Real ID
- Thread starter Sam D
- Start date
Jeff423
US Veteran
I haven't flown out of the country for years, but I have a KTN number. Does that help at customs?
Yes. It most certainly torques me off! Our state charges extra for an "enhanced driver's license." We don't get Real ID. That's a bunch of hooey. I have a passport. I'll continue to use it when I travel. Since I already have a passport, I think the state should give me a "blessed" driver's license at no extra charge. It doesn't cost them much to verify my citizenship and include another image to the license. Just some computer run time.
For that matter, why should I have to pay for a passport? I'm a citizen. There's a mandate to "show our papers" yet the state and country charge for those papers. More taxes, pure and simple.
Grrrrrr....
OK.... I'm over it now.
Glynn863
Member
In Alabama I had to show proper paperwork to have "Veteran" added to my D/L. Since I've done that, I'm curious as to whether I can go to my local D/L office and just have the "star" added without additional paperwork.
When my Texas DL was automatically renewed a couple of years ago, it was switched from a Non-Real ID to a Real ID. I don't know how it happened, as I didn't do anything, and I didn't pay anything. Maybe it was automatic because I have a Texas License to Carry, but I'm not sure. In any case, it doesn't matter, as I intend to never set foot on an aircraft again.
Yes. It most certainly torques me off! Our state charges extra for an "enhanced driver's license." We don't get Real ID. That's a bunch of hooey. I have a passport. I'll continue to use it when I travel. Since I already have a passport, I think the state should give me a "blessed" driver's license at no extra charge. It doesn't cost them much to verify my citizenship and include another image to the license. Just some computer run time.
For that matter, why should I have to pay for a passport? I'm a citizen. There's a mandate to "show our papers" yet the state and country charge for those papers. More taxes, pure and simple.
Grrrrrr....
OK.... I'm over it now.
Enhanced licenses do work as Real ID. Just like a passport, passport card, Trusted Traveler card, etc.
The reason why it costs more is more things to confirm, more work to do it and more capabilities.
While it may be easy to just show a passport, you do realize that BMV, or whatever it’s called in your state, aren’t document experts. Some people might be able to distinguish a decently made fraudulent passport… others may not. Security program features, which costs money, prevent that. But it also means that the BMV needs to train their people to accomplish those tasks. I personally don’t think anyone should be able to get an inaccurate document anywhere… but it is more of an issue if it is a Read ID or enhanced license.
Enhanced drivers licenses differ from the other options in two big features; MRZ and RFID. Both of those are pretty much international standards for documents. This technology is present in your passport… if it is current. Another reason why it costs more.
Enhanced drivers licenses are beneficial for people that don’t have a need to shell out $130 for a passport. If they need a drivers license, and may go to Canada or Mexico… it might be worth it to spend an extra $30ish for an enhanced, just for the added benefits. Someone that travels internationally by air… they need a passport, so getting Real ID or enhanced drivers license isn’t worth it.
For the “why should I have to pay for a passport,” where is foreign travel in the Bill of Rights? No country in the world “gives” passports to its citizens. While some people think they are paying for THEIR passport, it still is property of the government that issued it. If you were born in the US, a birth certificate still proves you are a US citizen. If you’re naturalized, you’d get a certificate stating as such. While those items can be used for a Real ID, that isn’t the purpose of a Real ID. The Real ID is to be sure that the person it is issued to is the person it is issued to.
The “showing papers” in this argument is specifically for domestic air travel and entering some Federal buildings. Not really Nazi Germany… don’t want to, don’t fly or go into Federal buildings.
If you compare Real ID to WHTI… at least Real ID is going to be implemented. WHTI… I still get people handing my regular drivers license/birth certificate on a daily basis, when it was supposed to be changed since 2009. That’s a piece of legislation I wish .GOV would finally get behind.
Thanks for the link, Mike.
How would that work returning from Europe if enhanced DL is only good for entry into the US from Canada and the Caribbean?
The enhanced DL, available in five states, which allows entry into the US from Canada and the Caribbean, as well as authorization to drive a car, seems to me to be a combination of real ID, state DL, and a US passport card. Sounds convenient, but would be of no advantage to me, though, as I don't enter the US from either region.
Do the Canadians and the Caribbean countries recognize the enhanced DL for entry into their countries?
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Edit: Screwball, thanks for the explanation above, posted while I was writing this post.
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Enhanced licenses don’t do a thing in that regard…
That officer was touching on Global Entry with the Trusted Travel Program.
Official Trusted Traveler Program Website | Department of Homeland Security
Global Entry is pretty much a US only program. If you go to Canada, definitely recommend NEXUS. Costs the same, get the same benefits from Global Entry, but CBSA accepts it.
All of the Trusted Travel Programs give you TSA PreCheck and work as a Real ID.
You mean like Washington State? They can even sign up to vote...
The dumbest thing in the world was how during the height of the Covid spread the government didn't postpone the real ID until Covid mostly passed by. I remember long lines and crowded rooms with people packed in there to get their new Real ID because they knew it would be time consuming and a big hassle for 350 million people to go to the tag agency to get one. That probably spread Covid and caused more deaths than any other easily preventable reason.
I had to look it up. Colorado has been compliant since 2012
I stand corrected. You are right I had Global Entry confused with Enhanced.
I don't quite get the "Real ID" thing. They say you will need one to fly or enter government buildings.....BUT, if you have a passport you can fly and enter. The funny thing is, is that to get the Real ID, you have to show a birth certificate, proof of residence, untility bill, etc. Why can't you just show your passport to get a Real ID? It's good enough to fly and enter but not enough proof to get the ID. Typical government dislogic.
I used my passport, and a utility bill, I think. Plus my old, non-real ID DL. Did not need a birth certificate.
Here ya go:
Here ya go:
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This reminds me of the postal worker who told the lady in line ahead of me that she couldn't send a package to South Korea because "We're still at war with them." 
I only use my DL when I check in with the airline. I now use my Global Entry card at TSA. Except the one time I accidentally handed the TSA officer my LTC. He congratulated me, but said he couldn't use it because it didn't have a bar code on it.
I only use my DL when I check in with the airline. I now use my Global Entry card at TSA. Except the one time I accidentally handed the TSA officer my LTC. He congratulated me, but said he couldn't use it because it didn't have a bar code on it.
Don’t get hung up on the Real ID license. Passport and other documents meet the Real ID requirements. All the new policy really says is if you want to present a drivers license as ID in those situations, it needs to meet the Real ID requirements.
Again, Real ID isn’t saying you are a US citizen. It is saying “nodpete” is “nodpete.” Passport can do that, but not everyone wants to use their passport as identification. If you want something to say you are a US citizen in a card form, either enhanced license, passport card or another card style document that provides citizenship. A Real ID license is not that.
Non-citizens can get Real ID, as long as they provide legal status in the US. A TN doctor, for example. That is why I can’t look at Real ID and confirm someone’s citizenship from it.
I always explain to people that when I’m processing someone that comes from abroad, I need to establish 2 things off the bat; identity and citizenship.
Licenses, to include Real ID, does the identity part. I can establish that the person in front of me is the one on the card. The Real ID standard made it that states confirm this when issuing one of those documents, which we use in the specific situations already gone over. Prior to that, there were some states with more lax requirements to get an ID.
Being a Canadian with status in the US can get a Real ID… I can’t establish they are any citizenship. Passports do that… and identity, as well. US birth certificate does that. US naturalization paperwork does that. If I get a citizenship other than US, then we need to figure out COA and other stuff, as needed. Could be as easy as asking a question or two (Canadians, for example).
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Because a Real ID is state-issued, and is also a driver's license. Your passport does not prove your state of residence. That's why they need additional proof for your driver's license.
LVSteve
Member
Yes. It most certainly torques me off! Our state charges extra for an "enhanced driver's license." We don't get Real ID. That's a bunch of hooey. I have a passport. I'll continue to use it when I travel. Since I already have a passport, I think the state should give me a "blessed" driver's license at no extra charge. It doesn't cost them much to verify my citizenship and include another image to the license. Just some computer run time.
For that matter, why should I have to pay for a passport? I'm a citizen. There's a mandate to "show our papers" yet the state and country charge for those papers. More taxes, pure and simple.
Grrrrrr....
OK.... I'm over it now.
That's nothing. I know of ex-pats from the UK who still get dinged for income tax back there on certain retirements. Turns out there is a mechanism to pay all your taxes in the US. All you have to do is fill in the forms, one set to the UK tax authority, and another with the US IRS. The IRS charges a fee for dealing with paperwork that is going to bring more money to our shores. Nope, not happening with most ex-pats.
When I went to DMV to get Real ID, the instructions online were to bring many forms of proof. 
I waited my turn, plopped a stack of papers on the examiners desk, he laughed and told me just my passport and NCDL were enough. Took me under 5 minutes.
I waited my turn, plopped a stack of papers on the examiners desk, he laughed and told me just my passport and NCDL were enough. Took me under 5 minutes.
James K
Member
You need a Real ID to purchase firearms in California. There are some ways around it but it's a PITA. If DMV won't issue you one, then there is a problem with your legal status.
