Yes, and I got emails the day after my initial submittal but not since then in late Sept.
My passport arrived today. Very nice work, US State Dept. Application submitted: Sept 25. Book received: Oct 21
I think I’ll go for the card, too.
Oops, I missed something! To what “card” are we referring?
A passport card- it can’t be used to travel internationally by plane but you can use it to travel to Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean by land or sea and you can use it as ID in any situation where Real ID is needed.
Sounds handy. In Illinois, you can get something called a real ID as opposed to a regular driver’s license. I wonder if that would work the same way. I never bothered because I have a passport, but a simple card would be nicer for situations such as the ones you mentioned.
The Real ID driver’s license will work for flying domestically or entering Federal facilities but not for travel to Canada or Mexico (there is a type of DL that can be used for that, but only a few states issue them. )
Also, a Real ID is not a proof of citizenship, though a passport booklet or passport card is.
Ah, okay, I remember now! Illinois said that at some point regular drivers’ licenses will not be accepted for domestic flights because real IDs only will be accepted unless you have a passport. They keep putting it off, though. Since I have a passport, I keep putting off making the change. I think I should do it because, once the mandate finally goes into effect for real, there will be a flood of people trying to switch over.
FYI, the current deadline to have a Real ID or something other than a normal driver’s license is currently May 7, 2025. It’s been extended previously but this one seems to be holding firm.
Fwiw, you can also fly using a global entry card. Global entry is only a few bucks more that TSA pre, and it gets you into the country faster and gives you this nice card that can be used as “real id”.
Gulp! 
I think I should do it over spring break at the latest.
That RealID-compliant ID is not usable for international travel (caveat: I think, but am not sure, that there are one or two state IDs that can be used as such).
Since the passport card IS RealID compliant, it’s usable where such a document is required but your state ID is not; my license is not. I expect I’ll try to get that sorted out at my next renewal.
Thanks for the tip! 
Right. I got Global Entry instead of just getting TSA Precheck though I travel overseas only rarely. And if you’re a cheapskate, I believe the NEXUS Card is only fifty bucks and includes both Precheck and Global Entry.
So … as I understand it (hopefully correctly), if I got the Global Entry, I wouldn’t even need to change my driver’s license to a Real ID? Sounds good to me.
As long as you carry the Global Entry card with you when you travel, yes, you won’t need a Real ID to show to the TSA officer.
Personally, I prefer to carry as little as possible and I already need to carry the driver’s license (to drive a rental car at my destination) so I applied for a Real ID license.
There are a few states that issue enhanced licenses ( I’m 99% they are all border states) which you can use to travel internationally the same as a passport card - only certain places by land or sea. I can drive to and from Canada with either my passport card or my enhanced license, but I can’t fly to Canada with either.
There is a whole list of documents that are REAL ID compliant - any one of them is as good as any other for flying domestically or entering Federal facilities and if you already have a passport , getting a passport card will be most likely be easier than getting a REAL ID compliant license, See here
Yes. If you already have a passport book and you are eligible to use Form DS-82, you may apply for a passport card by mail as a “renewal” even if it is your first passport card.
You can do the same and apply for your first passport book by mail as a “renewal” if you already have a passport card.
There are currently 5 (NY, Michigan, Vermont, Minnesota, and Washington). I haven’t seen anything on plans to expand that list.
I use NEXUS and this is true; it’s cheaper than Precheck and Global Entry. But you have to be interviewed at one of the sites by the border to get one. The Mrs. and I had to go to Sault Ste. Marie for this.
I read that they are increasing the fees, and Nexus is going to cost as much as global entry in the near future. I originally planned to get Nexus, but they took so long before i was approved that both of my planned trips to Canada (where i could have scheduled the interview at the airport) had already happened. And it was cheaper to “upgrade” to global entry than to get to a place where i could do a Nexus interview. They called it an upgrade, but Nexus would have been marginally better for me, because, iirc, it has some advantage for border crossing between the US and Canada. And i might do that. Whereas the odds of my entering the US at an airport that doesn’t have flights to Canada (the only place global entry would be better) are zero. (If you lived closer to the Mexico border then the Canadian one, there’s a Mexican program similar to Nexus that i know almost nothing about.)