Jose thought his luck had changed on Friday. After his New York license was rejected last April as part of a state crackdown, the undocumented Mexican immigrant tried unsuccessfully to pay $2,000 for a fake one. When that failed, he traveled to Michigan with five other immigrants to take advantage of the more lenient regulations there, only to learn he couldn’t receive insurance with his new out-of-state license.

Then, on Friday, the pizza deliveryman, who is a 12-year resident of New York, read that a judge had ordered the Department of Motor Vehicles to stop taking away the driver’s licenses of immigrants. He celebrated. But yesterday, after two hours in line at the Northern Brooklyn branch of the DMV, he left empty-handed and frustrated.

“What’s going on is there’s much confusion at the centers,” said a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Foster Maer, of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. “When they hear they’re able to get one after being told no, that’s a very important thing that is of great value and importance to them. Then, to be told at the door, ‘Gee, nothing changed,’ is a very disrespectful thing to all these residents.”

Justice Karen Smith of State Supreme Court in Manhattan issued a temporary ruling last week that individuals cannot be denied renewals of their licenses based on their immigration status.

The lawsuit, which included plaintiffs with both legal and undocumented status, stemmed from a change in policy last year when the state, in an effort to combat fraud and terrorism, began to send letters to immigrants whose Social Security numbers did not match a national database. The state said individuals without a valid Social Security number would be denied a license. Judge Smith ruled the DMV was overstepping its mandate by enforcing immigration law and making rules without public notice.

Five days after Judge Smith’s decision, the department said it is still reviewing the judge’s temporary restraining order and that no decision has been made about whether to appeal.

“We’re reviewing the temporary restraining order,” said a spokesman for the department, Joseph Picchi. “If they want to go to the DMV, they can, but we’re going to still have to see what we are going to do under the temporary restraining order.”

Since last year, the agency has suspended about 5,500 licenses of people found to have committed fraud, Mr. Picchi said. About 300,000 others are stuck at the inquiry state. At DMV branches throughout the city, immigrants who went enthusiastically to try their luck received conflicting and confusing responses.

“They went in good faith, and they said the DMV harassed them and said ‘Where’s your Social Security Card?’

They were impolite, indifferent to the judge’s ruling,” said a Franciscan priest and immigration advocate, Father Brian Jordan of St. Francis of Asissi in Manhattan. “We’re just going to tell people, ‘Don’t go to the DMV until all these people have been properly authorized to comply with the order.’ “

At the Northern Brooklyn DMV branch, Jose was better received. According to attorneys monitoring the situation, the branch was one of a few that gave instructions roughly corresponding with the judge’s ruling. After a two-hour wait, a DMV officer said he should go to the neighboring Social Security Administration office to get a letter verifying he is ineligible for a Social Security number.

New York is one of 12 states that do not require a resident to have legal status to obtain a license. If an immigrant cannot provide a Social Security number, he must present a letter from the Social Security Administration that indicates he is not eligible for one.

“I am feeling frustrated, because I need a license in order to drive and to work,” Jose said in Spanish. “Tomorrow I will go back at seven in the morning.”