Does one really need to jump through hoops to get a RealID? All you need to show is lawful residence. I verified my identity when getting my Colorado diver’s license with my birth certificate (born in the USA) and when my state implemented the RealID mine was automatically updated.
Yes, it’s more demanding than just “lawful residence.” Having just done it in Illinois, you need to show them:
- Documentation of either being a U.S. citizen, or a documented non-citizen (e.g., U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, Permanent Resident card, etc.)
- Documentation of legal name change (e.g., marriage certificate), if your name is now different from what’s on the above document
- Proof of your SSN (Social Security card, W-2, pay stub with your SSN, etc.)
- Two recent documents proving your current residence/address (bank statement, mortgage statement, lease agreement, official governmental mail sent to you at your address, voter registration card, etc.)
I just pulled this list from this checklist on the Illinois Secretary of State’s website:
I got one in PA in 2022 I believe. I had to bring in my birth certificate and certified marriage and divorce certificates. There may have been some additional requirements but I can’t recall. Had an appointment with the PennDot employee and it went smoothly. I won’t need a new on until 2029 now.
And i had trouble with both of these. I lost my SS card when i was 17. And for reasons of privacy, my employer, my bank, etc. only put the last four digits of my SSN on the documents they sent me. I ended up applying for a new social security card just to get real id.
And most of those acceptable documents to prove residence come to me via email, not snail mail. And “copies” aren’t acceptable, only originals. I happen to own a decent quality color laser printer. So i printed a few out, and tri-folded them so they looked like they’d come in the mail. I felt a little silly about doing that, until i got a ride from a friend of a friend, who was turned down because she had also printed her documents, hadn’t folded them, and the official checking her documents correctly guessed they weren’t “original”. She made another appointment, printed a fake envelope, folded the same same documents, and got her real ID on the second try.
So yes, i think it was pretty hard to get.
Oh yes! I had to apply for a new SS card because I couldn’t find mine. I also had to dig around for my original, certified marriage and divorce decrees which I had thankfully stashed in a bank box. My birth certificate was acceptable or I would have had to get a new one of those. It was a bit of a slog to get everything they needed at the time.
Just to be clear, all the identity-proving steps should only need to be done once in a lifetime. None of that rigmarole should be needed when you later renew. I say should because each state is free to be as dumb and obstructionist as they want about this whole thing.
It’s a decent bet that if you move within a state, they’ll want some proof of your new address. But that’s not about RealID, that’s just about the state wanting their DLs and ID cards to have accurate addresses on them. You’d have had to do that 25 years ago before RealID was invented.
I’m pretty sure I got my first RealID in one state then later moved to my current state. IIRC, I needed to give my new state my old RealID DL and proof of my new address, like a mortgage or electric bill. They took the old state’s word for it about all the “Prove you’re not an undocumented foreigner” stuff and just wanted me to prove my new address. Again, just as would have been done years before RealID was invented.
RealID is sorta cockamamie, and was invented for largely malign reasons. But the idea of a country actually having reliable records and accurate IDs of all the various flavors and statuses of people within their borders is not nuts. Pretty much every civilized country has that. Except the USA.
It’s absolutely about Real ID. Not only did you not have to do that 25 years ago in my state ( you used to just write the new address on your old license and send a letter to DMV notifying them ) , my son didn’t have to do it two years ago. He just changed it online. But the new license says " Not valid for Federal purposes". He hasn’t tried to change it back because he doesn’t know if he just needs proof of residence or if he will need to gather everything again (he’ll just use his passport for now). IIRC, that was one of the reasons for RealID - some states didn’t verify residence, some allowed a mailing address on the license rather than your actual residence.
And “proof of address” often isn’t proof of anything. My bank and my cell phone provider don’t actually know where I live- they know the address on their records, but they don’t even mail bills to that address any more. I could have moved seventeen times since I opened those accounts. That was always possible for some people (people who could still get mail at their former address) but now it’s possible for many more.
For sure I would not get on a boat to the Caribbean without a passport just in case I missed the boat or fell ill and needed to fly home.
If I needed to fly home from SW Ontario I’d still need to go to DTW to get on a planes🤷♀️
Yeah, a lot of “always take a passport” depends on specifics. If I go to Canada with only an enhanced license or passport card ( which I always have in my wallet) , it most likely means I was in Rochester and decided to go to Niagara Falls for a day. If I go to Mexico without a passport , it means I was in San Diego or El Paso and crossed into Mexico for the day. It’s very unlikely I will have to fly back to the US in either of those situations.
I recently renewed my Soviet of Washington EDL online, no ID questions asked. But as you say, each state makes up its own rigmarole.
I got mine in CA right up against a previous deadline like six years ago. I made an appointment so the whole thing was smooth and easy but I had a passport and birth certificate readily available. Then two months later it was in the news that there was some kind of screw up and the previous few months of RealIDs may have been wrongly issued or at least some of them but there was no way to know which ones. Very quickly they rescinded it probably because the logistics would be a nightmare and the chances of the screw up leading to a real problem were nil.
One amusing side thing. In researching what I needed to bring, I saw a different section about hats in pictures. You’re only allowed to wear one if it’s for religious reasons and you ordinarily wear it daily. That’s how I got to wear my favorite knit cap for my picture.
I got pretty annoyed at the process in TN - especially at the online document that lists the requirements.
2. PROOF OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
Applicant must furnish their Social Security Number. If it is not known, one (1) of the following
approved documents showing applicant’s name and full Social Security Number is acceptable:
- W-2
- 1099
- Social Security Card
- Payroll check stub
So wait, do I just need to ‘furnish’ the SSN, or do I need paper proof of it? Because unless I go and grab my actual card from the safe deposit box at the bank, none of those other documents actually will list the full unreacted SSN.
Anyhow, I arrive at the DMV, which is packed and immediately soul-crushing. I find a kiosk which is very poorly designed, and after several minutes of trying and starting over, manage to make an appointment for later in the afternoon. I spend a few hours traipsing around downtown waiting for my appointment, and I come back only to find that the appointment was in three months. Because the date was displayed in the tiniest font they could find.
So I went to the post office and renewed my passport and got a card too. So much easier.
Real ID is good for domestic air travel, accessing federal facilities & driving (assuming it’s a DL & not a non-driver’s ID) but no international travel (unless you happen to live in one of the five border states)
Passport card is good for domestic air travel, accessing federal facilities & limited (non-flying) travel to Canada, Mexico, & some other places in the Caribbean
So they each do two things in common & one unique thing.
Huh? I can’t ever see a scenario where I’d want to drive to Canada, abandon my car there, fly home, only to not have a car at home & then need to fly back there & drive home later on anyway. The only possible thing I can think of is a loved one was in a bad accident & only has hours left to live.
We were in Quebec earlier this year. I just looked, flight times are 5-6 hrs (including connections), some longer. Plus travel to the airport, plus get there early to get thru security, plus get from airport to home on the other end. Additionally, unless the call comes in at exactly the right minute, I need to waste more time waiting for next the scheduled departure time. With a drive time of nine hours, I may very well be able to get home faster by driving than flying, not spend lots of additional money for last minute airfare, indefinite parking & rental car at home not to mention leaving a bunch of stuff in the car because we had too much to fly with; especially, if that emergency call comes in after 2 or 3pm (departing flights are anywhere between 5am & 4:30pm)
So you have to prove legal residence, you current name if different than that document and residence in the state issuing your license. What I don’t get is the requirement of your SSN. What does that prove that the other docs don’t?
I just checked my 1099s, and some have the full number, some have XXX-XX-1234. I believe that is what I must have used, as I haven’t seen my social security card in at least 30 years. ETA: My wife’s W-2 has the full number, as well.
Maybe your car was totaled or something but it’s pretty unlikely.
I mean, I can but it’s sort of far-fetched. I drive to Canada, somewhere that’s not near the border but is near an airport. I have some sort of medical emergency and I can leave the Canadian hospital to go some sort of facility near home but for whatever reason, I can’t travel by car- maybe it’s too long a trip , maybe I need medical evacuation. And in that case, the US Embassy will issue a temporary passport.
It’s crazy that it’s a lot easier to get a passport than to get real ID.
Not really. You merely need to prove citizenship. Real IDs need residency in a state proven in addition.
I had gotten my RealID years ago to be sure I had it before the deadline back then (which has obviously been bumped multiple times since then). I don’t drive, so instead of a drivers license I was getting a state ID card. I had to bring all of the documents previously referred to by other posters, including a copy of the court order for a name change. Most of it was the same paperwork I had used to get a TSA PreCheck.
Interestingly enough, the birth certificate that I had used for both of these was not good enough for the State department when I applied for a passport last year. Apparently what I had been using all these years was a “short form”, which did not include things like my parent’s names. Why this had been good enough for everything but a passport I have no idea.