Question on Needing Photo Identification

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Mottorpop

Filing Flight Plan
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Feb 4, 2024
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Display name:
Uncle William
Good day everyone,
My daughter (now 18) has been studying for her written test and feels ready to take it and find an instructor. The difficulty is that due to my work keeping us traveling, she has not yet gotten a drivers license. From what I can tell, she may not be able to get the written test until she has photo I.D. Is this true? Or is there a way around this ... for students or otherwise? We live in Texas of the U.S.A. but I am currently doing research in Puerto Rico. Thanks in advance!
 
She could apply for a US passport, but that might take awhile (weeks). Or, I'm sure every state has some form of non-driver ID, should be fairly simple to obtain.
 
She could just apply for a picture State ID at the driver's license registration place. She doesn't have to be a driver. All this is online at TEXAS DMV, with forms and instructions. And, at her age, she does need a passport since you travel so much. If it works out better for you, Puerto Rican DL or ID will work, too.

Since 9/11, all the ID requirements have been non-negotiable for almost any flight training and medical phases dealing with the FAA.

If she already has a passport, that will serve as her photo ID for the test. However, when she gets her state document, if she presents her birth certificate and her passport when she gets her State ID or her DL, she will be issued an ID with that identity verified symbol on her State ID (top right corner of the DL, white star on a black background) and under her pix, it will say what other documents were used to establish her identity.

Some states are trying to slow-roll the verified traveler mandate, but eventually, she'll not be able to fly as a passenger on an airline with just her state ID without that symbol (she'd need her passport, etc.) So kill two birds...
 
She can't fly commercial without a photo ID.

And it needs to be REAL ID compliant (passports are).
 
State ID is quick
Passport isn’t quick but it lasts 10 years at least
Do you need a valid DL to use a third class medical or just a valid ID (passport)?
 
Thanks for the suggestions, but these options do not work. We have fallen between all the cracks. She was not eighteen when we came down, she does not have a passport as it is not needed to come to Puerto Rico, getting a Puerto Rico license requires residency (being able to show utility bills etc.). If we were in Texas, this would be easy to take care of, but until we return she may just have to wait.
 
Mottorpop said:
Thanks for the suggestions, but these options do not work. We have fallen between all the cracks. She was not eighteen when we came down, she does not have a passport as it is not needed to come to Puerto Rico, getting a Puerto Rico license requires residency (being able to show utility bills etc.). If we were in Texas, this would be easy to take care of, but until we return she may just have to wait.
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How is she going to get back to TX????

She can't fly without a REAL ID.

She CAN get a passport in PR, if you have her birth certificate.
 
GaryM said:
It's not impossible to fly domestically without an ID, but it's going to take extra time at the airport.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/lost-id-before-flight-traveling/
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Yeah. I showed up once with a driver’s license that had expired a couple days earlier. Took them an hour or so to satisfy themselves that I wasn’t really a crazed terrorist who’d swiped the expired license of an identical looking person.
 
DaleB said:
Yeah. I showed up once with a driver’s license that had expired a couple days earlier. Took them an hour or so to satisfy themselves that I wasn’t really a crazed terrorist who’d swiped the expired license of an identical looking person.
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Our local Shop-Rite has a liquor license (rare, for a grocery store in NJ), but I generally avoid it because to buy alcohol, they don't look at your license, they scan the magnetic strip, which I find creepy and unnecessary.

One day I was under time pressure to get home with groceries to prepare dinner, and I needed the accompanying wine, so I added it to the cart, and headed to checkout. I didn't realize my license had expired two weeks previously. My bad, and at least Shop-Rite caught it before it earned me a ticket.

Anyway, the young clerk at the register scanned my license, and told me he couldn't sell me the wine because my license had expired. I said don't worry, just look at the birthdate; the picture on the license is clearly me. He said no, can't sell alcohol with an expired ID. I offered my pilot certificate and CCW license with photo. He said no, can't scan those. I said there is no legal requirement to scan the ID, just look at the birthdate. Nope. I asked for a manager.

The manager explained they can't sell alcohol is the driver's license has expired. I explained you don't even need a driver's license to buy alcohol, just an ID that establishes you are over 21. He said no, they need the license as proof of age. I asked how old I was when the license expired two weeks ago. He studied it, and correctly came up with '63'. I asked by what mechanism he thought I had de-aged in the last two weeks and was now under 21. He was silent for a bit, then repeated that they can't sell alcohol if the license is expired.

I left without the wine.
 
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Pinecone said:
How is she going to get back to TX????

She can't fly without a REAL ID.

She CAN get a passport in PR, if you have her birth certificate.
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I don’t need to show my ID to fly my plane. Since this is POA, why assume she is flying commercial?
 
GaryM said:
Our local Shop-Rite has a liquor license (rare, for a grocery store in NJ), but I generally avoid it because to buy alcohol, they don't look at your license, they scan the magnetic strip, which I find creepy and unnecessary.

One day I was under time pressure to get home with groceries to prepare dinner, and I needed the accompanying wine, so I added it to the cart, and headed to checkout. I didn't realize my license had expired two weeks previously. My bad, and at least Shop-Rite caught it before it earned me a ticket.

Anyway, the young clerk at the register scanned my license, and told me he couldn't sell me the wine because my license had expired. I said don't worry, just look at the birthdate; the picture on the license is clearly me. He said no, can't sell alcohol with an expired ID. I offered my pilot license and CCW license with photo. He said no, can't scan those. I said there is no legal requirement to scan the ID, just look at the birthdate. Nope. I asked for a manager.

The manager explained they can't sell alcohol is the driver's license has expired. I explained you don't even need a driver's license to buy alcohol, just an ID that establishes you are over 21. He said no, they need the license as proof of age. I asked how old I was when the license expired two weeks ago. He studied it, and correctly came up with '63'. I asked by what mechanism he thought I had de-aged in the last two weeks and was now under 21. He was silent for a bit, then repeated that they can't sell alcohol if the license is expired.

I left without the wine.
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Most of the time when a guy has a job that entails wearing a tie with a short-sleeve shirt, it’s a solid bet that he isn’t paid to think or make decisions, but just make sure the schedule is filled.
 
Mottorpop said:
Thanks for the suggestions, but these options do not work. We have fallen between all the cracks. She was not eighteen when we came down, she does not have a passport as it is not needed to come to Puerto Rico, getting a Puerto Rico license requires residency (being able to show utility bills etc.). If we were in Texas, this would be easy to take care of, but until we return she may just have to wait.
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Interesting. Several times I have flown from St. Croix to San Juan and needed a passport to board a flight to the mainland.
 
DesertNomad said:
I don’t need to show my ID to fly my plane. Since this is POA, why assume she is flying commercial?
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Most likely commercial from Puerto Rico to Texas.

But true, not needed if they are not flying Part 121 carrier. But just don't stop on non-US soil on the way back.
 
Pinecone said:
Most likely commercial from Puerto Rico to Texas.

But true, not needed if they are not flying Part 121 carrier. But just don't stop on non-US soil on the way back.
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Flew round trip SAT-SJU on a 121 carrier using just a Texas DL at the counter and for TSA.
 
If she were 17 on the trip to PR how will they know she had a birthday before traveling back? There’s no ID to show age

I must be missing something
 
TCABM said:
Flew round trip SAT-SJU on a 121 carrier using just a Texas DL at the counter and for TSA.
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Uh, yes, you had a DL which is a government issued photo ID.

The OP's daughter does not have ANY government issued photo ID.

SAT - SJU does not touch foreign soil. Some GA can make that haul without a stop. But if you have to stop, say Bahamas for fuel, you will need a passport.
 
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