Don't have a REAL ID yet? You've got lots of company.
The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles estimates that 4 million North Carolinians will eventually want a REAL ID, a form of driver’s license that meets stricter federal identification standards that go into effect in October 2020.
But a year after the DMV began issuing the new IDs, only about 445,000 people have gotten one. That pace hasn't allayed concerns among state officials that there will be a late rush for the IDs that could overwhelm DMV offices.
“While many North Carolinians are ahead of the deadline, we have two short years to get four million of our residents prepared,” DMV Commissioner Torre Jessup said in a statement Wednesday. “I encourage everyone to gather their documents and obtain their REAL ID now."
The REAL ID looks and works like a driver’s license or state-issued ID, except that it has a gold star in the upper right-hand corner. The star indicates that the license satisfies federal ID requirements for boarding airplanes and entering federal buildings, military bases and nuclear facilities.
Congress created the new identification standards through the REAL ID Act of 2005 in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Some military bases, including Camp Lejeune, already require that civilian visitors either have a REAL ID or two forms of other identification, such as a veteran’s health ID card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (Fort Bragg has delayed the requirement.)
But where most people will find the ID useful will be in boarding a domestic flight starting on Oct. 1, 2020. Those without a state-issued REAL ID would still be able to get on a plane with a standard driver’s license, but they’ll also need a second form of identification spelled out in the federal law, such as a passport.
The DMV began issuing REAL IDs on May 1, 2017, and after seven months, about 212,000 people had received one. The pace has picked up since then; as of Monday, the DMV had issued 445,401 REAL IDs.
But that's only about 11 percent of the 4 million the DMV expects to issue. And unlike a regular driver's license, a driver can get a REAL ID only by visiting a DMV office.
A wide majority of people are opting not to get a REAL ID. The DMV said this week that only about 18 percent of licenses and IDs it has issued in the past year are REAL IDs. The rest are getting traditional licenses and IDs that include the words "Not for Federal Identification."
DMV officials think many of those people will decide later that they want a REAL ID.
"Most people just need to get something immediately and plan to come back to get a REAL ID," said spokeswoman Patrice Bethea.
A REAL ID costs the same as a regular driver's license or ID — $40 for a Class C license good for eight years. But a person must provide extra forms of identification to get one, including documents such as a birth certificate, passport or Social Security card, and these remain on file at the DMV. The document requirements and options are available at www.ncdot.gov/dmv/driver/realid/.
This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 7:11 AM with the headline "Don't have a REAL ID yet? You've got lots of company.."