Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will stop accepting the federal government-issued Employment Authorization Document (I-766) as proof of legal presence in the United States — a condition of obtaining a driver’s license or official identification card in the state, Governor Bob McDonnell announced. The governor said the precautionary action by the state is the result of concerns over the document’s reliability as evidence of an individual’s authorization to be in the country. The I-766 card, issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Service, is obtained by individuals temporarily authorized to work in the United States, even if the individual is in a pending deportation status.

Concerns surfaced in August after an alleged drunk driver was charged in Prince William County with a fatal crash in which one person died and two others were critically injured. Police say a 23-year-old driver from Bolivia had been reported to ICE after two previous drunk-driving convictions in 2007 and 2008, but was released pending a deportation hearing. Police report that the driver received an Employment Authorization Document in January 2009 while federal deportation actions were pending, and subsequently used the document to prove legal presence while applying for a Virginia ID card in accordance with current Virginia law. The driver did not have a Virginia driver’s license at the time of the crash.

“The integrity of the credentials issued by the Commonwealth is of the utmost importance,” said McDonnell. “We must ensure that documents accepted as proof of legal presence are reliable. Virginia law is clear in the requirement that an individual be lawfully in the United States to be eligible for an identification card or to have the privilege to drive.”

The DMV will seek additional guidance from the state’s attorney general regarding federal documents that should be accepted going forward as proof of legal presence. Of the 21 documents DMV continues to accept as proof of an applicant’s lawful status, 20 are issued by the federal government, including 12 issued by USCIS.