This Time We Mean It

In 2019 we took the Federal Government's warning seriously and went to the Roseville DMV to get our Real ID.

Look for the bear on CA REAL ID's

You will need a REAL ID driver license or ID card if you want to continue using your driver license or ID card to do any of the following:

Board a domestic flight starting October 1, 2020.

Enter secure federal facilities or military bases starting October 1, 2020. (Note: Check with the federal facility/military base before your visit to verify their identification requirements.)

Purchase firearms or ammunition. (Note: Check with the firearms dealer you plan to visit to verify their identification requirements)

Procrastinators have been rewarded, because the Real ID deadline has been postponed three times. However, the Trump Administration seems to be serious when it says that there will be no more extensions.

A May 7 deadline to get a REAL ID is getting a lot more real—and setting off a mad scramble for U.S. travelers who have yet to get one.

Travelers will need a REAL ID-upgraded driver’s license, identification card or another compliant ID, like a passport, to board domestic flights starting on that date. Despite years of previous delays, federal officials say travelers need to take the May 7 date seriously. At Department of Motor Vehicles sites across the country, it appears many are.

Local DMV offices have added hundreds of appointment slots and extended operating hours to meet the flood of Americans trying to get an upgraded ID in time. From Tennessee to Pennsylvania, people report waiting hours in lines that stretch down city blocks or wrap around buildings. Some have flocked to Facebook groups and other social-media forums to strategize on where to find the least-crowded DMV locations. Others are just venting...

About one in five travelers currently flying through U.S. airports doesn’t have a REAL ID or other compliant form of identification, according to Transportation Security Administration officials. That’s despite the requirement being in the works for decades and states issuing REAL IDs since the 2010s.

If an individual had over five years to obtain a Real ID but didn't and now has to wait in long lines, he will not gain sympathy from me.

The silver lining in all this is that the Real ID should satisfy the requirements to prove citizenship and residency for the new Voter ID laws being enacted in various states. In California we had to provide "social security card, birth certificate, two proofs of California residency, e.g., property tax or utility bill or bank statement." Doing it once was a pain but at least once should be enough.