried to get my permanent driver's license at Texas DPS, but they refused to verify my status using my I-797C (NOA1) and said they need my green card. What can I do to get my driver's license in Texas?”
Summary
The counter employee's “green card only” answer conflicts with Texas DPS's own DL-53. Your application may need manual SAVE review and a return visit, but an inconclusive first check is a hold—not necessarily a denial.
You have one direct route now and one useful document-based fallback; waiting for the green card is not required.
Take the original showing the pending I-485, your A-number and all recent immigration documents. Point to the “Applicants for adjustment of status” row in Texas DPS Form DL-53 and ask the specialist to create a case and scan the documents for additional verification if the first response is inconclusive.
If you already have an unexpired Form I-766 EAD, bring it: DPS lists it as a primary photo identity document. Also bring the I-485 receipt so SAVE can verify the pending-adjustment basis; the resulting card remains a .
A green card is acceptable when issued, but it is not the only document DPS permits now. Form DL-53 expressly includes a Form I-797 indicating a pending I-485, and 6 CFR 37.3 expressly includes a pending permanent-residence application within temporary lawful status.
Both pending-I-485 routes produce a limited-term license because your permanent-residence application is still pending.
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Watch out for
Next steps
These steps get DPS to use the correct pending-I-485 category and finish the license transaction before its 90-day window closes.
Before the I-94 expires, if possible
Assemble separate status and identity packets
For lawful presence, use the “Applicants for adjustment of status” row in DL-53: https://www.dps.texas.gov/internetforms/Forms/DL-53.pdf. For identity, use an unexpired EAD if available; otherwise use the passport/visa/I-94 combination only while the I-94 is valid. An I-797 proves the pending case category but does not replace photo identity.
Requirements
Start the 90-day transaction window
Book a DPS appointment and complete Form DL-14A
Schedule at https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/driver-license-services-appointments and use Form DL-14A at https://www.dps.texas.gov/internetforms/Forms/DL-14A.pdf. For a new license at age 18–84, the DPS fee table lists $33. DPS will also take your photo, signature and thumbprints and give the vision test.
Requirements
At the counter
Ask DPS to create the SAVE case
Show the specialist the exact DL-53 sentence stating that evidence “can include but is not limited to a form I-797 indicating pending I-485.” Ask the specialist to scan the notice and submit the case to SAVE rather than requiring an I-551 green card. Get the SAVE case number before leaving.
Requirements
While the DPS application is on hold
Track and complete additional verification
Track the verification at https://www.uscis.gov/save/benefit-and-license-applicants/save-casecheck. If SAVE asks for additional verification or “Resubmit with Docs,” DPS must submit that stage and upload the document. Follow every DPS letter or email promptly; SAVE does not allow expedited verification. Complete the transaction within 90 days of the DPS application to avoid a new application and possible extra fee.
Requirements
After SAVE returns verification
Return to DPS and finish testing
You do not need to wait for DPS's courtesy approval letter; Form DL-62 says you still return to the driver-license office with the remaining documents. Pass any required knowledge, vision and road tests. DPS then issues the limited-term card through the SAVE end date, or for one year if SAVE supplies no end date.
Requirements
If the office again says “green card only”
Escalate a refusal to open SAVE
Ask a supervisor to compare the pending-adjustment row in DL-53 and confirm whether a SAVE case was created. If the office still refuses to process the listed document, submit the facts through the official Driver License Customer Service form at https://www.dps.texas.gov/apps/DriverLicense/customer_service/Other.aspx and preserve any written refusal; do not treat a counter statement as a completed SAVE denial.
Requirements
Legal sources
This answer rests on Texas DPS Forms DL-53 and DL-62, Texas DPS licensing guidance, USCIS SAVE instructions, the federal REAL ID regulation, and the Texas Register.
Texas DPS Form DL-53 (Rev. 3/22)
Texas DPS itself says a pending-I-485 I-797 can document this licensing category, so a green card is not the only acceptable evidence.
Applicants for adjustment of status
This can include but is not limited to a form I-797 indicating pending I-485 or pending application for adjustment of status.
Texas DPS Form DL-53 (Rev. 3/22)
DPS must use SAVE and can use two more verification stages when the first check does not resolve the case.
SAVE verification instructions
The department must verify applicable lawful presence documentation through the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program. Verification through SAVE is often instantaneous, but when it is not, receipt of the DL/ID may be delayed for up to 30 days. If SAVE cannot verify on the first attempt, SAVE will permit two additional stages of verification.
6 CFR 37.3
For REAL ID licensing, a pending permanent-residence application is expressly treated as temporary lawful status.
Definition of “Temporary lawful status”
Temporary lawful status: A person in temporary lawful status is a person who: Has a valid nonimmigrant status in the United States (other than a person admitted as a nonimmigrant under the Compacts of Free Association between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau); has a pending application for asylum in the United States; has a pending or approved application for temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States; has approved deferred action status; or has a pending application for LPR or conditional permanent resident status.
6 CFR 37.21
Federal REAL ID rules require the card for this category to be temporary or limited-term and cap it at one year when DHS supplies no end date.
§37.21(b)(1)
States may only issue a temporary or limited-term REAL ID driver's license or identification card to an individual who has temporary lawful status in the United States. States shall not issue a temporary or limited-term driver's license or identification card pursuant to this section: (1) For a time period longer than the expiration of the applicant's authorized stay in the United States, or, if there is no expiration date, for a period longer than one year; and
Texas DPS Form DL-62 (Rev. 3-2026)
Texas explains exactly how SAVE determines the limited-term card's expiration.
Lawful-presence verification result
If SAVE verifies you as a non-citizen, we will issue you a limited term driver license or identification card with an expiration date that matches the end date of your lawful presence period provided by USCIS through SAVE, or one year expiration if no end date is received.
Texas DPS Form DL-62 (Rev. 3-2026)
The pending DPS transaction must be completed within 90 days or a fresh application and fee may be required.
Application completion period
Once you submit your driver license or identification card application, you have 90 days to complete all of the requirements, such as SAVE verification and any written or driving tests. After 90 days, we may require you to resubmit your application and pay an additional fee.
USCIS SAVE Verification Process
If SAVE asks for another stage, DPS—not the applicant acting alone—must send the additional request and documents.
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. 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.
Texas DPS Identification Requirements
An unexpired EAD is primary identity, while the passport-and-visa route also requires a valid I-94.
Primary Identity Documents
Employment Authorization Card (I-766) Valid, unexpired foreign passport with attached visa … and valid Form I-94
Texas DPS Identification Requirements
If no primary identity document is available, DPS permits only the specified secondary/supporting combinations.
Identity-document combinations
There are three ways an individual can verify his/her identity: Bring one item listed in the ‘Primary Identity Documents’ category or Bring two items listed in the ‘Secondary Identity Documents’ category or Bring one item listed in the ‘Secondary Identity Documents’ category and two documents listed in the ‘Supporting Identity Documents’ category
Texas DPS Apply for a Texas Driver License
This establishes the age-based course branch and the separate Impact Texas Driver certificate timing.
Required documentation before the appointment
A six-hour adult Driver Education course, if you are 18 through 24 years of age and applying for your first Texas driver license. This requirement is waived for new residents 18 or older who are surrendering a valid, unexpired driver license from another state. (No driver education requirements for ages 25 and older) Impact Texas Driver (ITD) certificate, if you will be taking a driving test for the issuance of your driver license. The certificate must be dated within 90 days for your driving skills test.
Texas DPS Driver License Fees
The official new-license fee for an applicant age 18–84 is $33, subject to the limited-term expiration rule.
Driver license fee table
Age 18 to 84: new — $33; expires after eight years (on your birthday).
Proposed amendment to 37 TAC §15.24
The expired-visa identity change was published as a proposal, not as an adoption notice in the source fetched here.
37 TAC §15.24 proposal
The Texas Department of Public Safety (the department) proposes amendments to §15.24, concerning Identification of Applicants. Earliest possible date of adoption: July 26, 2026.
These are the official rules and agency instructions as published or current on the cited dates; rules and agency procedures can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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