They claim that requiring a REAL-ID to fly is illegal, and link to this PDF (https://papersplease.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IDP-f...) which appears to be a sort of letter from The Identity Project attempting to explain that what the TSA is doing is illegal. So, I don't know if I buy that it matters. If I show up on Oct 2, 2021, without a REAL-ID (i.e., a pre-realID california driver's license, which is what I have because DMV lines are fucked and appointments are fucked too), I think I won't be able to fly, no matter how much I wave a PDF in the face of TSA officials.
Get a passport. In CA it’s the only means of getting a second ID, aka a backup ID. I once almost didn’t get a job, because DMV was late sending me my driver’s license renewal, and for one week I had no valid ID, and that was the week I needed to start work.
Requiring any form of ID to fly is illegal. The TSA simply has to verify that you are who you are claiming to be (and aren't on any no-fly list etc.) They do this today through some additional questioning, and that won't change post-realID. Basically, showing up with an old drivers license will be the same as showing up without one.
As a side note, not sure where in CA you live, but I had to renew my license last month (it expired) so I went and got a realID. I waited two minutes in line without an appointment and was completely done after 25 minutes. The whole process was efficient and I never came within six feet of another human.
I did all my paperwork online which gave me the cut in line pass, and I went to a special "License only" DMV. There is one in San Jose, and probably others throughout the state.
San Jose? I'll drive down and try this. I'm in San Francisco. Last time I went to the downtown one, saw a line around the block, went to Daly City, saw the same, and gave up. I tried scheduling appointment and they were booked out for something insane like 6 months lol.
So I just renewed my Texas ID online in 5 minutes, slapped my California address on it, and called it a day. The other day I got pulled over and the cop wasn't too happy about it though, said I had to carry my CA id to demonstrate that I'm allowed to drive in California. Silly but whatever.
> They even have graphs with historical wait times so you can time it for a low point.
I no longer trust those measurements.
Needing to visit the DMV for whatever paperwork (maybe in-person license renewal), I checked the DMV website. One of the local offices had a very short wait time compared to all of the others (maybe 5 minutes versus 1hr+). I went to the office with the short wait time displayed on the website only to find out they had a ridiculously long line outside the office to get the ticket, which starts the timer. They were gaming the per-customer timer by metering the rate at which customers outside the building could enter the building to get the ticket.
I thought it was both terrible and creative at the same time. Decent example of Goodhart's Law[1].
I don't trust the estimates online either, but I do trust the relative data within each DMV. So I think the graphs that tell you number of people per hour are relatively correct and can be used to predict how busy a DMV will be.
Texas lets you put a California address on IDs? Didn't even know that was possible. I thought states only allowed IDs with addresses in the same state? Do they not validate their forms? I know they are suppose to match where you domicile, so a California address on a Texas ID does sound like a red flag.
Interesting, looked it up and found a thing saying that military personnel and their spouse or dependents are allowed to have an address outside of Texas on their Texas licenses and IDs. So I guess I learned something new haha.
You're now able to upload your documents online and you'll be able to print out an Express Entry document that lets you skip the line. I went to Daly City last week and I was in and out in about 20 minutes.
Here in Washington State, it's $4/year more for a Real ID driver's license than for a non-Real ID license, and licenses are good for 6 years.
A passport card is $30 and is good for 10 years, so effectively $3/year.
Passport card vs Real ID license cost is interesting. Going for the passport card is more expensive for the first 6 years, but then for years 7-10 the passport card wins. For years 11 and 12 the Real ID license again wins. And then for years 13 onward the passport card wins.
However, the assumes you already have a valid passport or passport card. If you do not, so this will be a new one rather than a renewal, there is an additional $35 fee.
If you don't actually need a passport or passport card other than to use as a substitute for a Real ID license, that extra one time $35 fee makes quite a difference.
It makes the Real ID license come out ahead for years 1-18, then the passport card wins years 19 and 20, then it is back to the Real ID card being cheaper for years 21-36, then the Real ID license for years 41 and 42, and then finally the passport card from years 43 onward.
So, for Washington State residents, in summary:
• If you already have a passport, but don't want to use it for domestic travel or other things that a Real ID license can do that a regular license cannot, getting a passport card is a good deal.
• If you don't already have a passport, and so have to pay the extra first time $35 fee to get a passport card, then it is probably not worth it unless you actually need a passport for purposes other than being a Real ID substitute.
I can't find any site that lists the Real ID extra fees, if any, for driver's licenses in other states. Checking a couple of individual states it seems we are getting a bad deal here in Washington. It appears that there is no extra fee in California, New York, and Illinois, for example.
Given that either of these is going to involve some amount of driving, public transit, and/or hired cars, and the fact that you probably should have a passport anyway, and the fact that flights cost quite a bit, the 35 bucks should barely go noticed either way.
