No REAL ID? That'll be $45.

[Debbie Jean]

Did you have any issues with Medicare or Social Security?

Nope, not a one. Seriously, it’s just NJ I think.

And to add…. I think that probably annoys me most… I’ve had a valid passport for decades and the federal government doesn’t have any issue… it’s at the darn state level!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The passport is certainly valid. But what will you do if you have to fly while your passport is being renewed? Even if you do it online, your old passport is no longer valid once you submit your application. Obviously you can PLAN trips around it, but what about an emergency situation?

That's why I went ahead and upgraded early in NY. My last renewal was during shutdown, so it was done by mail and there was no way to upgrade. I looked at my expiration dates - passport in 2027, DL in 2028. Given that my parents live in another state and flying is my only way to get there, I didn't want to chance being caught without my DL being upgraded while my passport was out for renewal, so I just went ahead and did it. At least in NY it was just an upgrade - I paid a reduced fee and the expiration date remains the same as it was.

I think your point is a good one to bring up that expiration dates can make things tricky most especially as we have a standardized passport expiration date system but not one for states as they can vary.

For me 2028 is when everything is up for renewal, my REAL ID passport and global entry. We'll see if I can do those online. For our state the first time you get a REAL ID you have to go into the DMV but after that your next renewal can be online (after that you have to go in person, then you can do online, then in person, etc you get the picture).

All that said you mentioned that your parents live state and flying is the only way to get there unless it's Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam you can drive there (unless I guess you don't actually have a DL). You may not want to and it may take a long time to get there but you could do it meaning actually speaking that a plane isn't the only method. Plenty of people drive incredibly long distances over flying either because flying is too costly, they don't plan on getting REAL ID (or have another acceptable documentation), have other reasons where flying is not practical such as animals that cannot or should not fly, or children that can't fly well, or many other reasons.

Of course I would suggest people truly get REAL ID because like you said if you're a flyer and the timing becomes an issue with the expiration date, that said at least at this moment TSA will accept an expired passport up to 2 yrs if that's the only ID you've got so for the PP they should work...although I don't know if this fee will then be assessed to them or if TSA will treat the expired passport as a-okay there.

 

[Dug720]

All that said you mentioned that your parents live state and flying is the only way to get there unless it's Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam you can drive there (unless I guess you don't actually have a DL). You may not want to and it may take a long time to get there but you could do it meaning actually speaking that a plane isn't the only method. Plenty of people drive incredibly long distances over flying either because flying is too costly, they don't plan on getting REAL ID (or have another acceptable documentation), have other reasons where flying is not practical such as animals that cannot or should not fly, or children that can't fly well, or many other reasons.

I have no car and have not driven since 2006 when I moved to NYC. A rental car during a time of stress is not the time to re-learn. And even though Nashville is the capital of TN, they don't have an Amtrak station - the closest are Memphis or Dyersburg which are several hours away. So yeah, flying is *my* only option.

 

[tvguy]

Nope, not a one. Seriously, it’s just NJ I think.

And to add…. I think that probably annoys me most… I’ve had a valid passport for decades and the federal government doesn’t have any issue… it’s at the darn state level!

You didn't need the birth certificate if you have a Passport.

 

[Debbie Jean]

You didn't need the birth certificate if you have a Passport.

In NJ it’s all about the points and what counts for what. When I finally got an appointment I brought everything… passports, old and new, utility bills, bank statements, property tax documents, birth certificate, social security card, insurance cards, divorce decree, etc. I just kept handing over documents until the clerk told me she had the right amount of points in the right denominations. I went with a stack!

In the end, I got it but holy crows I don’t want to have to go through that again!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have no car and have not driven since 2006 when I moved to NYC. A rental car during a time of stress is not the time to re-learn. And even though Nashville is the capital of TN, they don't have an Amtrak station - the closest are Memphis or Dyersburg which are several hours away. So yeah, flying is *my* only option.

That I can understand and was what I was thinking with the NY mention, but for the vast majority of the people flying last minute is typically not the easiest from price point to flight schedules. Using an emergency viewpoint it would have been way harder to go to Minneapolis/St. Paul for a funeral last minute years back than it was for us to drive the 7 hours. As we all learned during the shutdown flying would not have been the route to go for a month and a half on an emergency situation. I won't even entertain Amtrak as a viable option because of the abysmal state of train travel here lol. It's certainly isn't going to get you there efficiently.

But on the flipside here talking about practicality for all that we can say about someone should have a REAL ID in the event of an emergency and they need to fly knowing you can confidently drive if you need to is also a valuable thing to have in the case of emergencies (just as a devil's advocate to your valid point about expiration dates).

 

[kdonnel]

In NJ it’s all about the points and what counts for what. When I finally got an appointment I brought everything… passports, old and new, utility bills, bank statements, property tax documents, birth certificate, social security card, insurance cards, divorce decree, etc. I just kept handing over documents until the clerk told me she had the right amount of points in the right denominations. I went with a stack!

In the end, I got it but holy crows I don’t want to have to go through that again!

For all the problems everyone has mentioned about NJ, they do provide an easy to follow flow chart for the needed documents and allow you to reuse the step 1 and 2 documents for step 3 reducing how many documents are needed.



Someone 18+ already with a NJ non REAL ID license could get by with only 4 total documents. Current license, bank statement, SS card, birth certificate. It doesn't say a marriage license is required to match the birth certificate but maybe that would be required as well if your name has changed. But those older might struggle to get a birth certificate.

For those under 18 it looks a little tougher to satisfy Step 1. Easiest path would be getting a checking or savings account and the statement from parents. They would at least be able to easily get a birth certificate, social security card, and waiver certificate from the school.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I mean it should be more money TBH, or they shouldn't be allowed to fly. This has been news for a very very long time. It's not a surprise by any means. People need to learn to take responsibility for being irresponsible.

 

[mjkacmom]

For all the problems everyone has mentioned about NJ, they do provide an easy to follow flow chart for the needed documents and allow you to reuse the step 1 and 2 documents for step 3 reducing how many documents are needed.

View attachment 1028650

Someone 18+ already with a NJ non REAL ID license could get by with only 4 total documents. Current license, bank statement, SS card, birth certificate. It doesn't say a marriage license is required to match the birth certificate but maybe that would be required as well if your name has changed. But those older might struggle to get a birth certificate.

For those under 18 it looks a little tougher to satisfy Step 1. Easiest path would be getting a checking or savings account and the statement from parents. They would at least be able to easily get a birth certificate, social security card, and waiver certificate from the school.

NJ requires so much documentation for a regular license that providing documentation for real ID is nothing (and I couldn’t use my birth certificate for a regular license since I didn’t have my marriage certificate so I doubt it would be allowed without a marriage certificate for a real ID license). It’s a combination of getting appointments and spending hours at a old crowded unpleasant MVC office, line after line.