By January 15, 2013, all citizens, legal residents and any other persons working or studying in the U.S. and its territories,  in situations requiring a government i.d., will be required to have a validated fed-state”Real ID”.  Below are the specifics.

What:   The REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub.L. 109-13, 119 Stat. 302, enacted May 11, 2005, was an Act of Congress that modified U.S. federal law pertaining to security, authentication, and issuance procedures standards for the state driver’s licenses and identification (ID) cards, as well as various immigration issues pertaining to terrorism.

Data requirements

A Real ID-compliant form of identification requires, at a minimum, the following pieces of data:

• Full legal name
• Signature
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Unique, identifying number
• Principal residence address
• Resident status
• Front-facing photograph of the applicant

Said cards must also feature specific security features intended to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes. These cards must also present data in a common, machine-readable format (bar codes, Smart card technology, et al.).

The law set forth certain requirements for state driver’s licenses and ID cards to be accepted by the federal government for “official purposes”, as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The Secretary of Homeland Security has currently defined “official purposes” as presenting state driver’s licenses and identification cards for boarding commercially operated airline flights and entering federal buildings and nuclear power plants.

Each state must agree to share its motor vehicle database with all other states. This database must include, at a minimum, all the data printed on the state drivers’ licenses and ID cards, plus drivers’ histories (including motor vehicle violations, suspensions, and points on licenses) and include resident status.  (The latter is the subject of lawsuits from numerous civil rights organizations, including the ACLU,  many immigration watch groups, i.e. The Cato Institute, and almost all major labor unions such as the AFL-CIO, as well as the Obama administration.)

Where: REAL ID compliance must be met by all states, the District of Columbia and US commonwealths and all other territories.

When:  In March 2011 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security postponed the effective date of the Real ID Act implementation deadline until January 15, 2013.

After this final implementation deadline, some non-Real-ID-compliant licenses will continue to be accepted for federal purposes, provided DHS judges that the state which issued such a license is in full compliance with the Real ID Act by the final implementation deadline. However, in order for their licenses to be accepted for federal purposes, all people born after December 1, 1964 will be required to have Real-ID-compliant cards by December 1, 2014. Additionally, in order to be accepted for federal purposes, people born before December 1, 1964 will be required to have Real-ID-compliant cards by December 1, 2017.

Why: Doesn’t matter.  It’s federal law.

The above are facts.  My opinion:

This very brief summary delivered on our post in no way reflects the conditions and definitions set forth in that actual law.  I foresee a ton of litigation, especially as it relates to state-sharing agreements, insurance company interaction, immigration status and all of the agencies and private organizations involved in any sort of activity requiring a valid government. In other words, every industry and government-related interaction.  Considering that the NYS DMV still can’t get its act together in providing real time records, I expect rampant chaos if the January 15, 2013 date is held to steadfastly and the obvious kinks to this massive legislation aren’t resolved.

We’re only 90 days out of the drop dead compliance date to have Real IDs as set forth by Congress.  We’ll keep you posted.

Our Operatives: Street smart; info savvy.

Stay safe.

Related articles

• Federal ID system set to arrive in Iowa (thegazette.com)
• Martinez vows to comply with federal ID law (KOB.com)
• New Mexico licenses won’t work in airports under federal law: governor (news.terra.com)

Filed under: driver, Identity, legal documents, license, REAL ID Tagged: | Cato Institute, Driver's license, Identity document, mandatory compliance, REAL ID, REAL ID Act, United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Washington D.C.