My husband needs to renew his driver’s license, and we were shocked to find this when he went online:
From the California Department of Motor Vehicles website:
REAL ID Act
If you fly within the United States or enter secure federal buildings and military bases, you will need to a valid passport or other federally approved document, such as a REAL ID driver license or identification card, beginning October 1, 2020.
Before you renew your driver license or identification card or apply for one, you must choose between a federal compliant REAL ID driver license or identification card and a federal non-compliant one. Use our REAL ID infographic (PDF) to help decide which one is right for you.
NOTE: Individuals applying for or renewing an AB 60 driver license are not eligible to receive a REAL ID driver license.
[Assembly Bill (AB) 60 (Chapter 524: Statutes of 2013) requires the department to issue an original driver license to an applicant who is unable to submit satisfactory proof of legal presence in the United States. Driver license applicants under AB 60 must meet all other qualifications for licensure and must provide satisfactory proof of identity and California residency.]
If you choose to get a federal compliant REAL ID driver license or identification card, you must visit a DMV field office and present original or certified documents proving your identity (one document), Social Security number (one document) and California residency — street address (two different documents). Photocopies of residency documents are accepted. Additional original or certified documents must be presented if you have changed your legal name. Find out if you have the correct documents:
Step 1 of 5: Prove Your Identity
To apply for a REAL ID card, you must present one identity document, which shows your date of birth, true full name, and identity. Select ONE document you will use.
Select a document that has your current true full name (first, middle and last). An original document or certified copy is required.
Note: California law requires an applicant to provide true full name, which is the name that will appear on your physical DL or ID card.
- Valid, unexpired U.S. passport or passport card.
- Certified copy of U.S birth certificate (issued by a city, county, or state vital statistics office).
- U.S. Certificate of Birth Abroad or Consular Report of Birth Abroad of U.S. Citizen.
- Unexpired foreign passport with valid U.S. Visa and approved I-94 form.
- Certified copy of birth certificate from a U.S. Territory.
- Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of U.S. Citizenship.
- Valid, unexpired Permanent Resident Card.
- Valid/unexpired Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Card (I-766) or valid/expired EAD Card with Notice of Action (I-797 C).
You have to choose one of the above in order to go on to the next steps, but you can see they are making it much more difficult to get a license, and you won’t be able to get on a domestic flight without this Federally Approved License or ID, or a Passport, beginning October 1, 2020.
In order to get one of these “REAL ID” licenses, my husband will have to appear in person at a DMV office, and though his license is expiring in the middle of July, he can’t get an appointment before August 6th! Clearly, the California DMV is already overwhelmed by all this bureaucratic red tape.
This will make a regular state-issued driver’s license unacceptable ID for domestic air travel next year.
And the “security questions” they ask are really exclusionary, like asking about where you applied to go to college that wasn’t the school you went to. What if you didn’t go to college, or only applied at one school? There’s a question about the names of your favorite niece and nephew — but I’m an only child, and don’t have any nieces or nephews. Another question asks where did you meet your spouse? If you aren’t married, then what?
NONE of these questions are OPTIONAL — You have to answer all of them.
Am I the only here who didn’t know about this?!