REGIONAL— Obtaining a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card is challenging enough for most people. But for the many North Country residents who live in remote locations, where the Post Office doesn’t deliver mail, it can be nearly impossible.
That’s what Michael Dreawves, of rural Tower, has discovered as he’s sought to obtain the REAL ID card that all Minnesotans will eventually need in order to fly on a U.S. airline or enter a federal facility. Minnesota was the last state to come into compliance with the federal REAL ID requirements, so residents here won’t have as much time as residents of other states to apply for the new identification prior to the looming deadline.
There are three basic things you’ll need to prove in order to obtain a REAL ID license. You’ll need:
• A document, like a birth certificate or a current passport, to prove your identity, your date of birth, and your legal presence in the U.S.
•  A document, like a W-2 or an actual unlaminated Social Security card, proving your Social Security number.
• And two different documents proving your current residency, one of which can be an unexpired driver’s license.
It’s that last one that’s proven to be the sticking point for some residents of the North Country. “You need a document that has your physical address,” said Ruth Schley at the Cook License Bureau. That may seem relatively straightforward, but as Dreawves recently discovered it can be a surprisingly difficult task for people like him. Dreawves, who lives far up the Mud Creek Road, has a fire number, but it doesn’t appear on any of the documents that license and motor vehicle staff are allowed to accept when processing REAL ID applications.
Dreawves can’t use a utility bill because he’s off-the-grid, which means he doesn’t receive an electric bill. He paid cash for his property, which means he doesn’t have a mortgage with his physical address. He has a tax statement, but like most every other document that might satisfy the requirements of the REAL ID rules, it lists his post office box in town rather than his physical address. It’s the same with his income tax statement.
Dreawves isn’t the only one who’s having trouble. “Some people have gone in five times,” said Schley, who noted that she’s had similar problems herself.
Meanwhile, a growing backlog of REAL ID applications at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety means the effective deadline to apply for the new license could come as early as mid-summer. The department’s Driver and Vehicle Services division is currently more than two months behind in processing REAL ID applications, and that backlog is expected to grow. To date, only about 15 percent of Minnesotans have received a REAL ID or an Enhanced Driver’s License, which is REAL ID-compliant.
John Harrington, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said last month that his department is getting 19,000 applications a week, just over half of which are for REAL ID-compliant licenses. At that pace, he said the state will not be able to issue new licenses to all who might need or want one. “We are processing an enormous number of applications even as we speak. But we need to double or triple that volume if we are to make our deadline.”
So, if you’re hoping to fly commercially later this year, but don’t yet have a REAL ID, the best advice is act soon or you could well be left grounded.
Update: Minnesotans, it turns out, will have some extra time to meet the REAL ID deadline. President Trump announced earlier this week that the Oct. 1 deadline to obtain a REAL ID in order to fly in the U.S. or enter a federal building will be extended amid the coronavirus crisis, but he did not provide a new deadline date.
Minnpost contributed reporting for this story.