Real RD renewal
I know there are a lot of posts regarding getting a REAL ID, but I wanted to share my experience. I never updated my address on my IF until it was ready to expire so I asked for a real ID upon renewal. I came with my passport (I’m married but kept my maiden name) and had several pieces of mail. However, I was told that my mail wasn’t good enough to obtain a REAL ID. Most of my bills such as mortgage and utilities are emailed to me and they couldn’t/would not accept any online information.
I took a day off work to get into the office to renew my ID and chose not to fight since I have a passport in my maiden name, but if I didn’t I would have been out of luck. Even though my passport shows my citizenship and my move was across town in a flyover state I was not eligible to get a REAL ID. If I was married and trying to get an ID to vote I would have been faced with another day off work, spending time and money getting documents to prove my address even with showing a passport! The woman at the office said they changed the acceptable documents in February of this year and that many people simply gave up with the new restrictions. If you need to get an ID please review what documents are acceptable, print them, and bring more than the required number to an office!!!