NC has issued 2 million REAL IDs, but COVID-19 means you won’t need them till next year
For all the hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it has meant that people don’t have to worry about getting a REAL ID this year.
Oct. 1 was to be the date the federal government adopted stricter identification requirements to board domestic flights or enter federal facilities that require an ID. Instead of a standard driver’s license, people would have needed a passport or a REAL ID, a driver’s license or state ID card with a gold star in the upper right-hand corner to indicate that it meets the federal standards.
But with DMV offices nationwide closing or restricting access to control the spread of coronavirus, governors, the travel industry and others sought more time. In late March, the Department of Homeland Security delayed enforcement of the new ID requirements a year, to Oct. 1, 2021.
To obtain a REAL ID, drivers must visit a DMV office and present documents to prove their identity. The North Carolina DMV closed more than half of its driver’s license offices in March and began seeing customers by appointment only at offices that remain open. As of Wednesday, 92 of the state’s 115 driver’s license offices are open statewide.
North Carolina began issuing REAL IDs in May 2017. At the time, DMV Commissioner Torre Jessup estimated that as many as 4 million people would want one before Oct. 1, 2020. Jessup has since scaled that forecast back to about 2.4 million, but DMV spokesman Steve Abbott says its not clear what effect the COVID-19 pandemic will have on demand for REAL IDs.
The DMV surpassed 2 million REAL IDs last month, but the coronavirus pandemic has slowed the pace. The DMV issued nearly 75,000 REAL IDs in January. That fell off to less than 16,000 in April and rebounded to about 37,500 in August.
“We remind folks that because of the delay, the urgency to have a REAL ID by this week is gone,” Abbott wrote in an email. “So people have plenty of time to go through the enhancement process for their license or state ID. They will still have to make an appointment at a license office, but they have 12 months to do that.”
To find an open office and make an appointment, go to www.ncdot.gov/dmv/. For more information about the REAL ID, go to www.ncdot.gov/dmv/license-id/nc-real-id/.
