Incidentally, thanks to the Republican-passed REAL ID act, in order to get my D.C. driver's license, I needed
(1) valid Virginia driver's license
(2) original copy of my passport
(3) original social security card
(4) original copy of my lease signed by my landlord (not easy since my landlord lives in Nevada)
(5) original mail sent by the federal or D.C. government only (not including Virginia or Maryland government official mail) and not including my voter registration card and not including anything older than 60 days
(6) a $40 fee
As the result of this it took like 4-5 trips to the DMV to get it done, since they are closed on Mondays and on Saturdays when the following Monday is a holiday. The thing is, if you just move to D.C. and never get a driver's license, no one knows or cares.
Mind, I'm no fan of REAL ID, but I don't get the level of outrage over it either. On the official list of things wrong, it's probably not even in the top 100.
Yeah, it's not that way anymore in most states. I have to go for my "Secure ID" renewal for the first time next year, and I will have to take:
- An original or certified document to prove WHO YOU ARE such as a Birth Certificate or Passport
- Your SOCIAL SECURITY CARD
- Two documents showing your RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS such as a Bank Statement or Utility Bill
- If you've had a NAME CHANGE, then you'll also need to bring a document to prove that, such as a Marriage License.
They've amended the list of documents accepted since they initially passed it, because too many people couldn't adequately fulfill the requirements when they only had three accepted documents in that third category. It took my 58 year-old little ol' white lady of a mother almost a month and four trips down there to get hers because she's been married since she was born. Now it is much "easier", but there are still plenty of gaps when it comes to the process being something everyone can do quickly and easily.
