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Texas Driver's License Offices Deny Some H-1B Renewals Over Expired Visa Stamps but Approve Others After Federal Check
Newsweek reported that H-1B visa holders in Texas are being denied driver's license renewals because their visa stamps have expired. Immigration attorneys say the workers remain lawfully present with valid I-797 approval notices and unexpired I-94 records. The issue may reflect confusion at state offices over immigration documents.
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Some H-1B visa holders in Texas report being denied driver's license renewals because the visa stamps in their passports have expired. Immigration attorneys state that affected workers may still be lawfully present in the United States despite expired visa stamps. Immigration attorney Gnanamookan Senthurjothi stated his firm had received calls from affected clients in recent days.
He said some clients returned to Texas DPS offices to attempt to resolve the license renewal issue. Senthurjothi stated the denials may reflect informal guidance or inconsistent staff training. Workers with a valid Form I-797 approval notice and an unexpired I-94 record remain lawfully present in the United States, Senthurjothi said.
A valid visa stamp is not required to establish immigration status for H-1B workers, he added. Immigration attorney Emily Neumann posted on LinkedIn on June 26 describing a recurring scenario of lawfully present workers being denied Texas driver's license renewals. She stated that a visa stamp is not a status document.
Governor Greg Abbott ordered Texas state agencies and public universities to pause new H-1B petitions through May 31, 2027. A September 2025 presidential proclamation imposed a $100,000 fee on many new H-1B petitions filed for workers outside the United States, though a federal judge blocked the measure earlier this month.
USCIS reported that properly submitted H-1B registrations for fiscal year 2027 totaled 211,600, down from 343,981 the previous year.
Between fiscal years 2021 and 2026, Texas-based employers had 260,937 H-1B petitions approved with 267,949 total recipients. Texas DPS documentation lists a foreign passport with a visa that is valid or expired plus a valid I-94 as acceptable identification documents.
