AMTRAK and Real IDs

[railiner]

Another form of ID acceptable to the TSA is the Transport Workers Identification Card (TWIC card), which is equivalent to TSA Pre Check. This card is mostly carried by maritime workers, and some motor carrier employees, in order to enter seaports. I need it to bring my bus into the Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale ) cruise ship port to drop off and pick up passengers…

 

[zephyr17]

Another form of ID acceptable to the TSA is the Transport Workers Identification Card (TWIC card), which is equivalent to TSA Pre Check. This card is mostly carried by maritime workers, and some motor carrier employees, in order to enter seaports. I need it to bring my bus into the Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale ) cruise ship port to drop off and pick up passengers…

Good to know, I have a friend who has a valid TWIC card (he works the ports), but he already got an EDL anyway. Not sure he knew that about TWIC. I didn't.

 

[jebr]

Not sure why anyone would not get Real ID. Bringing the passport along all the time seems like an unnecessary aggravation. Bringing it one time to DMV when you get your Real ID. Too easy.

At least here in Minnesota, getting a REAL ID-compliant ID or license requires significantly more paperwork than a non-REAL ID compliant license. A REAL ID requires bringing some sort of document proving legal US presence, knowing your social security number, two documents proving where your live (from a specific list - not everything with your address qualifies,) and documents proving name changes if required (e.g. if you just have a birth certificate, no passport, but changed your name due to marriage, you also need to bring a marriage license.) This is true even if you already have a standard ID (as far as I can tell.) If I just want to renew my standard ID, none of that paperwork is required, and the standard ID has no direct address requirement (if I remember correctly, it's verified by sending the ID out by non-forwardable mail, so it's returned to DVS if the address I gave isn't where I reside.)

Frankly, I also generally like the passport card more than a driver's license as everyday identification. It doesn't have an address on it, making that less-publicly-known (especially by the scanners at stores that may decide to add it to their database during an ID check,) and if I'm traveling it's proof of citizenship and identity if needed. It also looks a lot closer to national ID cards issued in Europe than a NEXUS card (which I also have,) which gives me some comfort if I'm travelling internationally and need to keep some sort of ID on me for day-to-day use (not for immigration/border crossings, moreso proof of identity should I be asked for it.)

 

[Devil's Advocate]

\I also generally like the passport card more than a driver's license as everyday identification. It doesn't have an address on it, making that less-publicly-known (especially by the scanners at stores that may decide to add it to their database during an ID check,) and if I'm traveling it's proof of citizenship and identity if needed.

It still supplies your full name and date and place of birth and responds to RFID which means it can be scanned in your wallet or hand. A non-RFID drivers license that you never surrender would be harder to collect. You can use a strong magnet and sharpie to make the machine readable bits useless but that (and not the misuse of the your data) may run afoul of the law. A dual-scan setup like the TSA use is going to get everything no matter what.

 

[GariYaMoshi]

At least here in Minnesota, getting a REAL ID-compliant ID or license requires significantly more paperwork than a non-REAL ID compliant license. A REAL ID requires bringing some sort of document proving legal US presence, knowing your social security number, two documents proving where your live (from a specific list - not everything with your address qualifies,) and documents proving name changes if required (e.g. if you just have a birth certificate, no passport, but changed your name due to marriage, you also need to bring a marriage license.) This is true even if you already have a standard ID (as far as I can tell.) If I just want to renew my standard ID, none of that paperwork is required, and the standard ID has no direct address requirement (if I remember correctly, it's verified by sending the ID out by non-forwardable mail, so it's returned to DVS if the address I gave isn't where I reside.)

Frankly, I also generally like the passport card more than a driver's license as everyday identification. It doesn't have an address on it, making that less-publicly-known (especially by the scanners at stores that may decide to add it to their database during an ID check,) and if I'm traveling it's proof of citizenship and identity if needed. It also looks a lot closer to national ID cards issued in Europe than a NEXUS card (which I also have,) which gives me some comfort if I'm travelling internationally and need to keep some sort of ID on me for day-to-day use (not for immigration/border crossings, moreso proof of identity should I be asked for it.)

It was way easier to check the passport card box on the family members renewals than to track down the documents and get all family members to go through the REAL ID process. It was hard enough getting everyone to go to AAA to get their passport photos taken for free since we have memberships.

One other plus for the passport card for us is it used for I-9 purposes as the single document to prove identity and legal authorization to work. (List A) Just checked the ICE website and it has driver's license on List B, which requires another document from List C. REAL ID apparently is not seen in the same vein as a passport for ICE purposes. At least one in the family will be changing jobs in the next 10 years, so this was just another reason for us to go the passport card route (easier to haul into work the first day on the job).

 

[PVD]

There are people who have the right to be here but not work here. They can have a valid DL that would not be valid for I-9 purposes, so that makes sense.

 

[Richard Hill]

It's suggested that 61% to 70% of airplane travelers will have Real ID by May 7. TSA says passengers may use an accepted alternative to Real ID until the absolute deadline of May 5, 2027. Real ID was supposed to go into effect in 2020.

https://is.gd/NdaxTR

 

[jis]

I have no memory of doing anything specific to convert to a Real ID compliant license. It seems like the insignia just showed up one day on renewal, probably with an unavoidable fee, but maybe I forgot the details since that could have been up to a decade ago at this point.

Likewise in Florida. When I got my Florida DL it automatically came with the RealID Gold Star. Of course I had to go to a Motor Vehicle office and show originals of various documents like Passport, SS Card, Utility Bill, etc.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

This has been an interesting discussion - I kind of forgot that I had a real ID compliant DL (have had it several years in fact, now, at this point). I think it was issued originally pre-Covid - I vaguely remember going to the Thompson (aka State of Illinois, now Google Chicago HQ) Center to renew. My mom forgot something so didn't get one when she last renewed but she quit driving since, but I don't think she'll be flying anymore. It wasn't a hassle to assemble to docs, sort of surprised people lose or don't have them, things like SS card, birth certificate, etc... They had a really effective guy who pre-checked before you got into the facility and if you had multiple docs he said "use this one, not that one" etc - gruff but really helpful. I also hadn't realized how many types of drivers licenses there were and how many alternatives there were in the TSA Pre/Nexus nexus, if you will.

On the Amtrak front, I doubt that Amtrak will ever have secured stations which compare to airports anytime soon, plus there are a lot more entry points to the rail network -aka unstaffed stations, which would be impossible to secure. Funnily enough, several people have commented about not needing ID for train travel in Europe and I don't remember that either or even being asked for a name for the ticket for that matter, it was just a ticket number on a printout, iirc (it's been a few years) - shoot, Renfe never even came round to SELL me the ticket on the train (we were too late in the evening to buy tickets, as we found out at the information point, and our train was too early before ticket windows were open - "just pay cash on the tren" which never happened, haha). We did buy them for CP though.

Well, that comment was silly and unnecessary long-winded but oh well...

And to finish up, this is a rather apropos link (learned about her after watching her appearance on What's My Line), I give you the modernizer of the passport office: https://hoover.blogs.archives.gov/2022/03/03/frances-knight-parrish/

 

[BCL]

Likewise in Florida. When I got my Florida DL it automatically came with the RealID Gold Star. Of course I had to go to a Motor Vehicle office and show originals of various documents like Passport, SS Card, Utility Bill, etc.

Were you obligated to do that? When it came time for my wife to renew, she didn't really want to go in person. It was around the time of COVID and getting a DMV appointment was very difficult, plus she didn't want to wait hours in line as a walk-in. She figured that she would have her passport for air travel or entering federal buildings. She was able to renew completely by mail and has a driver license that allows her to drive pretty much anywhere in the US and Canada. It has a note that says "FEDERAL LIMIT APPLY".

When I got mine (star is inside of a bear) I had a SNAFU with the appointment date and walked in, where it was a long, long line. But since then it just renews normally by mail unless there's a change of address. And even then they don't require proof of residence for a change of address - just that you're able to receive the license when mailed. Looks like this:

 

[Anderson]

It's suggested that 61% to 70% of airplane travelers will have Real ID by May 7. TSA says passengers may use an accepted alternative to Real ID until the absolute deadline of May 5, 2027. Real ID was supposed to go into effect in 2020.

https://is.gd/NdaxTR

Real ID was supposed to go into effect in 2008. Even the 2020 deadline was probably going to slip - PA and CA only received certification in May of 2019 (IL had only managed it in March of that year) and NJ didn't get there until early 2020.

In some respects, I'm surprised the whole thing didn't just collapse - there was a lot of foot-dragging and resistance, and I suspect that if faced with the prospect of barring residents of a bunch of big states (including at least one major swing state) from flying or blinking, the Federal government would have blinked.

Even now, the "actual" deadline is "really" 2027...they sort-of extended again last year (I think they're mostly just set to wag their finger at folks in the interim) due to over 40% of documents out there not being compliant.

 

[jis]

Were you obligated to do that? When it came time for my wife to renew, she didn't really want to go in person. It was around the time of COVID and getting a DMV appointment was very difficult, plus she didn't want to wait hours in line as a walk-in. She figured that she would have her passport for air travel or entering federal buildings. She was able to renew completely by mail and has a driver license that allows her to drive pretty much anywhere in the US and Canada. It has a note that says "FEDERAL LIMIT APPLY".

When I got mine (star is inside of a bear) I had a SNAFU with the appointment date and walked in, where it was a long, long line. But since then it just renews normally by mail unless there's a change of address. And even then they don't require proof of residence for a change of address - just that you're able to receive the license when mailed. Looks like this:

I admittedly did not spend even a minute thinking about alternatives. One fine morning I walked into the local Motor Vehicle Commission office with documents in hand, stood in the line for about 20 mins (no appointment or anything like that) and went to an agent’s desk handed in my NJ license and the other documents and got a fresh new FL RealID license in 10 mins. Subsequent renewal was using their web portal and mail.