I renewed mine last summer, but it wasn't a “Real-ID.” Clare got her renewal notice recently — while she's in the midst of a 3-month medical prohibition from driving — and she had the option of getting a standard renewal or a Real-ID. Since we'd like to travel on our driver's licenses and not have to fetch our passports every time we wanted to fly, even domestically, she went for the Real-ID.
So off we went to the safe deposit box to get our passports, then home for all the other required IDs.
For $5, I "upgraded" my non-expiring license to a Real-ID. So we'll be able to board domestic flights with our Illinois DLs beyond October 1, 2020.
Retired economics professor (“dismal scientist”). Married 40+ years to the love of my life; we have two grown daughters, both married, two granddaughters and a...
I didn't realize other states required this. We have to have it in NM because immigrants, legal or not, get drivers licenses here. That way the roads are safer because everyone must pass a drivers test to have a license. But we were told this is the reason we must have real IDs.
@janeandcharlie We were not required to get the Real ID version; it was an option we could choose. The fee was the same for Clare, but since I had a license that was not expiring, there was just a $5 fee for me to get the Real ID version. If we didn't travel, we might not have gone to the trouble, but since we fly at least bi-monthly, it was a no-brainer.
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