Real ID, Real Confusion

With the Department of Motor Vehicles preparing to launch a new driver’s license renewal process, several readers had follow-up questions regarding the documentation needed to obtain an advanced, secure-issuance license, the type that in a few years will be the only driver’s license accepted to board an airplane and to enter certain federal buildings. The new regulations, which were included in the federal Real ID Act, will go into effect early next year.

One unnamed woman asks: If you have been married twice, does that mean you have to document your name from your certified birth certificate through both marriages? Or would your U.S. passport and Social Security card, which has complied with federal standards, work? Both previously referenced documents along with the Nevada Driver’s License reflect the current married name.

Unfortunately, women who have been married multiple times will have to produce documentation showing those changes, in the form of marriage certificates for example. If your last name on your birth certificate is “Wilson,” and the name on your license reads, “Jones,” the DMV will want to see how you got from Wilson to Jones and any name in between.

“We need documentation to show the progression from what the birth certificate says to what her name is currently,” DMV spokesman Tom Jacobs said. “Whether that is one steps or five steps doesn’t really matter.”

Dale and several others ask: Will a U.S. passport be accepted as a form of identification, or does the DMV require a certified birth certificate?

When this new act goes into effect and you are seeking an advanced, secure-issuance license, the DMV will accept the following forms of identification: a U.S. passport, a U.S. certified birth certificate, a consular report of birth abroad, a valid, unexpired permanent resident card, a certificate of naturalization, a certificate of citizenship, an unexpired employment authorization document or an unexpired foreign passport with visa and immigration form.

In anticipation of follow-up questions, yes, you need to bring the paperwork documenting your name change if your last name on your passport does not match the name on your birth certificate.

Sticking with DMV-related questions, Stan inquires: I live in California and Nevada. My car is registered in California, but I have a Nevada license. If I am in California, they said I need California plates. Nevada says I need Nevada plates.

This depends on where you are employed and where you pay your taxes, Stan. Your driver’s license and license plates should reflect your “home of record,” Jacobs said. And your home of record is where you pay your taxes. If that happens to be California, you may obtain a seasonal identification card for Nevada. Seasonal residents are citizens who have a temporary residence in Nevada and reside here for at least 31 consecutive days each year.

The seasonal ID card can come in handy if a neighbor, for example, informs law enforcement that your vehicle and its out-of-state plates has been in the neighborhood for a lengthy period of time.

Kelly has questions about the process for obtaining a title in her name in Nevada for a shell of a car she hopes to refurbish. She said she has been told various things from different DMV representatives. What is needed to get the title for the car?

Well, Kelly, this is what I was told. If you have the title from the person or business from which you purchased the vehicle, you should be able to obtain a title here. You do not need to haul the vehicle down to the DMV to have it inspected. You can get a sworn officer to come to the car and certify the validity of the vehicle identification number.

Whether your car has an engine in it or not doesn’t affect whether you can secure a title. To register the vehicle, the car must run.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail her at roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com or apacker@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.