Do you have a real ID?

I am one of few that I personally know that apparently just missed getting the real ID version at my last renewal. The good news is that they should have digital copies of everything they need from my last renewal. The bad news is that they sold the concept of license supercenters on reduced staffing, which might actually be the case, but not to the extent they reduced by. Fixing staffing is allegedly a hot topic for the legislature this year. Half day waits appear to be common currently. I’m likely going to wait till January, and see if I can renew online.
 
They will kick the can once again. The law was passed in 2005.... Two thousand and five!
 
Are you guys saying I have a fake id?
 
Nope! Didn’t want to pay the ridiculous extra fee and all the paperwork to upgrade my DL. I don’t use my DL for TSA anyway. I give them my Global Entry card.
 
Nope.

My DL expired in April last year, so I got it renewed. A couple weeks later Real ID DLs started being issued. Mine doesn't count, but if I would have waited a couple weeks to renew (with an expired DL) I could have gotten one. Now I'll need to renew it early, and pay all over again, just so I can get that Real ID stamp on it. Or I can use my passport which expires pretty soon, too.
 
Matthew said:
My DL expired in April last year, so I got it renewed. A couple weeks later Real ID DLs started being issued. Mine doesn't count, but if I would have waited a couple weeks to renew (with an expired DL) I could have gotten one. Now I'll need to renew it early, and pay all over again, just so I can get that Real ID stamp on it. Or I can use my passport which expires pretty soon, too.
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Mine is a similar story, I moved to another state and procrastinated for about 6 months before changing my DL and plates. I should have procrastinated a couple additional months, because that's when they started issuing RealID. Now my DL renews in 2022. I think I will use a passport or Global Entry card until I need to renew. I have no desire to visit the big city DMV again. Maybe next time I'll drive to one way out in the sticks.
 
AKBill said:
What about TSA Pre-check does that make a difference?
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You gotta get past the screener who asks for your boarding pass and ID before you reach the Pre-Check area to not remove your shoes. No Real ID, no get past . . . .
 
The state I'm currently in is offering it as an option at renewal time and is trying to push everyone into getting it. Unfortunately they also want more money and extra paperwork to process it.

For some reason I got "lucky" and the forced the new ID on me when I renewed my driver license last summer. I didn't want it but there was no option to opt out. At least I didn't have to pay for it or bring in the paperwork they're asking for now.
 
This was a big issue in the late '90s when it was discovered that Kentucky and a few other states were issuing driver licenses without verifying the person's identity. There were also states issuing licenses without photos!
 
Scrabo said:
On a separate note, anyone signed up for global entry - if so, plus & minuses ?
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I have it. Got it when I was doing many trips to Mexico a year as it lets you use the Sentri lanes to reenter the US. 10 minute wait vs 3 hrs!
 
I wouldn't even consider going to ****e hole airports like Baltimore without Precheck and Global entry.
 
Scrabo said:
On a separate note, anyone signed up for global entry - if so, plus & minuses ?
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No downside, other than more government if you worry about that sort of thing, fee, plus interview. If you go to Canada a lot, might as well get Nexus instead.
 
We should have gone to an actual national ID card system a very long time ago. It would be required to travel across the border, get a job, vote, but a gun, cash a check, etc. But too many folks are scared of big brother. Such nonsense.
 
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I have one, but I use my passport for all travel domestic or international... In reference to cards(spades)... Think of the real ID DL as your wildcard deuce of spades... Where as the passport is your Big Joker and global entry card little joker.. lol
 
I thought it was mandatory? I was under the impression the feds were making all states do this? I just renewed mine in VA, and had to provide a bunch of silly paperwork that the clerk didn’t look at anyways? Not sure about the cost but didn’t seem ridiculous for a 10 year renewal. It is all security theatre and special interest money anyway.
 
I've had the enhanced drivers license for a few years. Also have Global Entry.
 
NC is doing it when your license expires... My wife just got hers... you have to make an appointment (if you're smart) and bring in like 4 different ID verification DOCs including birth certificate (state issued, not hospital or other), SSAN card, and others... Mine doesn't expire until 2021 so I guess I'll need a passport for traveling by air after the deadline... Amazing... Soon someone will say to you, "Ver ah yor paipas?" as you board the NYC subway...
 
Michigan has been cracking down. In the past two months, I had to different drivers that ran into trouble getting their license renewed due to birth certificate issues. Turns out they'd been using non-certified copies all their lives and non-certified copies are no longer accepted. One of my guys had to drive from Michigan to Tennessee in order to get a certified copy of his birth certificate from the records office. Another who was born in boonies back when birth records were chiseled into a stone slab had to go spend an entire day jumping through hoops in the state capital before they'd give him a new license.
 
I didn't have any trouble at all. The big change was the local DMV can't issue the license. They gave me a paper temp license and TSA won't accept that. Fun times at airport security that night! The actual license came from the east coast and took a week or two to get.
 
SkyDog58 said:
But too many folks are scared of big brother. Such nonsense.
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Missouri just recently started offering real ID compliant drivers license. But they are not mandatory, you have a choice of either getting a real ID compliant license, or the old style...for the big brother tin foil hat group. And I believe, but wouldn't swear to it, that the real ID compliant version cost more. Back asswards toothless wonders seem to rule this state.
 
Whatever it takes to stop the terrorists. It's totally worth spending 90 -120 minutes waiting at the Sec. of State (Michigan version of DMV) (on a good day) because we all know that terrorists are not going to have a birth certificate!
 
That reminds me of a story I'm sure I've told her before ...

Back in 2005 when I moved back to Springfield, MO, the only hangers available in town were at the main airport. They weren't owned by the city, they were owned by erect-a-tube. All my communication was with, and paperwork came from, erect-a-tube. They even sent the city forms to me to obtain security badges.

So my wide (wife! I guess that was a Freudian slip.) and I trek on up to the airport with our completed paperwork and, 15 minutes and $20 later, we have our badges. We had our paperwork filled out and the lady made our badges.

When we got back out to the parking lot I looked at her and asked "do you realize what just happened?" "No" she said.

"We just walked out of the terminal with badges that will get us into much of this airport and no one even asked us for an ID."

I knew the airport manager pretty well so I called him the next day and told him the story. His response:

"Tim, it's not about safety, it's about compliance."

No sh*t...
 
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Scrabo said:
On a separate note, anyone signed up for global entry - if so, plus & minuses ?
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I hold a Global Entry card, for long enough that it has expired so I renewed it in 2018.

Plus: No long lines to re-enter the USA. Some of the Kiosks are a bit flakey (in need of maintenance) but mostly you zip right through.

Minus:
*Costs $100 to get the card.
*It is a bit scary to see how quickly the computers can serve up your passport information when you come through the Kiosk..... "scary" in a Big Brother is watching sense...

Bottom Line: It is worth it if you travel internationally a lot. IMHO.

-Skip
 
Scrabo said:
On a separate note, anyone signed up for global entry - if so, plus & minuses ?
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For me, worth it. Generally speeds up the Customs and Immigration process and gives you PreCheck at the same time. A number of credit cards will reimburse the cost, as will certain airlines if you are a top tier elite. It gives you the opportunity to walk past long lines of people waiting at the immigration booth. And if you think the regular line is shorter or have stuff to declare, you can simply use the regular line instead.

At some airports the mobile declarations work pretty well rather than GE, but GE gives you PreCheck privileges as well as expedited entry at most airports. GE also includes *some* countries outside the US.

If yo travel to Canada a lot, consider getting Nexus instead. It's cheaper, but includes both Global Entry and PreCheck - the drawback is that you have to interview with both US and Canadian authorities to get it. Well worth it for regular travelers to Canada as it gives you expedited processing in both countries.

There are some limitations to Global Entry at land borders that you should look at if it matters, and the program does nothing for general aviation.

timwinters said:
That reminds me of a story I'm sure I've told her before ...

Back in 2005 when I moved back to Springfield, MO, the only hangers available in town were at the main airport. They weren't owned by the city, they were owned by erect-a-tube. All my communication was with, and paperwork came from, erect-a-tube. They even sent the city forms to me to obtain security badges.

So my wide and I trek on up to the airport with our completed paperwork and, 15 minutes and $20 later, we have our badges. We had our paperwork filled out and the lady made our badges.

When we got back out to the parking lot I looked at her and asked "do you realize what just happened?" "No" she said.

"We just walked out of the terminal with badges that will get us into much of this airport and no one even asked us for an ID."

I knew the airport manager pretty well so I called him the next day and told him the story. His response:

"Tim, it's not about safety, it's about compliance."

No sh*t...
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This. A lot of regulations and laws and limitations exist for "administrative convenience", not because they are actually effective.
 
I recently renewed my WA DL.................got the "real ID" part. It was more expensive than renewing my passport!!
 
I won't show my driver's license to the minimum wage TSA guys PERIOD. That's more sensitive information financially that most things these days (try opening on online banking account without a state DL #). I use my TWIC card. They have to take it, it's a TSA issued photo ID. There's only twice that they ever commented on it. In CLT during the government shutdown they refused to take it. I felt sorry for the unpaid stooge checking the IDs so I let it slide and forked over my passport card. The other time I was out in the middle of the country (like Roswell or something) and they commented that they don't see them often out there (TWIC card is sort of like a SIDA badge for seaports).
 
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